Though it may be that The Byrds as a band are the very American definition of the music culture of the 1960s, they are not necessarily the prime example of either the experimental climate, like The Beatles, or sex, drugs and rock-n-roll success and excess like The Rolling Stones.
As a result The Byrds’ history does not beg for repeated investigation, unless it is of a musically specific or culturally broad nature. There is a wealth of material exploring their complicated and all-too brief history, the latest of which is the double-disc DVD set The Byrds Under Review.
Broken down into chapters mostly by album, the film functions as a history of the band, beginning just before they formed and obviously ending when they broke up. Unfortunately, no members of the original line-up participated in the film, though there are some scant archival interviews. Instead the film relies on mostly archival footage, and still photographs, which are combined with narration and various current interviews with rock journalists, critics, session players and a few members of later line-ups.
In this way it is very reminiscent of VH1’s Behind the Music series, except for a welcome lack of flair for the dramatics and (mostly) without the actual participants relating the story. The involvement of critics gives the film a little bit of a critical bent, shedding light on the sort of influences, etc. that informed The Byrds catalogue. But, with some very minor exceptions, The Byrds Under Review ignores any pretense for depth in exploring specific creative relationships in the band, focusing on the recording process of certain songs or albums or critically analyzing the impact of the music in a way that hasn’t already been done.
Very little is revealed here in the way of inside perspective or broad cultural strokes that would lend the film an ambitious originality, in comparison to other Byrds histories, including those printed on the jacket sleeves of their digitally remastered and expanded original albums.
Article comments
1 - JC Mosquito
The Byrds should occupy the same pedestal as that other quintessential mid 60's American rock and roll act, the Beach Boys. At the risk of opening up another can o' worms, as a very loose analogy, in some ways the Byrds were to John as the Beach Boys were to Paul. I haven't figured out who was George and Ringo yet.