Graham Reid | | 1 min read
The Byrds: Chimes of Freedom
For most people the Byrds were a great singles band and there is ample evidence to support that view (Mr Tambourine Man, Turn Turn Turn, Eight Miles High, Ballad of Easy Rider and so on).
For such folk there are any number of decent single CD compilations.
Others however would also argue for their albums Fifth Dimension, Younger Than Yesterday and Sweetheart of the Rodeo, the latter finding them moving to -- if not inventing -- mature country-rock. Such people can go for CD collections like this.
True believers would think you should have nothing less than a package like the 1990 four-CD set simply entitled The Byrds . . . or this more recent collection There is a Season (readily available) which includes some pre-Byrds recordings among the 99 songs across four discs, and comes with a DVD of some hitherto unavailable television appearances.
Becase that earlier collection now seems to be unavailable the Season box might be the best entry point for someone who just thought of them as a singles band (the reason why will become apparent) and even those whose copies of the three key albums mentioned above might be getting a bit battered.
A few years back all their albums were remastered and dropped out with bonus tracks so if you bought into that there's no need to come here -- unless you are considering turning on a young person or pal to breadth of the Byrds' particular genius in close harmony jangle-rock, folk-pop, psych-rock and country-rock.
And that is cheaply possible because this set is just $40 (99 songs plus a DVD, you do the maths) at JB HiFi stores here.
That's a bargain buy and an expansive timeless flight.
For an essay on the onetime Byrd Gene Clark go here, for something amusing about Roger McGuinn go here.
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