Straight for the Sun

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The Byrds exceedingly convoluted history and innumerable line-up changes are well beyond the of a humble CD sleeve note; author Johnny Rogan expends no less than 1200 pages on the subject in the latest update to his monumental on-going study of the band, Byrds: Requiem for the Timeless (Rogan House, 2011) to which the inquisitive reader is directed. Nevertheless, even a rudimentary investigation into the soaring flight path of The Byrds will confirm that the McGuinn/White/Battin/Parsons line-up - as featured on this disc - is one of the band's strongest. This quartet was the most stable and long-lived incarnation of all, remaining a solid unit from the autumn of 1969 until July 1972. During this period they completed a trio of album releases [Untitled] (September 1970, a double album), Byrdmaniax (June 1971) and Farther Along (November 1971). They were widely acknowledged as a great live act - probably the best regarded, for their onstage prowess, of all the Byrds many line-ups - spearheaded by the riveting dual lead guitar work of Roger McGuinn and Clarence White. Vocalist, guitarist and major songwriter, Roger McGuinn is - and always was - the one permanent fixture in The Byrds, having formed the band in 1964 with David Crosby and Gene Clark. A noted session guitarist, Clarence White had been a member since July 1968; shortly after his arrival - and at his behest - drummer Gene Parsons replaced Kevin Kelley. Another former session musician, bassist Skip Battin joined in the autumn of 1969, completing this exceptional line-up. This Byrds concert, from the McDonough Gym at the American University in Washington DC, came just after the end of a major European tour, which had seen the band playing many gigs up and down the UK (including the Lincoln Festival and at London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall) as well as in Holland, Belgium, France and Germany between May and August 1971. For this radio broadcast, The Byrds chose to perform an eclectic cross-section of material, drawing from albums across their career to date. From those recorded by the same line-up come the dynamic Lover of the Bayou and McGuinn's perennial ballad Chestnut Mare (from Untitled), I Want To Grow Up To Be A Politician, Citizen Kane (from Byrdmaniax) and Tiffany Queen (from Farther Along). Delving way back into their illustrious history, the band draw on a slew of Sixties classics including their hit version of Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man (from the eponymous 1965 debut album), Mr. Spaceman and Eight Miles High (from 1966's Fifth Dimension) and So You Want To Be A Rock n Roll Star (Younger Than Yesterday, 1967). Gram Parsons brief sojourn with The Byrds is recalled via a version of Pretty Boy Floyd (from Sweetheart of the Rodeo 1968). The subsequent Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde (1969) is represented by the sparkling instrumental Nashville West (co-written by Clarence and Gene Parsons) whilst 1969's Ballad of Easy Rider album contributes Jesus Is Just Alright. Finally, there are versions of the traditional Black ain Rag (Soldier's Joy) and set-closer Chuck Berry's rocking Roll Over Beethoven. In short, a superb aural snap of a band at an undoubted peak in an unusually tumultuous career.