The original five members of the Byrds reunited in 1972 for this one time album. Those original members were David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman & Michael Clarke. This album actually became the Byr... more »ds fourth highest charting album hitting #20 on the Billboard charts. It features unique versions of some classic tunes such as Neil Young's "Cowgirls In The Sand" and Crosby's "Laughling".« less
The original five members of the Byrds reunited in 1972 for this one time album. Those original members were David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman & Michael Clarke. This album actually became the Byrds fourth highest charting album hitting #20 on the Billboard charts. It features unique versions of some classic tunes such as Neil Young's "Cowgirls In The Sand" and Crosby's "Laughling".
CD Reviews
Pretty Good
M. Brust | Denton, TX United States | 09/22/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album has caught a lot of bad press over the years because most critics have voiced the opinion that none of the participants were fully engaged in this project. This can safely be called THE David Crosby Byrds album. He's all over the music. Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn back up and audibly let David have his way. Gene Clark and David are in fine voice and the cover songs are great. "See The Sky About To Rain" is awesome and McGuinn's "Rock-n-Roll" is very ragged but very right. Crosby got a great sound on this record. The instruments and vocals are crystal clear. It is one of my all-time favorite Byrds Albums. It's better,in its way, than anything after "Notorious"."
The Original Byrds Were Very Influenced By the 1969-72 Byrds
Bud | Seminole, Texas, USA | 12/15/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"From 1969 to 1972, Roger McGuinn was the only original member of the Byrds, taking charge and letting himself and the new members steer the group to a much more country-rock direction. The country-rock period produced several critically hailed classic songs, not to mention the legendary "Untitled" album (praised as the last great Byrds record), and most importantly, this lineup remained a highly important live touring consideration. But, for reasons known and unknown, McGuinn got rid of this version to join the idea for a 1973 "reunion" of the original Byrds lineup of himself, David Crosby, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke. The resulting self-titled album did great on the charts, beating some of the country-rock lineup's positions by far, but it was critically shot down in most corners. Not only that, any Byrd fan expecting the 12-string folk-rock or moog synthesizer space-rock that the original quintet had innovated was in for a disappointment; 1973's "The Byrds" showed the original lineup almost immitating the same country-rock that had been perfected by the previous version of the Byrds. Where is McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker that defined the sound of "Turn! Turn! Turn!"? And where is the spacey studio experimentation of "The Notorious Byrd Brothers?" The last time four of these five Byrds were together in the studio they were making the psychedelic 'Space Odyssey' and sound-effect heavy 'Draft Morning.' Even with David Crosby's assertiveness over McGuinn, it sounds like Clarence White, Gene (and even Gram) Parsons are lingering somewhere in the studio and the songwriting. Of course they weren't, and that means that this album actually does more for the country-rock Byrds than for the original Byrds who made it.
That's not to say the Reunited Five didn't make a great album; their songwriting and performances are top-notch, even if they prove over and over that McGuinn's previous stint was more powerful than it seemed. There are some catchy, flavory songs like Gene Clark's 'Full Circle' and the Chris Hillman/Joe Lala song 'Borrowing Time.' Roger McGuinn's 'Born To Rock and Roll' is featured in a mood and tempo true to the title; it may not compare to the more somber version that was recorded by the previous Byrds (featured as a bonus track on the remastered "Farther Along" CD), but it is still a rollicking joy. But the songs that make this album great are those more melancholy moments, which the album is surprisingly full of. 'Sweet Mary,' co-written by McGuinn, is full of heartbreak and great mandolin work from Hillman, Crosby's languid 'Laughing' is just as stirring, while the three covers are performed with every ounce of emotion you could get from these five men--Joni Mitchell's 'For Free,' and Neil Young's 'Cowgirl in the Sand' and 'See the Sky About To Rain.'
"The Byrds" proved to be a one-time get-together, and the reunion dissolved soon after; it goes without saying that McGuinn chose not to revive the country-rock lineup. While this album may not have done anything for anyone's career, it is still a vivid gem of an album, filled with great songs and great renditions. Finally reissued on the Wounded Bird label after years of being unavailable in the US, this lost album has finally been given a suitable treatment."
Docked at least 1 star for the disappointing sound and packa
Gordon Pfannenstiel | Russell, KS United States | 04/02/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"You'd think I'd be happy. After all these years, finally a reissue of this "lost" reunion album by those fantastic original Byrds. The music has always been under-rated because what could possibly compare to the classics Mr. Tambourine Man, Turn, Turn, Turn and 5th Dimension (I'd also include Younger Than Yesterday, though it was sans Gene Clark)? Those were perfect albums, great time capsules and timeless music. Nineteen seventy-three was NOT 1965, and they had sense enough to know that the magic of that time and place could not be recaptured, so they made the type of music that they thought was "relevant" in 1973. I think they did quite well. The album has always been lambasted by critics and Byrd fans; unfairly so, I now think. However, it's taken a lot of time to come to that conclusion. I was just as disappointed at the time it came out; I wanted the original Byrds to SOUND like the original Byrds. I even eventually gave my LP to the local public library in the 80s; at the time, I never thought I'd want to listen to it again.
But, as time passed, that hole in my collection nagged at me, and I started to want to hear the album again, to see what I'd think of it now. Finally, a couple of years ago I found the original LP, in "fair" condition, for around $[...] and I picked it up. Even through the occasional clicks and pops, it sounded glorious. Therefore, I was so excited when it finally was released domestically. Finally!...no more clicks and pops!...in glorious digital sound!
When I got this CD, however, there was one problem: it WASN'T glorious sound. It was flat and lacked definition. HMMMM...I thought maybe I was having a bad ear day and pulled out my CD recording of my old LP to do an A/B comparison. WOW! I wasn't having a bad ear day. The old LP sounded much brighter, deeper and better. So, another bad digital remaster...not the first one, and probably won't be the last. It's amazing that there have been so many inferior digital remasters. I have an old Phillips CD recorder, 9 years old, that I use to transfer my old LPs to CD. It captures every nuance that is present on the vinyl. How can access to the master tape, with no transfer loss, with all the advances in digital remastering, yeild something inferior to what I captured on an old, scratchy LP? Makes you think, doesn't it?
Also, when a classic of this calibre is finally re-released, I think it fitting that we get some sort of "package" with it. A bit of history, maybe some perspective from the surviving Byrds...SOMETHING!!!...besides a 10" X 5" sheet of paper folded in half that has the original album image, song titles and credits.
I know I seem like a whiner, but this is a really excellent album by one of the greatest musical groups of all time. One would think they (and their fans) would deserve somthing of better quality than this."
Fine country-rock album from the original line up
Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 04/30/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"David Crosby visited Roger McGuinn one day. Crosby boldly and bluntly assessed the current line up of The Byrds by saying, "you've done some OK stuff but you've also done stuff that is pretty bad. Please stop doing it under the Byrds name". He offered a compromise of sorts. Gather up the original line up and record an album showing where they were today. Such was the genesis of "Byrds" the original quintet's swan song. of the original members only Crosby was experiencing success and that informed this record; he produced it and generally created his version of the band that McGuinn had led. Songwriter/singer Gene Clark was once the band's original front man and most prolific songwriter. This album doesn't capture the grandeur of that original line up. All four songwriters/singers in the original line up contributed two songs with the rest being remakes of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell tunes.
Gene Clark's material is the best on the album. "Full Circle" and "Changing Heart" are among the best original songs on the album. Only "Sweet Mary" by McGuinn and Jacques Levy measures up along with Crosby's "Laughing". While Hillman has admitted that the two songs he contributed were second rate material, they're melodic and well written. Clark sings the two Neil Young cover songs "Cowgirl in the Sand" doesn't add anything to the Byrds mythos but his rousing cover of "(See the Sky) About to Rain" with its unusually loud coda pulls it together at the end.
Wounded Bird Records has put out the original album exactly as it appeared in 1973 (albeit adapted for the CD format). I'm happy they licensed this overlooked gem but wish that Rhino (which owns the rights through Warner)had allowed them to dig through the vault for demos, unfinished alternate takes and other material that the group may have tried out in rehearsal for the album only to reject later.
While this isn't the finest album The Byrds ever made, it's a fine country-rock album and a snapshot of the individual members along with the music they were making solo. Although Crosby dominated the sessions (his picture is dead center and the largest on the cover)because of his success with Crosby, Stills and Nash, he doesn't completely dominate the album giving a fair shake to the other songwriter's material.
I'd give it 3 1/2 stars. The solo albums by McGuinn and Clark recorded after this are superior to this album ("Roger McGuinn" and the controversial "No Other" respectively). In fact, the band would reassemble one more time for a track on McGuinn's solo album (that track really belonged on this album)but for that this was the last hurrah for the original Byrds. After this their career as a group would be grounded by lawsuits and drugs."
1973 has become a great vintage
Mr. John L. Ward | Manchester, England | 04/26/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"There were very high hopes for this album prior to its original release. McGuinn had helped to fuel this sense of anticipation some months earlier by telling a jounalist that the new album would "continue where 'The Notorious Byrd Brothers' had left off.". When 'Byrds' finally appeared it seemed as segmented as the latter day Byrds' Columbia albums and had little of that remarkably unified sound that had been the hallmark of the same lineup between 1965 and 1967. I would however urge prospective buyers not to be put off as the reputation of this album has improved during the period since. The two Gene Clark compositions ('Full Circle' and 'Changing Heart') have become classics and are worth the price of admission alone. McGuinn's 'Sweet Mary' is in the style of a traditional folk song and features some excellent mandolin and acoustic guitar. Neil Young's (then unreleased) 'See the Sky About to Rain' sees some stunning 12 string guitar work, great harmony and the kind of Gene Clark vocal that we would hear from him on 'No Other' the following year. David Crosby is very much in his element as a harmony singer - especially on 'Cowgirl in the Sand' and the version of his own composition 'Laughing' contains enough of McGuinn's Rickenbacker raga sound to render its inclusion worthwhile. And don't forget that there is an astonishing outtake from this album -'My New Woman' on McGuinn's self titled solo album from a few months later."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1