The Byrds - "Turn! Turn! Turn!" b/w "Eight Miles High" 45 rpm Single, Vinyl, Reissue (Columbia)

Without a doubt, the Los Angeles band The Byrds are probably the most respected band in my small world of record fiends.  We had the first Byrds album when it first came out, and I have to presume that my dad bought it.  He didn't play it that much, but I listened to it a lot.   One couldn't avoid the presence of The Byrds in Los Angeles during 1965 and 1966.  For one, the connection they had with Bob Dylan was a serious relationship between those who followed Dylan's career at the time, and also radio stations like KRLA and KHJ played Byrds music a lot.   To this day I have told people I admired The Byrds, and one has to because of their ability to do certain types of musical styles throughout the years.  From folk to psychedelic to country, they seemed to adopt musical landscapes like one changing their kaftan in the morning to work clothes for the ranch by the afternoon.   It's strange for me to write this, but they are probably my most unfavorite Los Angeles band. 

I have admired their recordings, and I have purchased their albums to the point (in its original releases) up to "Younger Than Yesterday."  The truth is I never really cared for these albums.  Perfectly crafted pop songs and some are even beyond that, for instance, the great "Eight Miles High."  A brilliant melody, with incredible guitar work from McGuinn, it's a beautiful piece of music.  I have always taken the song at heart that it is about flying above the ground, and not drugs.  If it was about drugs, I feel that imagery would have cheapened the song.  I prefer the thought of someone reflecting on a flight, or about landing on the ground.  "Turn! Turn! Turn!" an older song by The Byrds, and adopted by Pete Seeger from the Book of Ecclesiastes, is lush and the perfect vocalization is a sound to admire.  My aesthetic is to crush that sort of beauty, and I preferred the sound of the rave-up of The Yardbirds.  To me, that was sound that I could identify with, due to my young angst at the time.  

For decades I have always had a problem with David Crosby.  I don't know him, but he still struck me as an annoying presence in the pop music world.  I never liked his clothing style or hair, nor do I like his voice that much.  The only thing I do like about him (artistically) is that he once made music with Les Baxter, during his exotica days.   Nor do I care for his solo recordings, or the songs he wrote for CSN&Y.   The songs he wrote for The Byrds were horrible.  Saying that I know there are at least three or four generations of music lovers who disagree with me.  I respect that and them as fans and music lovers.  Still, "Eight Miles High" is a work of perfection.  And for that reason alone, I hesitantly admire The Byrds for that single recording.