The Byrds are a classic band that had a busy and successful career. From 1965 to 1967 at the very least the David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Jim (Roger) McGuinn and Gene Clark years were the prominent landscape of their classic sound, which in a nutshell would be their harmonies, Jim's 12-string electric guitar, and a relationship between folk and psychedelic music. On paper, it sounds perfect to me, but in actuality, I have always had a problem with The Byrds.
I liked them, but compared to my friends for the last few decades or so, who see them perhaps as the most important band, I, on the other hand, found them conventional. As a young teenager, I bought their albums up to "Younger Than Yesterday," but when they turned to country on the next album, "Sweethearts of Rodeo," I couldn't deal with that identity nor sound. But even before "Sweethearts" there is something about their overall sound that was pleasing, but not fitting in as a band, or a singular identity, and that I have always found troubling. I recently purchased an original mono copy of "Fifth Dimension," which was my favorite Byrds album as a young tot, and I still remember playing this album over and over again in my bedroom on a very cheap and portable turntable. The density of McGinn's great 12-string electric guitar freak-outs in the midst of Crosby and others perfect harmonies or folk-related ballads was an interesting relationship between noise/chaos and rigid pop/folk melodies. I have thought that McGuinn was going one direction and the rest of the band to another part of the world. Even though Crosby's songwriting had an Eastern drone, it was never as fascinating as The Beatles experimental approach to the drone, or of course, the music being made by John Cale, Tony Conrad in New York City around that time.
Still, the one song that is a massive standout on "Fifth Dimension" is "Eight Miles High." A work of beautiful perfection that is either a fearful look at flying or a narcotic reaction - but for me, it works as a musical version of a phobia for being in a metal machine in the sky. The opening cut on side one is "5D (Fith Dimension)" with Van Dyke Parks on organ, is a great swell of sounds, with a wonderful McGuinn vocal. The rest is enjoyable filler. Like a lot of bands during that period, they also do a version of "Hey Joe" which is lame compared to The Leaves, Love, and the brilliant Jimi Hendrix version that will come out later either that year 1966 or in 1967.
I understand the importance and stance of The Byrds, and why they are so beloved by their fans, but for me, they never went far enough with their sound. Los Angeles had a fantastic run of great music/bands at this time, and when you compare The Byrds to either Buffalo Springfield or the great Love, they come off as weak and an afterthought. Still, I find some pleasure in their rubble.
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