#1077 – MR. TAMBOURINE MAN – The Byrds – 6/21/2020

55 years ago, this song was released and is a tune that can
correctly be included in the patheon of rock & roll groundbreakers. Jim
McGuinn as he was known at the time of the first 2 years worth of Byrds
recordings, Gene Clark, & David Crosby were the three headed monster that
were the Byrds. They cleared the way for an untold amount of singer-songwriters
in the nightclub in Laurel
Canyon, San Francisco
& Greenwich Village marrying electric instrumentation with folk music’s
sensitive lyricism. Ironically, this tune is not written by any of these
wordsmiths, but by a fella from Minnesota,
Bobby Zimmerman. Incidentally, it is the only Dylan-penned tuned to every reach
#1 on the any Billboard Chart until 2020’s MURDER MOST FOUL.

1965

#2360 – A RIGHT ALONG – Poco - 4/25/2020

I have always thought of Poco as one of those bands that was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were the victims of ridiculous circumstance, both in the band’s internal politics and the music industry’s attempt to cash in on the next big thing. It is sad, too. Poco is, and always has been, a freaking STELLAR band. The heck with genre labels and all of that BS. Poco is just a great band with fantastic musicians, especially in their prime.

Poco’s notorious mishandling by record companies rose from Richie Furay & Jim Messina’s involvement in Buffalo Springfield. As that band had been contracted to Atlantic Records, so went their individual contracts. But along came Crosby, Still s & Nash, whose contracts were held by Columbia records (The Byrds, The Hollies). Atlantic Records was foaming at the mouth (and rightly so in hindsight)  to acquire the rights to CSN. So a swap was made between the two recording industry giants straight up; group for group. And the rest is history.

Poco began a long-simmering successful run with CBS records. The original band members were: Furay, Messina, George Grantham on drums, Randy Meisner on Bass and 6-string session maestro Rusty Young on all manner of country-tinged guitars. All the members were fantastic musicians and their harmonies were legendary. The band was at the forefront (for good or bad) of the “Country Rock” movement in pop music that began with The Byrds & The Springfield and ultimately peaked with the Eagles a few years later. They never fully emerged from being boxed into that demographic.

By the release of the LP “Crazy Eyes” in 1973, from which this song hails, all but Grantham & Young remained as members. Meisner had left for the Eagles being replaced by Timothy B. Schmidt. Paul Cotton had been added as an additional vocalist & guitarist. Furay appeared on the record but left the band 11 days prior the release of the record to form yet another supergroup: The Souther, Hillman Furay Band with Texas songwroiter J.D. Souther and Chris Hillman from a stint with the Byrds.

Poco was, and still is one of my favorite American bands. I stress American because their sound evokes the West to me. By West I don’t mean simple, sappy “drunk in my whisky cause you left me baby” way but in lyrics and playing that evokes big sky, glowing sunsets and wild horses. Poco. Long may they run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoBeSC6c6vE

1973 

SO YOU WANNA BE A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR – The Byrds

#849 – SO YOU WANNA BE A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR - 10/17/2019

The Byrds have left an amazing mark on Rock & Roll. This tune, written by Roger McGuinn  & Chris Hillman was purported to be a slap at The Pre-Fab Four: The Monkees. Hillman says he came up with the idea for this fantastic bass line while at a session for African musician Hugh Masakela whose trumpet playing is featured on the songs.

This is one of the Byrds most covered songs. Artists as diverse as Nazareth, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Patti Smith, The Royal Guardsmen, R.E.M. & Crowded House have all taken a stab at it. It doesn’t matter who does it, the song is great. But you can almost never top the original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMaJWESoZlk

1967