{"id":690,"date":"2007-07-10T11:01:23","date_gmt":"2007-07-10T15:01:23","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-12-15T17:01:03","modified_gmt":"2008-12-15T17:01:03","slug":"let-me-tell-you-there-are-25-similar-con","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/let-me-tell-you-there-are-25-similar-con\/","title":{"rendered":"I Don’t Get It: The Byrds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/p>\n
Had more dinners than most<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I get why people like The Byrds<\/strong>. I also get why they’re credited with bringing a fresh synthesis of already established and important sounds to rock that would be perfected about 25 years later with a few great, late-70s power pop singles<\/strong> and a run of solid Tom Petty<\/strong> records. What I don’t get is why they’re considered a major player in rock history. The best example, and this has bugged me since I first spent my hard-earned money on a Byrds’ “twofer” in 1980, is The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll<\/strong><\/em>, which dedicates an entire chapter to The Byrds<\/a>! Right between Dylan<\/em> and Folk Rock<\/em> is an entire chapter dedicated to a band with few more than a dozen great songs, probably eight of which are essentially the same reworking of a verse from a Dylan song. I don’t get it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n
Had a chapter, a box set, the works…<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Oh, I get<\/em> the super-cool Roger McGuinn specs<\/strong>. I get<\/em> the Rickenbackers<\/strong> and the perfect combination of lean legs and well-cut trousers<\/strong>. I get<\/em> the pretty cool hair and the American Beatles appeal. I even get<\/em> the dozen jangly songs with Dylan-lite delivery and mid-period Beatles harmonies. The Byrds are one of those bands for which Greatest Hits<\/strong> albums were made, but even then the dozen greatest hits pretty much hit exactly the same mark. Take away their couple of psychedelic hits, in which McGuinn played some cool guitar solos, and you’ve got a bunch of songs that would be George Harrison<\/strong>‘s contributions to mid-60s Beatles albums. Without being a member of The Beatles, would George Harrison’s 8 variations on “If I Needed Someone” and his best late-Beatles songs have been worthy of a full chapter in any rock history book? I think not.<\/p>\n

I could<\/em>, but I won’t<\/strong> rest my case!
\n
\nI’m not going to consider the value of Sweethearts of the Rodeo<\/em>, which was spearheaded by short-time newcomer Gram Parsons<\/strong> and which, with the rice paper-thin vocals of McGuinn and company tacked on after Parsons’ quick departure pales in comparison to the first two Flying Burrito Brothers. By this point in their history, in fact, the band had splintered to the point where they might as well have been renamed Roger McGuinn’s Cry for Help<\/strong>. Once McGuinn moved past the safety net of granny glasses, Rickenbackers, and partial Dylan covers into acid and passages from John Coltrane’s “India”<\/strong>, it was a short ride to “Jesus Is Just Alright”<\/strong> and “Chestnut Mare”<\/strong>, the latter, incidentally, being among the dozen Byrds songs I’m not completely bored by hearing now and then. Help!<\/em> There’s something called The Best of the Byrds: Greatest Hits, Vol. II<\/a><\/em>. Bet you haven’t spun that album in some time, have you? Nevertheless, there are plenty of fine bands that were contemporaries of The Byrds who never got to release a pointless Greatest Hits, Vol. II.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n
Chubby guys in paisley shirts and horn-rimmed glasses who never had a chapter…<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Anyone here remember the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roast<\/em> show? Red Skelton<\/em>‘s stock bit was to come out and lament that no one’s ever had a dinner in his honor? Well, think of all the contemporaries of The Byrds who don’t rate a chapter or individual segment in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll<\/em> or just about any other rock history book or program. The Turtles<\/strong>, a bunch of chubby Jewish and Italian guys in paisley shirts, horn-rimmed glasses, and Beatles-bob-resistant curly hair never had a chapter. The Four Seasons<\/strong>, more ethnic guys unable to get cool Beatles hairdos, now have a Broadway play, but they never had a chapter. The Rascals<\/strong>, a tight little band of real musical talent never had a chapter. The Hollies<\/strong> and Buffalo Springfield<\/strong>, two supremely talented bands that gave CSNY<\/strong> its most worthwhile members, never had a chapter. Even The Monkees<\/strong>, who had a tv show and a movie as well as entire books on their general showbiz career – with their stronger output of hits never had a chapter dedicated to their music. The Mamas and the Papas<\/strong>, maybe the most underrated among LA folk-rock bands never had a chapter, unless you count a chapter’s worth of material in John Phillips’ autobiography that focused on his band and didn’t recount all the times Lennon, McCartney, Jagger, et al confessed to him that they were jealous of how cool he was. It can be argued that The Beau Brummels<\/strong>, The Association<\/strong>, and other folk-rock bands didn’t deserve a chapter, and my point is not necessarily that the chapter on The Byrds should be retracted, but I would like to know what exactly they brought to the table that George Harrison didn’t bring in his 2 songs per Beatles album<\/em>. (By the way, I’m making no case whatsoever for Love, a band whose critical acclaim is MUCH more baffling to me than possibly any other critically acclaimed band in rock history.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Had more dinners than most I get why people like The Byrds. I also get why they’re credited with bringing a fresh synthesis of already established and important sounds to rock that would be perfected about 25 years later with a few great, late-70s power pop singles and a run of solid Tom Petty records. […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[62,31],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}