Byrdmaniax

Byrdmaniax
Studio album by The Byrds
Released	June 23, 1971
Recorded	June 2, October 6, 1970, January 9 – January 26, 1971, Columbia Studios, Hollywood, CA
Genre	Rock, Country rock
Length	34:06
Label	Columbia
Producer	Terry Melcher, Chris Hinshaw
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone (Not Rated) link
The Byrds U.S. chronology
Untitled (1970) Byrdmaniax (1971) Farther Along (1971)
The Byrds UK chronology
Untitled (1970) Byrdmaniax (1971) The Byrds Greatest Hits Volume II (1971)
Singles from Byrdmaniax
"I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" / "(Is This) My Destiny" Released: May 7, 1971 "Glory, Glory" / "Citizen Kane" Released: August 20, 1971

Byrdmaniax is the tenth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in June, 1971 (see 1971 in music) on Columbia Records, catalogue item KC 30640.^[1] The album peaked at #46 on the Billboard 200 album chart but failed to break into the UK charts.^[2][3] A preceding single, "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" b/w "(Is This) My Destiny", was released on May 7, 1971 in the UK, to coincide with a European tour, but it did not chart.^[1][4] A second single, "Glory, Glory" b/w "Citizen Kane", was taken from the album and released on August 20, 1971 and reached #110 on the Billboard chart,^[5] but again, the single failed to chart in the UK. Byrdmaniax remains one of The Byrds most poorly received album releases, largely due to the addition of strings, horns, and a gospel choir which were overdubbed onto the songs by producer Terry Melcher and arranger Paul Polena, reportedly without the band's approval.^[6][7] Upon release, Byrdmaniax did much to undo the critical standing that The Byrds had earned thanks to their previous albums, Ballad of Easy Rider and (Untitled), and it quickly faded from the public's consciousness.^[1]

Overview

After the success of the (Untitled) double album and the critical acclaim that it earned for The Byrds, the band continued to tour extensively throughout late 1970 and early 1971 in support of the record. Recording sessions for Byrdmaniax began on October 6, 1970 and continued throughout January 1971, with the band recording twelve new songs as well as revisiting "Kathleen's Song", an outtake from the (Untitled) sessions.^[1][8]

Among guitarist Roger McGuinn's songwriting contributions to the album was the modal acoustic ballad "Pale Blue" (co-written with drummer Gene Parsons), and the commercially unsuccessful, quasi-gospel single, "I Trust" (re-titled as "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" for the single release). The title and lyrical refrain of "I Trust" was inspired by McGuinn's personal catchphrase, "I trust everything will turn out alright", which itself had been borrowed by the guitarist during the mid-1960s from the best-selling book, The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale.^[8] McGuinn's other two compositional contributions to Byrdmaniax were songs that he had written with lyricist Jacques Levy, for the pair's aborted country-rock musical Gene Tryp, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt.^[6] Of these, "Kathleen's Song" had originally been intended for a scene in which the song's eponymous heroine patiently waits for Gene Tryp, her lover, to return home from his adventures around the globe.^[1] "Kathleen's Song" had in fact been recorded in June, 1970 during the (Untitled) sessions and promo copies of that album actually listed the song (under the abbreviated title "Kathleen") on the album sleeve, although it was absent from the disc itself.^[1][9] The second Gene Tryp song was the whimsical pastiche, "I Wanna Grow up to Be a Politician", which was written for a scene in which Gene Tryp runs as a presidential candidate.^[1] The song found a second lease of life away from the confines of Gene Tryp, however, when its satirical lyrics found favor with America's radical youth, who were rebelling against the Nixon administration.^[8]

Byrdmaniax also included a number of Skip Battin and Kim Fowley penned novelty songs, including "Tunnel of Love", a Fats Domino pastiche,^[8] and "Citizen Kane", a wry comment on Hollywood life during the 1940s and 1950s.^[10][11] The album also includes a Gene Parsons and Clarence White penned bluegrass instrumental, "Green Apple Quick Step", which featured Eric White (Clarence's father) on harmonica and Byron Berline on fiddle.^[8] The final track on Byrdmaniax was a cover version of "Jamaica Say You Will", written by the then unknown Jackson Browne^[11] and featuring one of Clarence White's best vocal performances on a Byrds' record.^[12] In addition to the eleven songs included on the original album, at least two outtakes from the album sessions are known to exist; a recording of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman", which had also been attempted during the (Untitled) recording sessions, and a cover of ex-Byrd Gene Clark's "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better". The version of "Just Like a Woman" recorded for Byrdmaniax represented the last Dylan song that The Byrds would record until "Paths of Victory", during the 1990 reunion sessions that were included on The Byrds box set.

Post-production

Following the completion of recording sessions for the album, The Byrds headed out on tour again, leaving Terry Melcher to finish mixing the album. While The Byrds were away from the studio, Melcher, along with engineer Chris Hinshaw and arranger Paul Polena, took it upon themselves to overdub strings, horns and a gospel choir onto the album, allegedly without the band's consent.^[7][11] When the band finally heard the extent of Melcher's additions, they protested to Columbia Records, campaigning to have the album remixed and the orchestration removed but the record company held firm, citing budget restrictions and the record was duly pressed up and released.^[1] Melcher himself has defended his actions in interview, stating "There was a lack of interest on everybody's part. I was trying to save the album, but it was a mistake. I should have called a halt."^[1] Melcher also indicated that the band's performances in the studio were lackluster and that the orchestration was needed to cover up these musical shortcomings.^[11] As for not obtaining the band's consent for the overdubs, Melcher explained "I admit that I wasn't in consultation with them a lot and I didn't really deal with Clarence, Battin or Parsons on these matters. But I'm sure it was inconceivable that McGuinn did not know about the orchestration."^[1]

The band themselves were far from happy with the album and upon its release, were vocal in press interviews about their dissatisfaction. Clarence White complained that "Terry Melcher put strings on while we were on the road, we came back and we didn't even recognize it as our own album."^[1] Gene Parsons disowned the album completely, describing it as "Melcher's folly" and commenting in interview that the band were all "appalled by what we heard."^[1] McGuinn actually defended Melcher somewhat by indicating in interview that Columbia Records had taken the album away from the producer and given it to an engineer in San Francisco to remix. However, the production credits on the original LP do not support this and Melcher himself has no recollection of the album being mixed by anyone other than himself.^[1] In later years, Roger McGuinn conceded that the album's shortcomings were not down to Melcher's over-production alone, admitting in interview that "We were just idling artistically, the album sounds like we really weren't concentrating on doing good work, good art."^[6]

Release

Byrdmaniax was released on June 23, 1971 in the United States and August 6, 1971 in the United Kingdom.^[1] Although the album was issued in stereo commercially,^[1] there is some evidence to suggest that mono copies of the album (possibly radio station promos) were also distributed in the UK.^[13] As well as being issued in the standard stereo format, Byrdmaniax was also released in 1971 as a Quadraphonic LP in Japan on the CBS Sony label (catalogue number SOPL-34001).^[14][15] The quadraphonic version of the album features a noticeably different mix to the standard stereo version.

Upon its release, Byrdmaniax was greeted positively by the UK music press but received scathing reviews in the U.S.^[1] In the August 1971 edition of Rolling Stone magazine, Richard Meltzer described the album as "increments of pus" and the song "I Wanna Grow up to Be a Politician" as "degenerating into namby pamby innocuous mickey mouse with latent-blatant political content", before finally deriding The Byrds themselves as "a boring dead group."^[16] In more recent years, Mark Deming, in his review of the album on the Allmusic website, concluded "Not an awful album, but Byrdmaniax is hardly the pleasure it could have been in the hands of a more tasteful production team."^[7] Ultimately, Byrdmaniax suffers not just from the inappropriate orchestration but also from being a Byrds' album that is almost totally bereft of The Byrds' signature sound.^[6]

Byrdmaniax was remastered at 20-bit resolution as part of the Columbia/Legacy Byrds series, and was reissued in an expanded form on February 22, 2000. The three bonus tracks on the remastered CD include a version of Gene Clark's "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better", sung by Clarence White (who had also played guitar on Clark's original 1967 solo recording of the song), a stripped-down version of "Pale Blue" and a version of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman". The remastered reissue also includes, as a hidden track, an alternate version of "Green Apple Quick Step", which is sometimes known by the alternate title "Byrdgrass".^[17]

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Glory, Glory" (Arthur Reynolds) – 4:03
2. "Pale Blue" (Roger McGuinn, Gene Parsons) – 2:22
3. "I Trust" (Roger McGuinn) – 3:19
4. "Tunnel of Love" (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 4:59
5. "Citizen Kane" (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 2:36

Side 2

1. "I Wanna Grow up to Be a Politician" (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 2:03
2. "Absolute Happiness" (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 2:38
3. "Green Apple Quick Step" (Gene Parsons, Clarence White) – 1:49
4. "My Destiny" (Helen Carter) – 3:38
5. "Kathleen's Song" (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 2:40
6. "Jamaica Say You Will" (Jackson Browne) – 3:27

2000 CD reissue Bonus Tracks

12. "Just Like a Woman" (Bob Dylan) - 3:56
13. "Pale Blue" [Alternate Version] (Roger McGuinn, Gene Parsons) - 2:33
14. "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better" (Gene Clark) - 6:04
    • NOTE: this song ends at 2:33; at 2:45 begins "Green Apple Quick Step" [Alternate Version] (Gene Parsons, Clarence White)

Singles

1. "I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)" b/w "(Is This) My Destiny" (CBS 7253) 7 May 1971
2. "Glory, Glory" b/w "Citizen Kane" (Columbia 45440) 20 August 1971

Personnel

NOTES:

• Sources for this section are as follows: ^[1][8][18]
• On bonus track 12 Larry Knetchel plays organ and Jackson Browne plays piano; on bonus track 14 Jimmi Seiter plays tambourine.

Release history

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q} Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited. Rogan House. ISBN 0-95295-401-X. 
2. ^ "The Byrds chart data". Ultimate Music Database. http://www.umdmusic.com/default.asp?Lang=English&Search=Byrds&Where=Bands. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
3. ^ Whitburn, Joel. (2002). Top Pop Albums 1955-2001. Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-147-0. 
4. ^ Brown, Tony. (2000). The Complete Book of the British Charts. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-7670-8. 
5. ^ "Byrds Discography". ByrdWatcher: A Field Guide to the Byrds of Los Angeles. http://ebni.com/byrds/refdiscogbyrds.html. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Fricke, David. (2000). Byrdmaniax (2000 CD liner notes). 
7. ^ ^{a b c} "Byrdmaniax review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hzfrxqq5ld6e. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Rogan, Johnny. (2000). Byrdmaniax (2000 CD liner notes). 
9. ^ "The Byrds Rare LPs". Byrds Flyght. http://users.skynet.be/byrdsflyght/rare12.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
10. ^ "Citizen Kane". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:gbfwxzldldde. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
11. ^ ^{a b c d} "Byrdmaniax". ByrdWatcher: A Field Guide to the Byrds of Los Angeles. http://ebni.com/byrds/lpbmx.html. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
12. ^ "Jamaica Say You Will review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:3xfwxq90ldse. Retrieved 2009-10-07. 
13. ^ "The Byrds Mono Pressings". Byrds Flyght. http://users.skynet.be/byrdsflyght/mono.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
14. ^ "The Byrds Rare LPs". Byrds Flyght. http://users.skynet.be/byrdsflyght/rare12.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
15. ^ "Byrdmaniax Quadraphonic LP". Esprit International Ltd. Catalogue. http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=389189. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
16. ^ "Byrdmaniax review". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thebyrds/albums/album/221506/review/5941873/byrdmaniax. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
17. ^ Irwin, Bob. (2006). There Is a Season (2006 CD box set liner notes). 
18. ^ Hjort, Christopher. (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973). Jawbone Press. ISBN 1-90600-215-0.