The Byrds - American University (2015) {Vintage Masters} **[RE-UP]**

×

The Byrds - American University (2015) {Vintage Masters} **[RE-UP]**

Close

Live at the American University, Washington, DC, April 18, 1970. With their intricate harmonies and chiming guitars, from folk rock to acoustic rock to country rock, The Byrds probably covered them all. While the group formed in the ’60s with Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, drummer Michael Clark and bassist Chris Hillman, by 1970 when they played this Washington gig, only McGuinn from the original members remained.

With guitarist Clarence White, bassist Skip Battin and drummer Gene Parsons in the lineup, anyone thinking that this is a second-rate band should seriously reconsider. While fans have commented favourably on the nice sound of this show, the highlight is the classic 20-minute jam on Eight Miles High (where the casual listener might even mistake them for Santana doing a spot of jazz improv!). On the other hand, the the band sounded suitably rustic on the instrumental Black Mountain Rag.

While The Byrds have covered Bob Dylan right from the beginning (after all, their debut album was called Mr Tambourine Man), they continued this fine tradition here with what sounds like The Byrds doing the Bob Dylan songbook - You Ain’t Going Nowhere, My Back Pages, This Wheel’s on Fire, It’s Alright Ma and the perennial classic, Mr Tambourine Man.

The original Byrds reunited briefly in 1972 and while McGuinn, Clark and Hillman have worked with each other subsequently, the full-fledged reunion of the three continue to seem as elusive then as it is now. Gene Clark died in 1991 and Michael Clark died of liver disease in 1993.

While today’s younger music listeners think of R.E.M. when they talk about jangle rock (especially on their Murmur album), not many would remember that musical path was long charted by acts that included The Byrds.

×

The Byrds - American University (2015) {Vintage Masters} **[RE-UP]**

Close