The Byrds – Ames Iowa State University 1970Ames Iowa State University – October 3, 1970
Roger McGuinn - guitar/vocals
Clarence White - guitar/vocals
Gene Parsons - drums/harmonica/vocals
Skip Battin - bass/vocals
Soundboard Recording
1. Lover Of The Bayou (3:05)
2. You Ain't Going Nowhere (2:40)
3. I Trust (4:09)
4. My Back Pages (2:24)
5. Baby What You Want Me To Do (3:58)
6. Well Come Back Home (8:32)
7. Truck Stop Girl (4:49)
8. Black Mountain Rag (1:05)
9. Take A Whiff (On Me) (2:51)
10. Wheels On Fire (6:06)
11. It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (3:01)
12. Ballad Of Easy Rider (2:06)
13. Eight Miles High (19:46)
14. Hold It (2:00)
15. So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star (3:02)
16. Mr Spaceman (3:08)
17. Hold It (1:04)
Artwork Included
Thanks to Dave for the files
3. I Trust (4:09)
4. My Back Pages (2:24)
5. Baby What You Want Me To Do (3:58)
6. Well Come Back Home (8:32)
7. Truck Stop Girl (4:49)
8. Black Mountain Rag (1:05)
9. Take A Whiff (On Me) (2:51)
10. Wheels On Fire (6:06)
11. It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (3:01)
12. Ballad Of Easy Rider (2:06)
13. Eight Miles High (19:46)
14. Hold It (2:00)
15. So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star (3:02)
16. Mr Spaceman (3:08)
17. Hold It (1:04)
Artwork Included
Thanks to Dave for the files
8 comments:
Excellent show! Thanks to you and David for sharing it with us. You have been missed, it's nice to have you back!
Nice to have you back, R--B. A question: how do I download the file? The usual symbol doesn't appear, and I can't find what to click on to start the download. Any suggestions?
The only version of the Byrds I ever saw live was when York was the bassist. I wish I had seen the later Byrds. While the York lineup still tried to sound as much as possible like the original Byrds, this lineup is far freer to develop its own style. Just listening to the vocals alone shows how different this group is from the original. The harmonies are a little loose, but it's the high harmony that makes the real difference, as Gene Parsons sounds nothing like David Crosby or Chris Hillman. That doesn't mean the harmonies are bad--they aren't--but just very different. And Clarence White as the second lead singer? Gene Parsons has a better voice but doesn't sing lead on anything. Still, the group was an excellent live band, and this recording shows them at the top of their game. Clarence is a busy lead guitarist, constantly playing around the lead singing (like Carlos Santana does, but in a much different style, of course) and able to jam with extended solos, some of them very jazz-like. The rhythm section is fine--very busy, like Clarence, but the result is energetic rather than choppy or sloppy. The setlist is fairly typical of this time, but I wonder why the later Byrds were unable to capture the excitement of their live songs on record. How much better would have been the extended instrumental in this version of Well Come Back Home instead of the Oriental yodeling on Untitled. And I Trust, without the steel guitar and gospel choir, sounds much better than the studio version and would have made a good finale to Byrdmaniax. All in all, a delightful concert, with good sound quality and some excellent performances. Thanks once again for this little jewel, R--B.
Sweet show - thanks so much! So glad you're back!!!
Thankyou again Rockingbyrd - nice to have you back.
Steve, I believe Clarence White was a little too "busy", in some of these live recordings. On earlier live recordings his guitar style works, on the Nashville West" album, he seems to be at his best in my opinion. It is on these latter live recordings, that sometimes he seems to become a little lost in it all.
Kilby, your comment is valid, but I think all three of the hired hands were guilty of this at times--the Untitled version of Mr Tambourine Man comes to mind. Maybe it's part of the mindset of a live performance--show the people what you can do. And these musicians could do a lot. In this recording, they extend themselves on the instrumental part near the end of Well Come Back Home rather effectively to get the same effect that Battin tried to achieve but was unable to do so (rather, he sounds like he's having a nervous breakdown in nirvana). The Eight Miles High jam is another example of musicians showing off for the fans, although I think this one dragged on a little too long. To me, McGuinn is the least busy of the group, perhaps because he does most of the singing. His rather basic rhythm guitar playing tends to keep it all together, like in 8MH where his distorted chord progressions keep a steady beat while all the others go all over the place.
Steve, I agree with your comments. At this point in time, ie, the early 70s, there seemed to be a fashion amongst many bands to extend songs, beyond what was needed - to "jam" songs which were not necessarily up to it.
Interesting comments,guys. Personally, I always thought the "York" version of the "New" Byrds much more interesting, both songwise and performancewise. It seems that Battin was much looser, and the band as well.I think you guys are right, all three were far too busy in concert, to the point of annoyance. While these guys were all decent players, they were also limited in their ablility to play different styles,especially Parsons. He plays pretty much same beat to everything.That and the fact that the repetoire didn't much change makes a lot of these shows somewhat uninteresting.It would be nice to see some more York era shows surface, or better yet, some live stuff from the original band.It's hard to judge what a type of live band they were, with only Monterey and the KUS show to go on. Maybe someday.....
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