The Byrds – Alternate Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde Album
Vintage Masters VMCDR-531 (Japan? 2020)
“Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde” alternate mixes
Roger McGuinn (guitar, vocals)
Clarence White (guitar, mandolin, vocals)
Gene Parsons (drums, harmonica, vocals)
John York (bass, vocals)
An
alternate album based on an acetate LP of the late 1969 Byrds album, with
tracks before later work was done on them. An image of the acetate appears on
the front cover of this CDR.
The Byrds – Unreleased Alternate “Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde”
LP Acetate
From Wiki:
An acetate version of Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde, dated October 16, 1968 and containing a seven-track programme for the album is known to exist. At this point the album consisted of the songs “Old Blue”, “King Apathy III”, “Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man” and “This Wheel’s on Fire” on side one, with “Your Gentle Way of Loving Me”, “Nashville West” and “Bad Night at the Whiskey” on side two.
This acetate contains alternate and unreleased versions of every song that appears on the final album, as follows:
Side 1
Old Blue
Very different mix, without acoustic guitar overdubs, and much more prominent drums and handclaps
King Apathy 111
3:27 on Acetate, vs 2:56 on LP. Very different mix, possibly different guitar and bass parts
Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man
Very different mix, much clearer, more bass and drums, different guitar parts, possibly different vocals; no “This one’s for you Ralph” spoken overdub, 5 seconds longer than LP version
This Wheels on Fire
An alternate and unreleased version; 3:56 vs. 4:40 on LP, different tempo, very different throughout. Acetate version ends with guitar drone ending with almost cartoon like voiceings, not present here. No bomb explosion at end. The Byrds re-recorded this song 12/4/68, after this acetate was cut.
Side 2
Your Gentle Way of Loving me
Very different mix
Nashville West
Alternate version or very different mix without drums, woodblock, or vocals, different guitar
Bad Night at The Whiskey
Very different mix
This is a 1968 acetate cut before The Byrds reentered the studio in late October 1968 to remix/overdub/record and in the case of This Wheel’s On Fire, re-record.
1. This Wheel's
On Fire (5:02)
2. Old Blue (3:33)
3. Your Gentle Way Of Loving Me (2:42)
4. Child Of The Universe (3:26)
5. Nashville West (2:51)
6. Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man (4:02)
7. King Apathy III (4:07)
8. Candy (3:45)
9. Bad Night At The Whiskey (3:27)
2. Old Blue (3:33)
3. Your Gentle Way Of Loving Me (2:42)
4. Child Of The Universe (3:26)
5. Nashville West (2:51)
6. Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man (4:02)
7. King Apathy III (4:07)
8. Candy (3:45)
9. Bad Night At The Whiskey (3:27)
Artwork
Included (front, back)
11 comments:
Wow!! Thank you!!
This looks like quite a find. I can't wait to get into it. Thanks.
This doesn’t sound like different takes as much as a cleaner mix with a few fewer edits. I’ve always thought this album was mixed badly - it sounded muddy. This mix has better separation letting you hear all the guitars better. It’s nice to hear some slightly extended jamming on a few tracks - passages that were edited out for the album for some reason.
I can't hear all that many differences in some of the songs. Candy is similar to the longer version in the re-release, but it sounds good and would have worked better in the movie than Child of the Universe, which seemed a bit pretentious for such a modest movie. Nashville West starts off electric but gradually becomes more acoustic--it still sounds like a novelty song. The real surprise here is King Apathy III. This song, like Candy, defines what the latter Byrds understood as country rock. As they did in countless concerts, the Byrds were not afraid to continue going country, and with a genius like Clarence White playing that inimitable B-bender, the sound was both authentic and Byrd-refined. But they could also rock, and in King Apathy they do that more than in any other place in the album. From what I can hear, Clarence White plays the rhythm line, while McGuinn plays two leads, and the effect is hypnotic at times, like parts of Notorious Byrd Brothers. The long fadeout is a mini-jam session, again with the same pattern, except the third guitar is not clearly defined. Very nice and dense, like in the past. This album sounded a lot like the previous Byrds. Despite the heavy rock arrangement, Wheels on Fire contains the soaring Byrds harmonies we associate with first albums. So does Old Blue, a nice inoffensive dog song. This album is better than it has gotten credit for, and deserved better commercial success (the worst-selling Byrds album?). McGuinn was trying to rebuild the band from scratch and kept enough of the original elements (the 12-string, a largely electric album, the harmonies, the dense arrangements) to satisfy the bands previous fans while introducing the new members who played the old songs with respect and skill, and defined their own characteristics as a band, aided by the multi-instrumental talents of the members. Dr. Byrds is an album that sounds more Byrds-like than Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and suggested a direction for country rock that they unfortunately abandoned in the next album. Thanks for this upload--the extended versions of Candy and King Apathy III are especially interesting.
Nice review, Steve. Agree with almost all your points. Certainly there are some fine moments on this album, King Apathy, Bad Night, and Wheel's.. point to an interesting new style, which as you pointed out, they abandoned this unique style after this album. My problem, was then and still is, McGuinn's insistence on calling this band The Byrds. He and the band itself, would have been better served giving this band a new name and identity . Instead of being compared to something they weren't, they may have found more acceptance as a new product. Of course I realize there are 2 camps regarding this name issue, and the only reason I bring it up is this band in particular , with John York, had a lot of potential employing multiple musical styles, which I don't think were ever fully developed due to McGuinn's reticence to leave the past. The live tapes of this period, particularly the "Tea Party " tape I will offer as evidence of that. jmho
Thank you so much ! I've given it a thorough listen and the differences ,apart from the obvious ones mentioned are subtle but significant. Little guitar parts and different emphasis on drums and some vocals. I remember getting this album after thinking the Byrds extinct, I was knocked out by their new sounding harmony and innovative guitar.With Hillman in the band
I understood why he kept the name so by the time of this album with Hillman gone I suppose Clarence had given continuity. I personally loved this line up and accepted all members even Skip later on as bona fide Byrds. I know this view divides fans but lets not all fall out.To me it makes them EVEN more interesting! By the way,this album is not as different as the Japanese Quad mix of Byrdmaniax. There are guitar parts and strings that are unheard on the regular version even on a non quad player Best wishes to Rockin Byrd and all Byrds fans Kevin
As for McGuinn keeping the Byrds name with the new band, let me ask the forum if anyone objects to the Eagles, who today have only one original member left, Don Henley. And then there were all the variations of Fleetwood Mac. Lineup changes plagued the Byrds almost from the start, but the Dr Byrds version was a completely different group from the previous LP, yet managed to sound much like the original band, thanks in part to McGuinn taking all the leads. Most probably the name Byrds attracted more of an audience than the Roger McGuinn Band would have. Much of the problems with later Byrds material might be that their songwriters weren't as good as Gene Clark, Chris Hillman or David Crosby.
I totally agree with Steve about the name but futhermore,yes they did have problems with new material. The reformed Byrds to some extent showed a similar problem and the kind of individualism present was similar to the freedom that Mcguinn gave to the later Byrds. To me this was not a great problem but if they had chosen Captain Video instead of Tunnel of Love I would have been happier! Some of Skip'ss other songs could have been more byrdish like You All Look Alike
I would love to hear how hardcore fans would put together a single glorious 60m album using the post-Sweetheart LP's as sources.
Really upping the ante of quality songs puts the personnel changes in a different light.
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