the notorious byrd brothers

The Byrds were reduced from a quartet to a duo during the recording of this album that saw them expanding their sound with psychedelic experimentation, electronic instrumentation, country music, and jazz.  The recording of 'The Notorious Byrd Brothers' began during the summer of 1967 with Roger McGuinn on guitar, Moog synthesizer, and vocals; David Crosby on guitar, electric bass, and vocals; Chris Hillman on electric bass, vocals, and mandolin; and Michael Clarke on drums; but the sessions at Columbia Studios in Hollywood were fraught with tension from the start.  McGuinn and Hillman were becoming frustrated with Crosby's behavior on stage (making long and controversial speeches in-between songs and playing with rival band Buffalo Springfield) and in the studio (trying to dictate the band's musical direction).  Clarke left in August because he didn't like the songs the other members were bringing to the table.  He was replaced by session drummers  Jim Gordon and Hal Blaine.  Then, in September, Crosby refused to participate in the recording of 'Goin' Back' by Carole King and Gerry Coffin; which was slated as a replacement for his own composition 'Triad'.  In October, McGuinn and Hillman fired Crosby:  "They came over and said that they wanted to throw me out. They came zooming up in their Porsches and said that I was impossible to work with and I wasn't very good anyway and they'd do better without me. And frankly, I've been laughing ever since. Fuck 'em. But it hurt like hell. I didn't try to reason with them. I just said, 'it's a shameful waste ... goodbye.'... It was not a comfortable parting of the ways. They threw me out. And they were not nice about it. And they did take songs that I co-wrote, and music that I made, and tried to pretend that I wasn't there. Or at least give the impression that I wasn't there, which was unkind, but understandable under the circumstances. They were under the influence of some very bad people at the time, and they were told that they needed to give the impression that they were just as strong without me as they had been with me. And I don't think... I know that's not how Christopher feels about me and I don't think that's how Roger feels about me now. I think it was just a bad feeling at the time, and I am sure I contributed to it as much as anybody. I was not an easy guy at that point. I was pretty much of a punk and had an enormous attitude and thought I was a lot better than I probably was, and wanted to be... to have a larger share of things. And I was starting to write fairly good stuff. When they tossed me out I was writing 'Wooden Ships' and 'Guinnevere' and 'Deja Vu'."

Hillman says:  "I don't remember everything on 'Notorious'. 'Younger Than Yesterday' I do, that was my album in that sense that I started to come out of my shyness and contribute more. And I think we did some of the very first country-rock on 'Younger Than Yesterday'. I think with Clarence [White], 'Girl with No Name', 'Time Between', stuff like that, that was our country-rock statement of the time. 'Notorious', I've talked to more people over the years who have said that's their favorite Byrds album. And there was Roger and I in the breach, having had our fallout with David in finishing this record with Gary Usher. Gary Usher was very good at the time, a very good producer to work with, and opened all kinds of ideas. I like those albums. I can't remember every single song on there. But there were things like 'Draft Morning' that were really interesting. But the band just starting its descent into hell then."

The sessions continued with producer Gary Usher, who also played Moog sythesizer, percussion, and provided background vocals.  Other musicians included Clarence White and James Burton on guitar; Red Rhodes on pedal steel guitar; Paul Beaver on Moog synthesizer and piano; Terry Trotter on piano; Barry Goldberg on organ; Dennis McCarthy on celeste; Lester Harris, Raymond Kelley, Paul Bergstrom, and Jacqueline Lustgarten on cello; Victor Sazer, Carl West, and William Armstrong on violin; Alfred McKibbon on bowed double bass; Ann Stockton on harp; Richard Hyde on trombone; Jay Migliori on saxophone; Roy Caron, Virgil Fums, and Gary Weber on brass; Dennis Faust on percussion; Curt Boettcher on backing vocals; and the Firesign Theatre comedy troupe provided sound effects.  

McGuinn remembers:  "I enjoyed working with Usher and it was great fun in the studio. We were kind of Beatles-influenced, I don't know if it was 'Revolver' or 'Rubber Soul', but we were influenced by one of those. I think they'd released something that didn't have separations between the tracks, so I think that was the inspiration for that. It was just a real artistic expression, freedom of expression. It was a lot of fun to be able to do things that were off the wall like that. We were kind of a trio by then. Michael left right after this, but he didn't sing. Chris and I were the only singers. He had to jump into the harmony vocals slot when I sang lead and I had to harmonize when he sang lead. It was a good thing for Chris. We started writing together; we wrote a lot of songs together."

Founding member Gene Clark rejoined the band for a few weeks, providing some backing vocals during the end of the sessions; but he left again when it came to getting on a plane for the tour.  Michael Clarke came back as well; but was soon told to leave again by McGuinn and Hillman.  The remaining duo brought in Hillman's cousin Kevin Kelley on drums; and the resulting college tour convinced them to bring in Gram Parsons as a pianist.    

'The Notorious Byrd Brothers' went to forty-seven in the US and twelve in the UK.







http://www.thebyrds.com/










'The Notorious Byrd Brothers'
full album:





Side 1
"Artificial Energy" (Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke) – 2:18
"Goin' Back" (Carole King, Gerry Goffin) – 3:26
"Natural Harmony" (Chris Hillman) – 2:11
"Draft Morning" (David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn) – 2:42
"Wasn't Born to Follow" (Carole King, Gerry Goffin) – 2:04
"Get to You" (Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn) – 2:39

Side 2
"Change Is Now" (Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn) – 3:21
"Old John Robertson" (Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn) – 1:49
"Tribal Gathering" (David Crosby, Chris Hillman) – 2:03
"Dolphin's Smile" (David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn) – 2:00
"Space Odyssey" (Roger McGuinn, Robert J. Hippard) – 3:52


bonus tracks: 

"Moog Raga"  (Roger McGuinn) – 3:24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVm-x8DyKmM

"Bound to Fall"  (Mike Brewer, Tom Mastin) – 2:08
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qG8Y1Ntsu8

"Triad" (David Crosby) – 3:29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgfiN0rbdpI


"Goin' Back" (Carole King, Gerry Goffin) – 3:55
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L10c-8aGVVE

"Draft Morning" (David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn) – 2:55
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5JLcEQXNog

"Universal Mind Decoder" (Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn) / "The Notorious Byrd Brothers Radio Advertisement" 
http://www.juzp.net/_yZ2IufSIvGvS

"Dolphin's Smile" [In-studio Argument] 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7S9wA5vV4Q