Byrds, The: The Notorious Byrd Brothers (Vinyl LP)
The Notorious Byrd Brothers captures the Byrds between the seminal folk-rock glories of their better-known mid-1960s triumphs and the equally influential country-rock that would soon follow.
The album is no holding action, however; with one time Beach Boy associate Gary Usher producing and Roy Halee engineering, the band weaves its signature vocal harmonies and chiming guitars through a lusher, more impressionistic art-pop tapestry that stops just short of post-Sgt Pepper's cliche, employing phased vocals, sound effects, Moog synthesiser, and horns.
Thematically, the project pits utopian innocence ('Tribal Gathering', 'Dolphins Smile') against a new wariness ('Artificial Energy', a cautionary look at amphetamines, and the Vietnam vignette of 'Draft Morning'). In a field of well-paced, inventive songs, the zenith is the silken, wistful 'Goin' Back', Carole King's poignant meditation on childhood and innocence.
- Artificial Energy
- Goin' Back
- Natural Harmony
- Draft Morning
- Wasn't Born to Follow
- Get to You
- Change Is Now
- Old John Robertson
- Tribal Gathering
- Dolphin's Smile
- Space Odyssey