Saturday, March 20, 2010

The Beatles vs. The Byrds (1965-67 Output)

The relationship between The Beatles and The Byrds has not been explored to the degree of perhaps The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones, or The Beatles vs. The Beach Boys. Obviously, like all bands of the era, The Byrds were heavily influenced by The Beatles. In fact, they originally set out to emulate their sound from the get-go, even misspelling their band name in tribute. But it could be said also that The Beatles were influenced by The Byrds, as they grew and matured as a band. Comparing The Beatles’ albums Help!, Rubber Soul, and Revolver to The Byrds’ Mr. Tambourine Man, Fifth Dimension, and Younger Than Yesterday, the common thread and mutual admiration becomes evident. The bands have more in common than 12-string Rickenbacker’s and complex vocal harmonies.
Mr. Tambourine Man, released April 1965, was The Byrds first release, their goal as a band to combine socially conscious lyrics in the folk tradition with the melody and style of The Beatles. What they created, in the Bob Dylan-pinned title number, was an entire genre. “Mr. Tambourine Man” became the first folk-rock hit, exploding The Byrds on to the scene and creating a genre that would fuel dozens of bands, from Buffalo Springfield to The Yardbirds. The album’s “The Bells of Rhymney” would inspire George Harrison to write Rubber Soul’s “If I Needed Someone,” while ”I’d Knew I Want You” was particularly Beatlesque. The heavy “It’s No Use” would be a precursor for the psychedelic rock yet to come. Both bands used heavy tambourine and 2/4 time signatures , usually with hallow romantic lyrics as on Mr. Tambourine Man (“You Won’t Have to Cry,” “Here Without You,” “It’s No Use,” “We’ll Meet Again”) and Help! (“The Night Before,” ”I Need You,” “Another Girl,” “It’s Only Love,” “Tell Me What You See”).
It’s unknown whether cannabis or touring fatigue is to blame for the less sophisticated material on Help!, although it’s the album with perhaps the most obvious folk-rock influence. The title song includes that old Byrds staple the 12-string guitar, with the anxiety and tension of the lyrics evident in its B-minor key. Like “Mr. Tambourine Man,” this song was originally slower in tempo but was sped up with the thought that a faster song would be more marketable. Arguably the most folk-rock song written by The Beatles is Lennon’s “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.” Allegedly Dylan-inspired, it’s strummed in major triads of the American folk tradition. The country-influenced “Another Girl” and ”I’ve Just Seen A Face” compare with the country influence of The Byrd’s “The Girl With No Name” and “Time Between” (found on Younger Than Yesterday, the latter particular reminiscent of McCartney), “Mr. Spaceman” (found on Fifth Dimension), and later the Lennon composition “Dr. Robert.” (Revolver). Help!’s “Ticket to Ride” used chiming electric guitars reminiscent of The Byrds, while employing controlled feedback (recently en vogue thanks to The Who), and most significantly the drone. The drone is the first instance of Indian-inspired music in the Beatles, although the instrumental soundtrack to the film of the same name used sitar and tambura. Harrison is almost solely responsible for bringing the sounds of India to The Beatles, although this is a Lennon-pegged track. The Byrds as well would use Indian instruments on their tracks, starting with the single “Eight Miles High,” continuing on the Fifth Dimension album, and heavily on Younger Than Yesterday.
Fifth Dimension, released July 1966, has been called The Byrds’ most daring album, half-old school and half-new school Byrds, indicative of where the band had been and where it would be going. Throw backs like Seeger’s “Wild Mountain Thyme” felt to Crosby like a message that had already been sent. He was moving in a different direction, as evidenced by the inclusion of “What’s Happening?!?!”, “Hey Joe”, and the sonically adventurous “2-4-2 Fox Trot.” 5D saw The Byrds experimenting with sound, as in the aforementioned “2-4-2 Fox Trot,” which sought to combine pop sounds with mechanical sounds. They were also exploring where their lyrics could go beyond their traditional social commentary, exploring psychological states (“I See You”, “What’s Happening?!?!”, “Fifth Dimension”, “Eight Miles High”). They also experienced, like The Beatles, what it was like to be banned from the radio for arbitrary reasons. The title song as well as the single “Eight Miles High” were thought to the authorities to be about drugs, when actually the former was about physics and the latter about a plane ride. The banning of the single led to the album receiving poor sales, and might have spelled the end for The Byrds were it not for their fabulous follow-up, and arguably their best album, Younger Than Yesterday.
Rubber Soul, released December 1965, would find The Beatles in more cohesion than Help!, although it was filled with jokey songs (Drive My Car, Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man) and freer bass by McCartney. Marketed as a straight-up folk-rock album in the U.S. (who borrowed two tracks from Help! to make this happen) but as a bluesy tribute in the U.K. (hence the title- they don’t have a plastic soul, but a rubber one), Rubber Soul saw The Beatles again testing their limits. All but done with lyrics longing for elusive women (with the exception of “Girl”), Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison wrote more personal words that seemed to reflect their particular life situations. “Nowhere Man” was another self-deprecating Lennon song,” I’m Looking Through You” a McCartney comment on his relationship with Jane Asher, and “Think For Yourself” a sarcastic Harrison number that showed his discontentment with people in general (although it could be argued this song was aimed at fans who believed everything The Beatles said). The latter song also used distortion to great effect, again capitalizing on the trend. “I’m Looking Through You” would provide ambiguous lyrics not indifferent from what The Byrds (David Crosby specifically) would use on songs like “What’s Happening?!?!” and “I See You.” The Byrds would also answer the blues-tinge of Rubber Soul with the jazz inspired tunes such as “Everybody’s Been Burned” (Younger Than Yesterday) and “Eight Miles High” (Fifth Dimension).
Younger Than Yesterday, released February 1967, had The Byrds without principal songwriter Gene Clark, who quit the band. This would be a personification of how the band would change and evolve. Tensions were high in this recording, as Crosby was growing unhappy and wanting to move in more experimental directions, while the rest of the band was happy with the status-quo of Dylan covers and folk-based rock. These tensions—between psychedelic rock and folk rock—is what would make the album so compelling. From the dream-like “Renaissance Fair,” which had interplay between guitars and loping bass, to the raga “Why,” to the strange “Mind Gardens,” Younger Than Yesterday is The Byrds most adventurous album. Specifically, it’s use of backward guitar and tapes (no doubt borrowed from Revolver) made the soundscape complex and enriching. Again exploring the extraterrestrial in “C.T.A.-102” (like in “Mr. Spaceman”), The Byrds used an electric oscillator to achieve that far off sound. McGuinn argued that Crosby’s ”Mind Gardens” had no rhythm, meter, or rhyme, but Crosby argued back that that was the point. Not unlike “Tomorrow Never Knows” (from Revolver), but far less successful, “Mind Gardens” is an exploration of sound and mood that is at times irritating but always interesting. The Byrds did manage to put another Dylan cover on their album, “My Back Pages,” lyrics from which the album takes its name. This annoyed Crosby, but it is still a classic and manages to make itself feel at home among the other, more textured songs. “Have You Seen Her Face” sounds like a British Invasion song from two years back, like something the Dave Clark 5 might put out, but it works for them. The Byrds still have their 12-string all over this album, but this time it’s followed up with a sitar or drone. The success in this aural exploration could be due to their new producer, Gary Usher, a former songwriting partner to fellow musical astronaut Brain Wilson. Usher’s ear for smooth sounds is all over this record. If Younger Than Yesterday proved the importance of a producer, Revolver did so ten-fold.
It was a fateful meeting between The Byrds frontmen (Jim McGuinn and David Crosby) and John Lennon and George Harrison that would prompt not only the use of sitar on the Beatles classic Norwegian Wood, but would inspire the material for “She Said, She Said” (from Revolver). On August 24, 1965, the four met at a house The Beatles had rented in L.A. and took LSD together. While jamming on 12-string guitars, Crosby is said to have turned Lennon onto the music of Ravi Shankar, although Harrison was already somewhat familiar with the master sitar player’s work. At that time, Peter Fonda busted in and told of a near-death experience he encountered, saying he knew what it was like to be dead. Lennon took this line and the mood of the trip to write “She Said, She Said,” on the very trippy Revolver.
Revolver, released August 1966, marked a new era for The Beatles. Sick of touring, which they felt had adversely affected their musicianship, the four lads hunkered down and set out to go where no album had gone before. With ingenious recording engineer Geoff Emerick and master producer George Martin, The Beatles created one of the greatest albums of all time, no hyperbolizing there. Starting off with the bluesy “Taxman,” one of the Beatles few social comments to The Byrds’ many, and ending with the ego-death celebrating sonic explosion “Tomorrow Never Knows,” Revolver was a bold step forward. Like “I Come and Stand at Every Door” (Fifth Dimension), “Eleanor Rigby” was one of the few pop songs that touched on death, while “I’m Only Sleeping” reflected Lennon’s growing dependence on LSD. “I’m Only Sleeping” used backward guitars, and vocals that were then sped up and down, to create the dreamy sound. Harrison’s “Love You To” developed the skepticism of “Think For Yourself,” and again the sitar and tambura appear. The previously discussed “She Said, She Said” added tension that was broken up by the blissful “Good Day Sunshine,” which was then followed by “And You Bird Can Sing,” which used apeggiated guitars to punctuate its cynical lyrics. McCartney’s Motown-tinged “Got to Get You Into My Life,” an ode to that herb The Beatles loved so much, was followed by the karmatic Harrison number “I Want to Tell You.” But what would defy what audiences in 1966 knew as logic, and no doubt inspire The Byrds’ “Mind Gardens” would be the bands crowning achievement to date: “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and the teachings of Timothy Leary, “Tomorrow..” uses devices that hadn’t even been invented yet. Tearing up Abbey Road studios and literally breaking into the circuitry of a Leslie speaker in order to achieve the sound Lennon strived for, the song soars to sonic heights not yet dreamed of. It does what the best music should—it creates a nearly tangible world through sound. The lyrics, while not dissimilar to those of Fifth Dimension, introduced mind expansion to a larger audience. Revolver as an album is one of the most influential albums ever made, and one of The Beatles most interesting, layered works.
From the country-tinged folk-rock hits of the early years, to the Indian influence and psychedelic rock of the later ones, The Byrds and The Beatles were two bands of differing popularity that nonetheless learned from one another and perhaps dared each other to take things one step further. While it’s The Beatles that will have the larger footnote in history, The Byrds deserve more recognition than they’ve received for their consistent output of excellent records that challenged the norm, if not to the extent of The Beatles. Both surely influence musicians today with their desire to innovate without losing melody.

2 comments:

  1. Hi
    I came here via Google and wow, what an analysis! I was not much into the Byrds before though I have always been crazy about the Beatles. After listening to both for about 100 hours, I am now of the opinion that the Byrds were more innovative and made up sweeter tunes.. Pity they did not reach the top where the Beatles, the Stones etc ruled the roost. Can you please find the reason why Pure Prairie League did not meet with the success of Crosby, Still & Nash or the Eagles etc. Thanks v much.

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