Welcome back to the CD Odyssey where today you will experience a rare and
wondrous event – an album older than me!
Disc 1338 is…Turn!
Turn! Turn!
Artist:
The Byrds
Year of Release: 1965
What’s up with the
Cover?
In 1965 these haircuts were considered dangerous and edgy. I’m not sure if
these outfits were ever fashionable, however – definitely not that Richard III
tunic on the left. And just to confirm your suspicions the douchebag with the
square sunglasses striking the “true artiste” pose is, of course, Roger
McGuinn.
How I Came to Know
It: I’ve known the Byrds for a
while, but apart from “Sweethearts of the Rodeo” (reviewed back at Disc 1021) they never really caught my attention.
But I recently reviewed
Gene Clark’s 1974 masterpiece “No Other” (Disc 1330) and it blew me away.
When I found out he was part of the Byrds for their first two albums it renewed
my interest, so I gave those two records a closer listen. This is one of them.
How It Stacks Up: I now have two Byrds’
albums, this one and the aforementioned “Sweethearts of the Rodeo”. Of the two,
“Turn! Turn! Turn!” comes in second.
Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4
You can hear the echoes of “Turn! Turn! Turn!”
down through the history of rock and roll. This is partly because of their incredibly
unique sound, and partly because of all those members they’ve fired that went
on to do great things.
On the musical influence side, you can hear them
clearly in Tom Petty’s songwriting – for which we should be thankful. We can
also hear them more generally through much of the jangly indie-pop of the
current age as well.
All that influence is a bit ironic given that
a lot of what they do here is take other people’s songs and convert them to
their own sound. The album starts with the title track, which is a Pete Seeger
folk ballad, and it ends with Stephen Foster’s early American classic “Oh,
Susannah.” In between they take on Bob Dylan’s “Lay Down Your Weary Tune”
and “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”
Is hearing all these covers annoying? Not at
all. The Byrds have their own sound, part hippy protest and part traditional
folk song, and fueled by the room-filling jangle of Roger McGuinn’s 12-string
Rickenbacker. I’ve got a love-hate relationship with Roger McGuinn through the
years, but that guitar sound is pretty damned sublime. It makes “Turn! Turn!
Turn!” relaxing, reflective and full of energy all at the same time.
The best of the covers is Dylan’s “Lay Down
Your Weary Tune.” It has a gentle lilt played quickly, but with feeling. In
fact, most of the songs on “Turn! Turn! Turn!” feel like they happen in
double-time but the Byrds manage to make it work. As for their vocals, none of
them are powerful on their own, but they do a lot of singing in harmony that
matches nicely with all that Rickenbacker dropped into the front of the mix.
“He Was a Friend of Mine” is a beautiful
and heartfelt traditional folk song, which McGuinn decides he should rework it into
a song about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The pretty arrangement and powerful
melody outweigh the at-times awkward rewrite, but I still would have preferred the
original lyrics, about the personal loss of a friend.
The hidden power of this record is Gene Clark.
Just like Gram Parsons’ made “Sweethearts of the Rodeo” great, Clark is what
gives “Turn! Turn! Turn!” its artistry and elevates it above what would
otherwise just be a very good album full of covers.
Clark is still early in his career, but his songwriting
talent, fully realized later on “No Other,” is already on display. “Set You
Free This Time” and “If You’re Gone” are heartfelt compositions
ahead of their time and mature beyond Clark’s years. The Byrds were lucky to have
both Clark and Parsons in their band at various times, and foolish to lose both
so quickly. I’m looking at you again, Roger.
My version of this record is an extended CD,
featuring a gratuitous seven bonus tracks. It is great to have Gene Clark’s “She
Don’t Care About Time”, (the B-side to the “Turn! Turn! Turn!” single
release). Also strong is David Crosby’s drug-fueled instrumental “Stranger
in a Strange Land,” which would have made Heinlein proud with its groovy
otherworldliness. Of note, the Byrds fired Crosby a couple years later so he
could go do that other thing he did.
Other than those two tracks, however, I was
mistreated with a bunch of alternate takes and “first versions” of stuff already
on the record. I get the value of a live track, but slight variations of outtakes
that were ultimately not selected do not interest me. Please make the record
shorter and better, and have the bravery to stand by the decisions made when it
was first pressed.
Still, it is easy to see why the original “Turn!
Turn! Turn!” has remained a classic. It is a record that deserves attention
both for its own place in musical history, and as one more reminder that one of
the greatest things the Byrds have done over the years is freed up some of their
most talented members to go make great solo records.
Best tracks: Turn! Turn! Turn!, Set You Free This Time, Lay Down
Your Weary Tune, He Was a Friend of Mine, If You’re Gone
Best bonus tracks: She Don’t Care About
Time, Stranger in a Strange Land
