More of The Byrds
WOW! The best pressing to ever hit the site, and it’s Triple Plus (A+++) on ALL FOUR SIDES. The overall sound is really rich, full-bodied, and open with impressive transparency and presence. Features a 16 minute Eight Miles High on the live disc that just kills — especially on a lively copy like this.
On the better copies songs like Chestnut Mare reveal a huge soundstage with delicate guitars, sweet vocals, and lively drums. Most of the pressings we’ve played over the years were nothing to get worked up about, but the sound here is wonderful. It’s exceptionally musical and natural with a nice, fat, tubey quality to the guitars and real strength and definition down low.
One issue with this record is that the first two sides are recorded live. As a general rule it has been our experience that they do not sound as good as sides three and four. That said, if they have a good solid bass foundation, plenty of energy and a minimal amount of clarity these live sides can still sound quite respectable relative to most concert recordings from the era.
Side One
Lover of the Bayou
Positively 4th Street
Nashville West
So You Want to Be a Rock ‘N’ Roll Star
Mr. Tambourine Man
Mr. Spaceman
Side Two
Eight Miles High
Side Three
Chestnut Mare
Truck Stop Girl
All Things
Yesterday’s Train
Hungry Planet
Side Four
Just a Season
Take a Whiff on Me
You All Look Alike
Well Come Back Home
AMG Review
Among the later Byrds albums, Untitled was always the one to own, even if you weren’t a huge fan.
‘Eight Miles High’ is the high point, a 15-minute jam that showcases this band’s prowess. The studio sides aren’t to be overlooked, however — the group by this time was modifying its established sound into more of a ’70s mode, and the influence of new members Gene Parsons and Skip Battin was showing up, pushing aside the familiar timbre of Roger McGuinn’s 12-string Rickenbacker in favor of a leaner country-rock orientation.
The only song on the album to get heard by people other than serious Byrds fanatics was McGuinn’s ‘Chestnut Mare,’ but ‘Truck Stop Girl,’ ‘All the Things,’ the group’s version of Leadbelly’s ‘Take a Whiff on Me,’ and, especially, ‘Just a Season’ (maybe the prettiest song McGuinn has ever written) also hold up very well.