So many changes had occurred in the Byrds camp since they formed in 1964.
First, of course, they wowed the pop world a year later, spearheading a new stripe of music coined folk rock that was just as successful and influential as anything the British bands were doing. But like the Beatles, the Kinks, the Who, the Yardbirds and other fabled groups from across the sea, the Los Angeles band refused to stand still.
Innovation ran through their veins, as the Byrds continued to stun and satisfy the masses with their adventurous sojourns into space rock, jazz rock, psychedelic rock, country rock and so on. The sky was seemingly limitless for these talented guys.
By the time Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde arrived on March 5, 1969, however, the group had encountered a series of personnel shifts. Founder Roger McGuinn, who handled vocals and guitar, was the only original member in the band at that point. Having to recruit a fresh set of players, he turned to guitarist Clarence White, bassist John York and drummer Gene Parsons.
There were growing pains: Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde (Columbia Records) is not the best album in the group’s catalog. Still, there were a fair share of bright spots are to be had. The pedal steel guitar work is particularly fantastic, the arrangements are inventive and Roger McGuinn’s distinctive nasal-pitched vocals are confident and inspired.
Constructed of purebred country curves, complete with troves of twang and the smell of greasy fried chicken and sizzling hot biscuits and gravy, tracks like the hand-clapping “Old Blue,” the heartily harmonious “Your Gentle Way of Loving Me,” the swaying gait of “Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man” and a giddy instrumental, “Nashville West” are definite delights heard here, as well as a cover of Bob Dylan and Rick Danko’s “This Wheel’s On Fire” that ripples and crackles with touches of burning acid-rock sensations.
Governed by a cosmic consciousness, “Child of the Universe” projects a tone that’s both eerie and heavy, “Bad Night at the Whiskey” counts as an unsettling slice of rather sludgy hard rock, and “Candy” serves as a catchy commingling of tipsy pop hooks and psychedelic grooves. The blues are one genre the band never really tampered with much, but Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde embodies the style with rewarding results on a medley of a revisited take of “My Back Pages,” an instrumental called “BJ Blues,” and a treatment of Jimmy Reed’s “Baby What You Want Me To Do,” which closes the album.
The Byrds were always big on experimentation, and this record showcases their hunger for sonic exploration. Certainly a mixed bag of sounds, Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde may lack the instant commercial appeal of the group’s past releases, but it remains an interesting and intriguing artifact of the era.
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Re Dr Byrds & Mr Hyde review – terrific !
“Certainly a mixed bag of sounds, Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde may lack the instant commercial appeal of the group’s past releases, but remains an interesting and intriguing artifact of the era.”
Dead on comment… notice the word “good” isn’t in there, though – which is also dead on. I tried to like this real hard, but I couldn’t do it. Gram Parsons, through a brilliant hijacking of the band, made a brilliant record out of Sweetheart of the Rodeo. But he’s not on this one, which alternates between faux country and sludge rock.
I figure it’s probably just better to stop chasing the Byrds after The Notorious Byrd Brothers album. If you want country, follow Parsons and Chris Hillman over to Flying Burrito territory.