Forty six years ago The Byrds had just changed their band name from The Jet Set and were rehearsing songs at World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles under the tutelage of producer Jim Dickson. Chris Hillman had joined Jim (later Roger) McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby's folk group to play bass guitar in a new Rock 'n Roll group. Balanced out by Michael Clarke on drums, The Byrds were signed to Columbia Records on November 10, 1964, but the contract originally only included McGuinn, Clark, and Crosby. For Hillman it was the beginning of a long musical career that lasts into today.
The Byrds first recording session for Columbia Records on January 25, 1965 was only for a single. The A side contained the Bob Dylan composition "Mr. Tambourine Man" and the Gene Clark original "I Knew I'd Want You" took the B side. Producer Terry Melcher hired The Wrecking Crew, an L.A. group of studio musicians responsible for the music on many 1960's hits. Only Roger McGuinn was allowed to play his signature Rickenbacker guitar on the tracks.
Here's the second television appearance ever by The Byrds on Hullabaloo from May 8, 1965.
After Clark left The Byrds in 1966, Hillman took a stronger role in the group and even wrote four of the songs on Younger Than Yesterday (1967).
After his stint in The Byrds, Hillman went on to form The Flying Burrito Brothers with ex-Byrd
Gram Parsons. Next Hillman went on to participate in the Stephen Stills project, Manassas, and even regroup with the original members of The Byrds for swan song album in 1973. Later, Hillman was part of Souther-Hillman-Furay, McGuinn-Clark-Hillman, and The Desert Rose Band. Hope you're having a good one Chris!
Showing posts with label The Byrds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Byrds. Show all posts
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Beer, Tunes, and Monday Night Football
My old friend Tom came over to the house last night for a visit. Tom and I go waaaayyy back - Kindergarten to be exact. We went all through school together and 30 years later we are still friends. Tom was there when I went to my first concert - Aerosmith with guests The Black Crowes at The Arena in St. Louis, MO in 1989. Weirdly enough my wife and her brother were at the same concert. We have seen several shows together over the years and we'll be going to see Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven in a couple of months - see this post.
Tom brought over some Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool Brown Ale and O'Fallon Brewery 5-Day IPA and some fresh eggs from his dad's chickens. My wife made a delicious Peter Potter Stew, a beef stew recipe from our sister-in-law, and mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner. We had dinner while our daughter ran around the kitchen showing off for Tom.
Since Tom had been on the expedition to pick up the jukebox back in February I showed him around the machine. He was excited to see it working and hear the sounds it made while in normal operation. I showed him what I had found out about the box and we played some records and talked while my daughter danced around the room. Tom said he still liked the way that the jukebox looks old and used, but was happy to see it playing music.
After a while I put my daughter to bed and Tom showed his new Toyota Tundra pickup truck to my wife. She and I both got to test drive of the truck and liked it very much.
Since Tom and I grew up together we both share a common admiration of local Rock stalwart KSHE-95. Tom has a friend named Richard who is a few years older than us that apparently loves KSHE Classics. These are songs from the late 1960's, 1970's and early 1980's that get played now and then that longtime listeners to the station will remember from the station's halcyon days.
Tom brought over two cd's worth of KSHE Classics and wanted me to hear a song called "St. Louis Browns" by Skip Battin. Both Tom and I were surprised that I had not heard of this song before now. Being a big fan of The Byrds I was surprised that I didn't even know that Skip Battin (bassist 1970-1973) had released a solo album in 1972 with a song about the former St. Louis entry for the American League. I have found recently that I need to start looking further into the solo work of the various members of The Byrds from the late 1960's and early 1970's. I have long known about solo albums by Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark and David Crosby and Chris Hillman's work in the Flying Burrito Brothers and Manassas, but did not know that other members like Gene Parsons and Skip Battin had released solo albums as well.
I had heard about half of the songs on the first cd we played and had a few of them in my collection already. The quality of both cd's was lacking so if I want better versions of these songs I'll have to find them myself. The second mix cd was a mystery because it had no song titles. We started playing the songs and trying to figure out if we knew the song. We recognized some and I did searches on the lyrics to find some of the others. It was a fun game trying to identify the mystery tracks. By the time we got through the 2nd CD of songs it was almost 11 o'clock and time for Tom to hit the road. A few are still a mystery, but overall the experience was good and Tom and I got to treat my wife to some 1970's KSHE Classics. John Ulett would be proud!
Tom brought over some Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool Brown Ale and O'Fallon Brewery 5-Day IPA and some fresh eggs from his dad's chickens. My wife made a delicious Peter Potter Stew, a beef stew recipe from our sister-in-law, and mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner. We had dinner while our daughter ran around the kitchen showing off for Tom.
Since Tom had been on the expedition to pick up the jukebox back in February I showed him around the machine. He was excited to see it working and hear the sounds it made while in normal operation. I showed him what I had found out about the box and we played some records and talked while my daughter danced around the room. Tom said he still liked the way that the jukebox looks old and used, but was happy to see it playing music.
After a while I put my daughter to bed and Tom showed his new Toyota Tundra pickup truck to my wife. She and I both got to test drive of the truck and liked it very much.
Since Tom and I grew up together we both share a common admiration of local Rock stalwart KSHE-95. Tom has a friend named Richard who is a few years older than us that apparently loves KSHE Classics. These are songs from the late 1960's, 1970's and early 1980's that get played now and then that longtime listeners to the station will remember from the station's halcyon days.
Tom brought over two cd's worth of KSHE Classics and wanted me to hear a song called "St. Louis Browns" by Skip Battin. Both Tom and I were surprised that I had not heard of this song before now. Being a big fan of The Byrds I was surprised that I didn't even know that Skip Battin (bassist 1970-1973) had released a solo album in 1972 with a song about the former St. Louis entry for the American League. I have found recently that I need to start looking further into the solo work of the various members of The Byrds from the late 1960's and early 1970's. I have long known about solo albums by Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark and David Crosby and Chris Hillman's work in the Flying Burrito Brothers and Manassas, but did not know that other members like Gene Parsons and Skip Battin had released solo albums as well.
Skip Battin - Skip (Signpost SP 8408, 1972)
I had heard about half of the songs on the first cd we played and had a few of them in my collection already. The quality of both cd's was lacking so if I want better versions of these songs I'll have to find them myself. The second mix cd was a mystery because it had no song titles. We started playing the songs and trying to figure out if we knew the song. We recognized some and I did searches on the lyrics to find some of the others. It was a fun game trying to identify the mystery tracks. By the time we got through the 2nd CD of songs it was almost 11 o'clock and time for Tom to hit the road. A few are still a mystery, but overall the experience was good and Tom and I got to treat my wife to some 1970's KSHE Classics. John Ulett would be proud!
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