THE BYRDS – BYRDMANIAX LP – Nr MINT A1/B2 UK ORIG STEREO

The Byrds – Byrdmaniax
(CBS Records  1971  S64389)
Matrix No’s: A1/B2 – UK Pressing

Gatefold Sleeve in Very Good+ condition
 – some wear to edges/corners – title not legible on spine

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole consistent member, until the group disbanded in 1973. Although they only managed to attain the huge commercial success of contemporaries like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones for a short period in late 1965, the Byrds are today considered by critics to be one of the most influential bands of the 1960s. Initially, they pioneered the musical genre of folk rock, melding the influence of the Beatles and other British Invasion bands with contemporary and traditional folk music. As the 1960s progressed, the band was also influential in originating psychedelic rock, raga rock, and country rock.

The band’s signature blend of clear harmony singing and McGuinn’s jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar has continued to be influential on popular music up to the present day. Among the band’s most enduring songs are their cover versions of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” and Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)”, along with the self-penned originals, “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better”, “Eight Miles High”, “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”, “Ballad of Easy Rider” and “Chestnut Mare”.

The original five-piece lineup of the Byrds consisted of Jim McGuinn (lead guitar, vocals), Gene Clark (tambourine, vocals), David Crosby (rhythm guitar, vocals), Chris Hillman (bass guitar, vocals), and Michael Clarke (drums). However, this version of the band was relatively short-lived and by early 1966, Clark had left due to problems associated with anxiety and his increasing isolation within the group. The Byrds continued as a quartet until late 1967, when Crosby and Clarke also departed the band. McGuinn and Hillman decided to recruit new members, including country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, but by late 1968, Hillman and Parsons had also exited the band. McGuinn, who by this time had changed his name to Roger after a flirtation with the Subud religion, elected to rebuild the band’s membership and between 1968 and 1973, he helmed a new incarnation of the Byrds, featuring guitarist Clarence White among others. McGuinn disbanded the then current lineup in early 1973, to make way for a reunion of the original quintet. The Byrds’ final album was released in March 1973, with the reunited group disbanding soon afterwards.

Several former members of the band went on to successful careers of their own, either as solo artists or as members of such groups as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Desert Rose Band. In the late 1980s, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke both began touring as the Byrds, prompting a legal challenge from McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman over the rights to the band’s name. As a result of this, McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman performed a series of reunion concerts as the Byrds in 1989 and 1990, and also recorded four new Byrds’ songs.

In January 1991, the Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an occasion that saw the five original members performing together for the last time. McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman still remain active but Gene Clark died of a heart attack in May 1991, and Michael Clarke died of liver failure in December 1993.

Byrdmaniax is the tenth album by the American rock band the Byrds. It was released in June 1971 on Columbia Records at a time of renewed commercial and critical success for the band, due to the positive reception that their two previous albums, Ballad of Easy Rider and (Untitled), had received. The album was the second by the Byrds to feature the Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gene Parsons, and Skip Battin line-up of the band and was mostly recorded in early 1971, while the band were in the midst of an exhausting tour schedule. As a result, the band had little time to hone their new songs before recording commenced and thus, much of the material on the album is underdeveloped. Byrdmaniax was poorly received upon release, particularly in the United States, and did much to undermine the Byrds’ new-found popularity.

The album peaked at #46 on the Billboard Top LPs chart but failed to reach the UK Albums Chart. The song “I Trust (Everything Is Gonna Work Out Alright)” was released as a preceding single on May 7, 1971 in the United Kingdom but it did not chart. A second single taken from the album, “Glory, Glory”, was released on August 20, 1971 and reached #110 on the Billboard chart, but again, the single failed to reach the UK chart. Byrdmaniax remains one of the Byrds most poorly received album releases, largely due to the incongruous addition of strings, horns, and a gospel choir which were overdubbed onto the songs by producer Terry Melcher and arranger Paul Polena, reportedly without the band’s consent.

Track listing

Side 1

1. “Glory, Glory” (Arthur Reynolds) – 4:03
2. “Pale Blue” (Roger McGuinn, Gene Parsons) – 2:22
3. “I Trust” (Roger McGuinn) – 3:19
4. “Tunnel of Love” (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 4:59
5. “Citizen Kane” (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 2:36

Side 2

1. “I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician” (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 2:03
2. “Absolute Happiness” (Skip Battin, Kim Fowley) – 2:38
3. “Green Apple Quick Step” (Gene Parsons, Clarence White) – 1:49
4. “My Destiny” (Helen Carter) – 3:38
5. “Kathleen’s Song” (Roger McGuinn, Jacques Levy) – 2:40
6. “Jamaica Say You Will” (Jackson Browne) – 3:27

Personnel