Byrds - untitled Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

i'll cave in and agree with loomis johnson and agree those last two byrds records show the band had run out of gas (and obligated to the label to release). in the meantime. gene was the real deal, grew into an artist on his own, and made some flawless albums. mcguinn never panned out solo. that said, the peter fonda quote on the back of 'the ballad of easy rider', 'somes up' my feelings for the music of the byrds ...grand funk wasn't the byrds, but jeez louise, they had the whole teen nation going bezerk, and made some good sides to boot. the 'green day 'of the 70's maybe?

gotta disagree with jaybo--the bad byrd albums, like byrdmaniax and farther along--are really, really bad. untiltled is worthwhile for the live disc (i actaully like the 8mh jam), but gene clark was the real motherfucker.

Com'on, Bill. It's the Byrds, not Grand Funk Live!

bill, you may find this interesting. at the end of the 'notorious byrd bros' cd reissue (after a bit of silence), there is studio chatter of chris hillman tearing into michael clarke relentlessly. clarke fights back, but its easy to tell who's in charge at that point in their careers..legend has it that he did the same to crosby and clark. mcguinn just asks for unity, but hillman rants on. even if the album isn't one of your favorites, its worth having a copy just to hear how disfunctional the band was.

even bad byrds records are good. i once saw the 'dr byrds' line up in chilicothe, ohio, and clarence white blew the lid off the place. those live tracks on 'untitled' with clarence's b bender fender are the stuff of legend. white played on byrd's records even before he was a byrd....a ps...chase down decords by gene clark and the dillards for more of the real deal.

The full side version of 8 Miles High is a serious waste of vinyl.

Not to mention the time taken to play it.

If for nothing else you need Untitled for Chestnut Mare, Mr. Spaceman, and 8 Miles High.

The Sundazed vinyl is all tasty, full of rarities, and well-pressed, ex: Preflyte Sessions, Sanctuary II, IV, Mr. Tambourine Man.

Look for the the first four studio albums.

The albums without Gene Clark and David Crosby are much less interesting.

IMO

early birds...5d/younger than yesterday......mid period...notorious byrd bros/sweetheart of the rodeo....later day...dr byrds and mr hyde/ballad of easy rider........every one is a winner on a lotta levels.

I think that I agree with all the above. Think that this is not a keeper. Sometimes you need to ask more questions. Now the question becomes which album should I look for? I really did like some of the songs they did.

agree with bill...the clarence white psych-cowboy licks on the live sides are the best thing about untitled.

The original Columbia vinyl release is not particularly notable so your findings are not unremarkable.

From a content perspective, this is a fairly lame album.

i've got this release..not one of mfsl's finest moments...the columbia legacy cd is better by a significent margin.