No. 232: Mr. Tambourine Man

Band: The Byrds
Album: Mr. Tambourine Man
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: The debut of the preeminent folk-rock band had the California quintet establishing its signature sound. In fact, the sound the band is most identified with -- Roger McGuinn's twelve-string guitar's so-called "jangle" -- was named after the album's title track's lyrics.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: I've mentioned my Stockholm syndrome circumstance with this band before.
Best song: All the Dylan tracks are excellent, proving the point that a good band can make a well-written song sound amazing. As for the originals, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" is one of my favorite breakup songs; It's quite the revelation.
Worst song: "The Bells of Rhymney," a Pete Seeger cover, isn't all that good.
Is it awesome?: This list can talk you into thinking the Byrds are the most important band of the 20th century.

I want to say that this album is misplaced, but I'm not totally sure that it is. If any Byrds record should be on this list for the reason of "great songs on the album," this one should be there (I'm speaking of all the non-compilation records, of course).

Possibly because the album only has five Byrds-penned tracks, the record's highs are pretty high. The four (!) Dylan songs are all excellent, specifically the title track and "Chimes Of Freedom." It's not hard to make those songs sound good as long as you don't sing through your nose and know how to actually play the guitar.

The Byrds originals range from just OK ("You Won't Have to Cry") to the sublimely great ("I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better"). The latter has been covered several times, including one on Tom Petty's "Full Moon Fever."

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This is the last of the five Byrds records on this list and I'd be a fool to not to say something about it. That the Byrds have five records on this list is pretty foolish, though it's not as though they shouldn't have any record on here.

"Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" is the highest ranked Byrds record at 117 and it's the one record Gram Parsons was a huge part of. It largely introduced us to Parsons, so I guess I can see having it on here. "Younger Than Yesterday" (124) comes next and I can't really see how it should be there, and it's basically there because it has some decent songs. Not a choice I'd have made.

"The Notorious Byrd Brothers" comes at 171. I don't see a reason to have it here, save for it being released in 1967 in America. So, you know, summer of love and whatever. And 178 brings us the band's greatest hits. I see that there. The Byrds, quite frankly, are a greatest hits band.

No 178: The Byrds Greatest Hits

Band: The Byrds
Album: The Byrds' Greatest Hits
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: The fifth album by the band was released during the summer of love and gives a nice soundtrack to that period. To be totally honest, I think I'm getting a little Stockholm Syndrome with the Byrds.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Blah blah greatest hits blah blah lots of albums blah blah Byrds are boomer nostalgia blah blah. You've heard it all before.
Best song: It's a greatest hits compilation, so all the songs are pretty great. I like "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better" a lot.
Worst song: See above. "The Bells of Rhymney" isn't on par with the rest of the songs, but it's still great.
Is it awesome?: Well, duh. It's a greatest hits compilation.

Let's make this quick...

Byrds albums on the 500 list - Five
Artists who have more albums on the list - Four
Number of artists with more albums who also have a compilation - Zero

I understand that "The Byrds' Greatest Hits" was released early in the band's time and two of the records on the list were released after "The Byrds' Greatest Hits." But, those first two records' best songs are on "The Byrds' Greatest Hits," so it's a bit foolish to have all thre of those albums on here.

No. 171: The Notorious Byrd Brothers

Band: The Byrds
Album: The Notorious Byrd Brothers
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: The Byrds' "summer of love" record, "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" is full of weird tape effects and spacey harmonies. Also, Roger McGuinn's exquisite 12-string guitar.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: None of the songs have a really solid pop sensibility and are therefore easily forgettable.
Best song: "Tribal Gathering" is tons of fun and "Natural Harmony" is wonderful.
Worst song: "Old John Robertson" isn't great. Thankfully, it's short.
Is it awesome?: Not really. It's good, but not great.

If you're like me, you probably don't know any songs on this album. That doesn't mean it isn't a great album; I didn't know any songs on that Dr. John record and it's pretty great. Stll, this is the Byrds and they have songs you know. Just not on this record.

The band is clearly taking risks here, but I wonder if there's some Puritan-hard-work thing going on here with album reviewer who love it.

(I guess I should explain that. There's a feeling among a lot of sports writers, at least, that hardship is simply the best thing in the world. If something is easy for someone, these people think, it can't be as good as the thing that is hard. If someone goes through suffering -- a Puritan concept -- mostly through hard work, the finished project must be great. This is partially why little white athletes -- David Eckstein, Doug Flutie, etc. -- are beloved. They had to work extra hard to be what they are.)

As such, "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" was a bitch to make. David Crosby and Michael Clarke both left the band afterwards. Crosby and Roger McGuinn fought and fought over ideas over covers, arrangements and songwriting. He was eventually kicked out of the band during the recording.

Still, the band's summer of love record sees them using more electronics, which was pretty interesting in 1967. Moog dominates part of "Space Odyssey," a song inspired by the book that inspired the movie. As it turns out, the band had wanted the song to be included in the movie, but Stanley Kubrick opted for no current music.

"Natural Harmony" is probably the record's highlight. Awash in tape effects and synth, it's a spacey journey that was clearly influenced by tons of drugs. Good times.

Similarly, the synth in "Wasn't Born to Follow" makes a pretty straightforward country rock song into something considerably more interesting. "Change Is Now" has McGuinn's classic guitar sound and the jazz quality in "Tribal Gathering" is entirely different than anything the band had done before and the distorted guitar breakdown is unexpected and awesome.

It's a fun listen, but it's hardly the band's best work. The Byrds seem to have a lot of filler on their records; Putting so many on this list is probably just boomer nostalgia.

No. 124: Younger Than Yesterday

Band: The Birds
Album: Younger Than Yesterday
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: One of The Byrds' "tension" albums, "Younger Than Yesterday" was one of the American soundtracks to the Summer of Love. The production is filled with wanky backwards tape loops and effects, which is interesting, if nothing else.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: While this was the period when The Byrds were considered Americas answer to The Beatles, there are few great songs here.
Best song: "So You Want to Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star" is delightfully sarcastic.
Worst song: "C.T.A. -102" isn't great. In fact, all of its value lies in the final 45 seconds, mostly because of the strange production.
Is it awesome?: Probably not, but the first two songs are fantastic.

With the band now an official quartet -- Gene Clark had left the group shortly after "Fifth Dimension" was released -- The Byrds went about putting together a less edgy, but more radio-friendly record. "Younger Than Yesterday" is the result.

The Byrds' trademark, the jangly guitar work, is still there. And even more complex and morose songwriting, such as Crosby's "Everybody's Been Burned" also flourish on "Younger Than Yesterday." "My Back Pages," the requisite Dylan cover is fantastic. "Have You Seen Her Face" is the prototypes Byrds song: Simple love song, coupled with jangly guitars and easy rhythms.

"Mind Gardens" is one of the songs that doesn't necessarily stink, but it's value lies mostly in its production. Sparse guitars, whirling tape effects and psychedelic lyrics sound like a recipe for a good song. It's not. It meanders a bit and doesn't really go anywhere. "C.T.A.-102" is similarly produced, but the song is short and the second half appears to just be screwing around with tape effects, so the song remains considerably more interesting.

Overall, "Younger Than Yesterday" isn't bad. They were clearly experimenting a bit, while still trying to satisfy the jangly pop they had become so great at creating. The Byrds are a mostly greatest hits-type band, so "Younger Than Yesterday" isn't a must-have

No. 117: Sweetheart of the Rodeo

Band: The Byrds
Album: Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: One of the classic records of country rock, "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" has tons of country ballads, Dylan tracks and standards. David Crosby and Michael Clarke were gone and had been replaced by Kevin Kelley and a very young Gram Parsons.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Country rock -- even by the Byrdsm a pretty great band -- isn't my thing. The gestation of early alt-country is interesting, but the later stuff (Uncle Tupelo) is much better.
Best song: "Hickory Wind" isn't bad. "One Hundred Years From Now" is pretty good. That's Gram Parsons for you, I guess.
Worst song: "I Am A Pilgrim" is a religious type of thing, which I can't support on any level.
Is it awesome?: I'd say no, but it's not my type of music.

Roger McGuinn's Byrds had just come off the rocky recording and promotion for "The Notorious Byrd Brothers," and went in a direction that was a pretty big departure for the band. They went to Nashville -- without David Crosby or Michael Clarke -- to record a country record, essentially.

Save for the stomp of "You Got A Reputation" and "One Hundred Years From Now" (which features a pretty heavy slide guitar part itself), the album is made up almost entirely of the Byrds' folk rock tinged with heavy country influences. In addition to the record having a Merle Haggard song, as well as two Christian traditionals, the Byrds played their standard two Dylan songs.

The Byrds were always a great folk group and country isn't too far from folk, for the most part. So, the record doesn't sound totally out of catalog for the band. The addition of Gram Parsons as both a songwriter and musician fits in quite well, as his sensibilities aren't too far off from the band's. Still, Roger McGuinn was maniacal about making sure Parsons was in the background, even rerecording some vocal takes Parsons had put down.

This particular Byrds lineup didn't last particularly long, as Parsons was fired from the band during the subsequent tour and Kevin Kelley quit soon thereafter. But the mark had been made. The wheels were in motion for alt country's construction.

(Parons, of course, later lead The Flying Burrito Brothers, probably the most celebrated alt country/outlaw country band ever.)