Preflyte/In the Beginning/Preflyte Sessions |
|
Recorded: mid-1964 to early 1965 Released: 7/29/69 P, Aug. ‘88 B, 12/27/01 S Peak: 84 US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU P Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Genre: folk rock P Preflyte B In the Beginning S The Preflyte Sessions |
Tracks (Preflyte):
All songs written by Gene Clark unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 25:38 Other Songs from This Era:
The Players:
|
Rating (Preflyte): 4.548 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings)
|
About the Album“Before signing to Columbia Records, the Byrds made hours of rehearsal and demo tapes as they perfected their blend of folk and rock” AM-B on debut album Mr. Tambourine Man, recorded in early 1965.“The music is excellent, though more tentative and less polished than their ‘official’ Columbia work. The harmonies are angelic and the melodies beautiful. Though this is more derivative of the early Beatles” AM-B and “the performances more tentative” AM-S “than their later Dylan-influenced folk-rock, one can hear the group's unsurpassed crystalline blend of guitars and voices approaching full bloom.” AM-B The archival Preflyte collection gathered 11 songs recorded prior to Mr. Tambourine Man. “With the exception of an early version of Mr. Tambourine Man, all the cuts are originals, most of which are fine and never appeared on their later albums; there are many good, otherwise unavailable Gene Clark songs in particular.” AM-B The more widely available In the Beginning, released in 1988, repackaged those songs, although often “entirely different versions…and in some cases the differences are substantial,” AM-P alongside four more previously unreleased songs. “You Showed Me, in particular, appears here in a bare-bones, almost acoustic version with a heart-wrenching Gene Clark vocal; this is the sound of the Byrds at their very birth in the nest. It's a matter of taste, but the takes of She Has a Way and Here Without You on Preflyte are clearly superior to the ones used on In the Beginning, though the arrangements are very similar.” AM-P In the Beginning also features “alternate takes of both sides of [the Byrds’] 1964 Elektra single (released as the Beefeaters), the primitive acoustic demo The Only Girl I Adore, …a previously unissued early version of It’s No Use (later on their first LP), and the previously totally unreleased original Tomorrow Is a Long Ways Away, in both electric and acoustic versions.” AM-B Then, in 2001, The Preflyte Sessions collection was released. “This double CD brings together all of the early Byrds rehearsals/demos found on the Preflyte and In the Beginning releases and adds quite a bit more. As such, it stands as the definitive document of the birth of the group.” AM-S “There are four pre-Byrds solo David Crosby electric rock cuts, also produced (as everything here was) by early Byrds manager Jim Dickson. Two of those, Come Back Baby and Willie Jean, have shown up on other compilations, but Jack of Diamonds and Dino Valenti's Get Together have not. ‘Get Together’ is particularly intriguing, kicking off with a weird ‘Twist and Shout’-like intro.” AM-S “Then there are no less than 14 additional previously unreleased alternate takes by the Byrds themselves, although unfortunately just one of these (an instrumental run-through of The Times They Are a-Changin’) was not available in a different version, or different versions, on Preflyte or In the Beginning. None of these additional, multiple versions, alas, are as good as the ones that were first heard on those prior collections, though there are some interesting minor differences, like the bluegrass-type fractured guitar solo on a take of ‘You Movin’.’ Also, three of the new takes are just instrumental backing tracks without vocals. Still, it's great to have all of this material in one place, and the 50-page booklet of essays and photos is another major bonus.” AM-S |
Resources/References:
Related DMDB Pages:
First posted 4/7/2008; last updated 10/18/2026. |
No comments:
Post a Comment