Wednesday, July 29, 2009

THE BYRDS - THE NOTORIOUS BYRD BROTHERS


I just read a very brief history of the Byrds, I learnt that they had more line-up changes than is healthy and confirmed my suspicions that David Crosby was an utter twat.

This is not just down to the moustache he sported in his later years or because he always looked like a cross between the bad guys from Dirty Harry and the Warriors, it isn't because he was always the worst dressed of the band or that he looked entirely out of place with a smugness that just screamed 'kick me!' ....well, okay it is partly those things, maybe mostly those things, but reading about him being a giant dick just legitimised my sentiments.


Obviously he has his redeeming features, some of the songs he penned were pretty good and his 'If Only I Could Remember My Name' album is I suppose something of a milestone. Sadly this isn't quite enough to balance out the scales of musical justice. I have weighed up the pros and cons and they still read 'Moon-faced Twat'.

So 'The Notorious Byrd Brothers' gets a lot of props. People romance the albums Country/Psych sound but on first listen (I think it's my first listen, I always avoided it due to the fact that by 68 there were only 3 of the original members left) it's just a bit of a non event. The whole thing just washes over you and is in no time gone, nothing but a needle clicking at the end of the black plastic spiral.

The copy I got also came from Sheffield's 'Record Collector' shop and was a truly reasonable 6.00 quid, possibly because there are a series of red stickers all over the sleeves label information. This would normally be enough to put me right off but I've been after a decent copy for a while and I figured I might be able to remove the stickers with ligher fuel. Also I bought it so I might find out what the red sticker deal is. The one on the label looks purpose made and the entire album looks like it might have been 'censored' for some reason, just can't think what. it kind of reminds me of much of the European pornography available in the UK up until 1997, black spots or squares over the action. Luckily unlike the taudry A5 magazines I often paid, strangely around 6.00pounds each for, this seemingly random censorship does not effect my 'enjoyment' of said article.

So, 'The Notorious Byrd Brothers' I listened to it last night and it's safe to say I can't remember a single song, highlight or even low-light. I will have to give it another go at some point, maybe it's a grower but for now it's getting filed away as a totally average record and unintentional reminder of really bad and utterly edited pornography.

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