The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965)

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Artist: The Byrds
Album: Turn! Turn! Turn!
Genre: Folk-Rock


album-turn-turn-turn.jpg


Originally this album was released on Vinyl in December 1965, however I've only heard the 1996 Columbia Release of this album, which is presented as a 20-Bit Digital Re-Master using Sony's Trademarked Super Bit Mapping (SBM) system, which seems to make the album sound good, though please feel to compare the original Vinyl which is in "360 Sound" Stereo if you think it sounds superior!

At the time Turn! Turn! Turn! was released, The Byrds were a 5-piece band featuring Jim McGuinn Leading on 12-String Guitar and Vocals, Gene Clark playing Tambourine and Vocals, David Crosby on Rhythm Guitar and Vocals, Chris Hillman on Bass Guitar and Vocals and Michael Clarke on Drums.

The Original Album is presented on this CD in the same order as the original Vinyl and also includes the original Linear Notes as well as a 1996 perspective look at the album from David Fricke and the CD includes a series of Bonus Tracks which includes alternative versions of a couple of the songs from the Turn! Turn! Turn! album as well some Rare tracks and Singles all made around the time the original album was released but never included with the album.

So now to the Track Listing:

1. Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)
2. It Won't Be Wrong
3. Set You Free This Time
4. Lay Down Your Weary Tune
5. He Was A Friend Of Mine
6. The World Turns All Around Her
7. Satisfied Mind
8. If You're Gone
9. The Times They Are A-Changin'
10. Wait And See
11. Oh! Susannah


The Bonus tracks added to the 1996 CD Release being:

12. The Day Walk (Never Before)
13. She Don't Care About Time
14. The Times They Are A-Changin'
15. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
16. She Don't Care About Time
17. The World Turns All Around Her
18. Stranger In A Strange Land


Personally I found this album to be quite interesting and while people generally regard The Byrds as a group well known for performing songs written by Bob Dylan, on this particular occassion, The Byrds seemed to be struggling with the Dylan songs. Two Dylan songs were on the original album - "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'", "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" seems to be a wonderful example of the Byrds in Full Flight and doing a Dylan Song, however "The Times They Are A-Changin'" seems to be the weakest link on the entire album, my theory here is the song suffers from a 5-piece band, though it's hard to say cause it could be the approach on it too, for instance it was a song which at one point was going to be considered as a Byrds Single, and as the Bonus Tracks show there is an Alternative Take on the song in there, so perhaps the song was over rehersed and as a consequence only just made it to the album. Another song which was done during this Byrds line-up was another Dylan song "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", however wasn't considered seriously enough to be considered for the album and would later make a come back in a entirely different form for "The Ballard Of Easy Rider". When one listens to this version from 1965 though, one gets the feeling that The Byrds were trying to make a Folky-Pop song!

But the album offers some other wonderful tracks with Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season), It Won't Be Wrong, Set You Free This Time, Lay Down Your Weary Tune, He Was A Friend Of Mine, The World Turns All Around Her, Satisfied Mind, If You're Gone, Wait And See and Oh! Susannah with Gene Clark contributing 3 songs to the album (Set You Free This Time, The World Turns All Around Her & If You're Gone), in addition the bonus tracks offers some more of Gene Clark's Gems with "The Day Walk (Never Again)" and "She Don't Care About Time" which was the B-Track Side to "Turn! Turn! Turn! ...". One of the interesting facts about this album is while the album was originally done in "360 Sound Stereo", "Turn! Turn! Turn! ..." is presented here in it's Mono form. Not sure why, perhaps it was felt this is a fantastic song as it stood and to remix a Stereo copy would suffer, as a Single it's B-Track side "She Don't Care About Time" is also in Mono, however Bonus Tracks has revealed a Stereo version of the song which also offers an interesting Harmonica, Guitar Solo on it. Not sure why some of these Bonus Tracks weren't included on the original vinyl - "She Don't Care About Time" and "The Day Walk (Never Before)" to me are a couple of wonderful songs, perhaps the feeling was Gene Clark had already had 3 songs on the album, to make it 5 would perhaps be pushing on his expectations too much. As it was this would be the Final album for Gene Clark either because he found himself too much in the spotlight or he couldn't travel by plane from earlier trauma he witnessed when he was younger.

Having said all that, I reckon "Turn! Turn! Turn!" is a wonderful album, the leading track probably overshadows the rest of the album a little bit, though it could have been worse, though thankfully I feel that for the time it was issued, it was an album much welcomed and respected as well as offering a very distinct folky sound to their music. 4 Out of 5.
 

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Re: The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn

Hepcat wrote:

Excellent review!

:grinthumb

Unfortunately I thought it was just missing some critical facts:

* Turn! Turn! Turn! is the Second Album from The Byrds on Columbia which comes after The Byrds "Mr. Tambourine Man" which was released in June 1965.

* "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)" single made it to Number 1 in the US charts which follows on from their International Number 1 Hit "Mr. Tambourine Man".

* The Second Track from The Turn! Turn! Turn! album is an interesting one - "It Won't Be Wrong". This is a revised version of "Don't Be Long" which was released as a Single on Elektra in 1964. What's interesting is while The Byrds were established as a group in 1964, the Single was released under an alternative group name - due to confusion, so the group became "The Beefeaters"! :D "Don't Be Long" is an interesting song to listen to, but when "It Won't Be Wrong" came out the group had progressed a lot between 1964 & 1965, so "It Won't Be Wrong" sounds a lot better! :D

* "He Was A Friend Of Mine" was a song The Byrds which got quite a bit of attention through Live performances. It's a Traditional Folk song and has been recorded by people like Bob Dylan, though what the Byrds did was provide additional lyrics - which Jim McGuinn did at the time, well what actually happened was Jim McGuinn wrote the lyrics the night after the JFK assassination, he also revised it after the Assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. & Robert F. Kennedy, it's a powerful song and it certainly puts meaning into how the band feels about those sorts of actions being taken against people they love. Unfortunately David Crosby was Fired due to his thoughts about the JFK assassination which happened during a concert to which they were about to play this song, so it's got a bit of Controversy about it too. Still it's a touchy song.
 

Magic

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Re: The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn

Top Notch Review!

:bow:
 

LG

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Re: The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn

Not bad CP/M...all things considered...:heheh:

Just kidding of course, well done and I even have 4 Byrds CD's mostly due to your unwholesome influence.;)
 

Sweaty

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Re: The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn

Very good review, I love the Byrds, just missing one album which one day will come out I hope. I did catch them in Sheffield once at the city hall supported by Dave Berry, they were absolutely brilliant. Saw Roger McGuinn in Leeds and he was excellent too, jolly roger being my fave track by him.
 

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Re: The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn

Thanks Folks - yeah I'm a bit biased when it comes to reviewing all my favourites! :tongue: I try to be honest when it comes to the good stuff and bad, that's about as much as I can do.

Sweaty wrote:

Very good review, I love the Byrds, just missing one album which one day will come out I hope. I did catch them in Sheffield once at the city hall supported by Dave Berry, they were absolutely brilliant. Saw Roger McGuinn in Leeds and he was excellent too, jolly roger being my fave track by him.

Which album are you missing? I have all the Columbia albums, but what I haven't got is The Byrds album from the Asylum label which came out in 1973, only heard bits a pieces of it. I was also fortunate to get an expanded edition of the Preflyte sessions which were done in 1964, there's a few surprises amongst that, some of the tracks would make it onto their First Album - Mr. Tambourine Man. My favourite Byrds album on Columbia though was the last one I found - Younger Than Yesterday - now I see a copy of the album everywhere, but it was difficult to find a copy at first! :wtf:
 

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Re: The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn

Lord Grendel wrote:

Not bad CP/M...all things considered...:heheh:

Just kidding of course, well done and I even have 4 Byrds CD's mostly due to your unwholesome influence.;)

I hope you enjoy them.

I know what you mean about the review - I've read some dead serious reviews about Byrds albums on the Internet and they literally take them apart and have it nailed down to the original condition of the mastertape when those albums on CD were reviewed! :wtf:
 

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Re: The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn

Well, besides the classic, ''Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season), my favorite tracks are:

World Turns All Around Her
It Won't Be Wrong
Wait And See

And they do a great version of ''He Was A Friend Of Mine''

As far as the bonus tracks go, the ''Stranger In A Strange Land'' jam really shows off the band, especially Roger (Jim) McGuinn's 12-String Rickenbacker guitar.

CP/M User, another good album and review by you. :grinthumb

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