The Flip Sides of The Byrds' Singles: Pretty Boy Floyd, Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man

Pretty Boy Floyd

For the 14th single, Gram Parsons was now clearly exerting a massive influence in the band. But the man with the plan was Chris Hillman. Hillman was firmly ensconced as a primary songwriter in the band and it was he who began pushing the country sound and many critical personnel changes, including using Clarence White as a studio musician and bringing in Gram Parsons to replace David Crosby. Hillman gets songwriting credit for the A-Side, I Am A Pilgrim (Though we agree with the commenter below, it's a traditional song that predates the Byrds). For the Flip-Side Gram Parsons pushed the Woody Guthrie number, Pretty Boy Floyd. Because of contractual issues, Gram Parsons could not sing the lead, leaving Roger McGuinn to more than ably handle the duties. John Hartford plays banjo on the number. I'm unsure of who plays the fiddle and the mandolin. 

Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man

The only 45 from The Byrds to show Gram Parsons name as a composer didn't even feature Parsons. By the time Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man was recorded and released in January of 1969, Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons had flown the coop and reunited with ex-Byrds, Michael Clarke to form the Flying Burrito Brothers. That left McGuinn to do the lead and the harmony singing. Guitar wizard Clarence White takes over lead guitar, John York was on drums and Gene Parsons picked up the pace at drums.

Video Diary: The Byrds - You Ain't Going Nowhere

Song of the Week: The Byrds -- It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

We close today with not one, but two -- that's right, TWO - versions of The Byrds performing It's All Over Now, Baby Blue. The blue version is an unreleased recording by the original line-up of The Byrds (Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke). It was recorded in Los Angeles in 1965, about the same time the Beckett Quintet recorded the song in the same town, and was slated to be the perfect pitched band's 3rd single on Columbia Records. The Byrds and their manager, Terry Melcher, were unsatisfied with the recording as a single and instead turned to another song which Roger McGuinn had been arranging, Turn, Turn, Turn. Somehow the Byrd's early version of It's All Over Now Baby Blue never got past a preview showing on a local LA radio station. Never even made it to an album. D'oh!

Roger McGuinn returned to Bob Dylan's song four years later in 1969. But this was a very different Byrds band. David Crosby was now a founding member of Crosby, Stills and Nash (yuck), Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke left to found The Flying Burrito Brothers with interim Byrds-alum, Gram Parsons. And Gene Clark was making some striking records with Doug Dillard. The version of the The Byrds who recorded this song were Clarence White, John York, Gene Parsons and, of course, McGuinn. This version did see the light of day in both the film and soundtrack for Easy Rider. Much slower, and much more countrified. It's still pretty cool and this line-up of The Byrds showed they could harmonize just about as well as the original line-up. 

Enjoy!

Song of the Week: The Byrds -- Have You Seen Her Face?

The Byrds were probably America's best band in an era dominated by the British Invasion. Not just clones of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, The Byrds blended American country and western, pop and folk to create a beautiful new sound. That sound was most distinguished by the beautiful harmonies of four of the five members. By the time the band's fourth -- and best -- album Younger Than Yesterday was released,  Gene Clark (pictured above on the right and recipient of two Flip-Side posts in his post-Byrds career. Those are Out On The Side and Polly) had departed the band for good. With that departure the Byrds were now missing their strongest singer and perhaps their strongest songwriter. Tensions between David Crosby and the rest of the band were bubbling over and creating particular tension between the band and band leader Roger McGuinn.

From that bubbling cauldron, bassist Chris Hillman emerged, perhaps unlikely so, as a major creative force. Co-composer of the album's #1 hit single, So You Want To Be A Rock-N-Roll Star, Hillman also wrote and sang lead on four other songs on the album: Thoughts And Words, Time Between, The Girl With No Name, and today's SOTW, Have You Seen Her Face.

And more than that (if that wasn't enough), Hillman changed the sound of The Byrds, not just with his flatter, more countrified voice, but with the musicians he brought in to support his songs. Chris Hillman called on country guitar wizard Clarence White to play leads on Hillman's songs, essentially ditching The Byrds trademark 12-string chimey Rickenbacker as the lead instrument. Now we had the twang of a Fender Telecaster. This was a total rebranding of the Byrds that would become permanent as David Crosby would soon leave the band and be replaced by another Chris Hillman friend, Gram Parsons (himself a recipient of a Flip-Side post for his beautiful solo-era song, A Song For You). Of course those two would quickly leave The Byrds, along with drummer Michael Clarke, and form their own group, The Flying Burrito Brothers.

Have You Seen Her Face was released as a single in the US and died a miserable death on the charts. In some respects, it marks the beginning of the end of The Byrds' chart success. That doesn't mean the song isn't great, just that the stuff they were soon to record wasn't as radio friendly as before.

I've always had a soft spot in my musical heart for Chris Hillman. Not only was his bass work for the Byrds tremendous, but as noted above, his song writing and singing grew into it's own. As co-founder, and anchor, of the Flying Burrito Brothers, Hillman proved to be the corner stone in the creation of country-rock.

Enjoy Have You Seen Her Face.