Untitled / Unissued (2-CD)

by The Byrds

Product Description:

The Byrds: Clarence White (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Gene Parsons, Skip Battin (vocals); Gram Parsons (background vocals); Roger McGuinn.

Additional personnel: Byron Berline (violin); Terry Melcher (piano).

Liner Note Authors: Derek Taylor; Jim Bickhart; David Fricke; Johnny Rogan.

Originally released as the two-album set UNTITLED, this double disc includes an entire album's worth of unreleased material. Split between live cuts of vintage Byrds material and newer studio songs, disc one features new member Skip Battin's contributions along with songs originally written by Roger McGuinn for an aborted Broadway remake of Ibsen's PEER GYNT. Guitarists McGuinn and Clarence White are the in-concert driving forces throughout Dylan covers ("Positively 4th Street"), early hits ("Hey Mr. Spaceman"), and newer songs ("Lover Of The Bayou").

Battin proved his value by writing a stirring anti-war anthem ("Welcome Back Home") and a song about the environment ("Hungry Planet"), which he co-wrote with McGuinn. Elsewhere, McGuinn lends the stirring "Chestnut Mare" and the poignantly introspective "All The Things." White pumped up the country/blues side of the Byrds by taking a rare vocal on both Lowell George's "Truck Stop Girl" and Leadbelly's "Take A Whiff On Me." The wealth of Byrdsian artifacts on disc two include alternate versions of existing songs ("All The Things," "Yesterday's Train"), previously unreleased gems (Lowell George's "Willin'" and "White's Lightning Pt. 2"), and even more live goodies ("Old Blue" and "My Back Pages").