• Voto:
La band nasce a Los Angeles nel 1964, dall’incontro fra il chitarrista-cantante James “Jim” McGuinn III (che cambierà il suo nome in Roger dopo aver abbracciato la religione indonesiana Subud), Gene Clark (Harold Eugene Clark) e David Van Cortland Crosby… tutti già da tempo attivi nella scena musicale folk (con McGuinn impegnato anche come songwriter per il cantante di successo Bobby Darin). A loro si uniscono da subito il batterista Michael Clarke ed il bassista (multi-strumentista) Chris Hillman, e con l’acronimo "The Beefeaters" ottengono un deal con l’Elektra Records per la realizzazione del singolo “Please Let Me Love You b/w Don’t Be Long”, che sul finire degli anni 80 troverà posto anche nella raccolta “In The Beginning” (Elektra - 1988), che riporta alla luce le sessions “perdute” ai Pacif Studios di Los Angeles, di quel periodo.
Sul finire del 1964 il gruppo firma con la Columbia Records e di lì a poco si rinomina “The Byrds”, entrando negli studi di registrazione per realizzare la cover “Mr. Tambourine Man” di Bob Dylan. Il singolo esce il 12 aprile 1965 e raggiunge immediatamente il numero uno nelle classifiche di vendita sia americane che inglesi, facendo dei Byrds, insieme ai conterranei e coevi Beau Brummels, la prima degna risposta alla recente “British Invasion”, subita dai (media) americani. L’immediato successo permette loro di cimentarsi in un lavoro sulla lunga distanza, ed a giugno dello stesso anno, vede la luce l’album d’esordio “Mr. Tambourine Man” (forse un po’ poco fantasioso riprendere il nome del singolo/cover per averne il traino), dove trovano posto ben 5 brani originali (in gran parte partoriti dalla fantasia di Clark) e 7 covers, di cui due, oltre alla title-track, sono a firma Dylan.
Lo stile del gruppo è già saldamente nelle mani (e nella 12-corde Rickenbacker) di McGuinn, dove il folk degli esordi viene miscelato ed addolcito con le nuove melodie provenienti dall’Inghilterra, tanto che lo stesso McGuinn ebbe a definire la sua musica degli esordi, come il tentativo di amalgamare Lennon e Dylan in un tutt’uno. Il risultato è una strabiliante altalena di suoni e sensazioni, un armonioso abbraccio onirico, dove anche le cover diventano pezzi originali e di estrema bellezza, tanto che anche la “dylaniana” “Chimes Of Freedom” trova con i Byrds il perfetto tappeto volante su cui stenderne le istanze di liberazione contro-culturale, che le permettono di penetrare nel tessuto sociale e bucare il muro di ostracismo eretto dai conservatori e perbenisti media americani. L’intero lavoro è permeato da quel velo di magia che solo i Byrds riusciranno a rendere così dolcemente e malinconicamente, grazie ad uno splendido intreccio vocale e a costruzioni armoniche ricamate finemente sulle migliori stoffe, a confezionare quell’originale stile “jingle-jangle”, che ritornerà ad intervalli regolari nella musica indie americana (Pavement, R.E.M. ed Husker Du, spero che bastino). Grazie (anche) a loro, il folk(rock) assurgerà al rango di genere musicale degno e riconosciuto ed il rock intero riceverà un contributo non indifferente alla propria maturazione, passando da fabbrica di hit-singles a moderna arte letteraria e musicale, dove ogni singolo brano è un importante tassello (capitolo) pensato ed inserito all’interno di un album.
Una citazione finale me la riservo per la stupenda cover “We’ll Meet Again” di Vera Lynn, brano di speranza post-bellica, usato nella versione originale da Stanley Kubrick per i titoli di coda del suo “Dottor Stranamore” e di cui i Byrds ne esaltano il lato umoristico nero.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Mr. Tambourine Man (02:23)
Hey mister tambourine man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there ain't no place I'm going to
Hey mister tambourine man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you
Take me for a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship
All my senses have been stripped
And my hands can't feel to grip
And my toes too numb to step
Wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin'
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Unto my own parade
Cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it
Hey mister tambourine man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there ain't no place I'm going to
Hey mister tambourine man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you
02 I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better (02:34)
The reasons why
Oh I can say
I have to let you go, babe
And right away
After what you did
I can't stay on
And I'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gone
Baby for a long time
You had me believe
That your love was all mine
And that's the way it would be
But I didn't know
That you were putting me on
And I'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gone
Up when you're gone
Now I've got to say
That it's not like before
And I'm not going to play
Your games anymore
After what you did
I can't stay on
And I'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gone
Up when you're gone
Up when you're gone
Up when you're gone
03 Spanish Harlem Incident (02:00)
Gypsy gal, the hands of Harlem
Cannot hold you to its heat
Your temperature's too hot for taming
Your flaming feet are burning up the street
I am homeless, come and take me
Into the reach of your rattling drums
I got to know babe, all about my fortune
Down along my restless palms
Gypsy gal, you got me swallowed
I have fallen far beneath
Your pearly eyes so fast and slashing
And your flashing diamond teeth
The night is pitch black, come and make my
Pale face fit in to place, ah, please!
I gotta know babe, I'm nearly drowning
If it's you, my lifelines trace
I been wondering all about me
Ever since I seen you there
On the cliffs of your wildcat charms I'm riding
I know I'm 'round you but I don't know where
You have slayed me, you have made me
I got to laugh halfways off my heels
I got to know babe, will you surround me?
So I can tell if I'm really real
04 You Won't Have to Cry (02:09)
Oh, you know it makes me sad
To see you feel so bad
But it's happened to you many times before
But if you will come with me
Then girl you will see
That you won't have to cry anymore
There's no reason to feel blue
Because of what he says to you
And I wouldn't want to see you hurt no more
I could never do you wrong
'Cause my love for you is too strong
And you won't have to cry anymore
Oh, I saw you there with tears in your eyes
Because he told you so many, many lies
Oh, you know it isn't right
To put yourself uptight
By thinking about the things he's done before
Just trust your love in me
And girl you will see
That you won't have to cry
No, you won't have to cry
No, you won't have to cry anymore
05 Here Without You (02:38)
Daytime just makes me feel lonely
At night I can only dream about you
Girl, you're on my mind
Nearly all of the time
It's so hard being here without you
Words in my head keep repeating
Things that you said when I was with you
And I wonder, is it true?
Do you feel the same way too?
It's so hard being here without you
Being here without you
Oh I know this won't last
I'll see you someday
It seems as though that day will come never
But there's one thing I'll swear
Though you're far away
I'll be thinking about you forever
Streets that I walk on depress me
Ones that were happy when I was with you
Still with all the friends I know
And with all the things I do
It's so hard being here without you
Being here without you.
06 The Bells of Rhymney (03:33)
Oh what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Is there hope for the future?
Say the brown bells of Merthyr
Who made the mine owner?
Say the black bells of Rhondda
And who killed the miner?
Say the grim bells of Blaina
Throw the vandals in court
Say the bells of Newport
All will be well if, if, if, if, if
Say the green bells of Cardiff
Why so worried sisters? Why?
Sang the silver bells of Wye
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Oh what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Is there hope for the future?
Say the brown bells of Merthyr
Who made the mine owner?
Say the black bells of Rhondda
And who killed the miner?
Say the grim bells of Blaina
07 All I Really Want to Do (02:05)
I ain't lookin' to compete with you
Beat or cheat or mistreat you
Simplify you, pacify you
Deny, defy, or crucify you
All I really want to do
Is baby be friends with you
No, I ain't lookin' to fight with you
Frighten you or uptighten you
Drag you down or bring you down
Chain you down or bring you down
All I really want to do
Is baby be friends with you
I don't want to fake you out
Take or shake or forsake you out
I ain't lookin' for you to feel like me
See like me or be like me
I don't want to meet your kin
Make you spin or do you in
Or select you or dissect you
Or inspect you or reject you
All I really want to do
Is baby be friends with you
Baby be friends with you
Baby be friends with you
08 I Knew I'd Want You (02:15)
I'd like to love you
With all of my heart
You've had me on your trip
Right from the start
And when you looked at me
With love in your eyes
I knew I'd want you, oh yeah
I'd like to hold you
If you want me to
I've found something new, girl
Just by looking at you
And it's in your smile
And it's in the way
I knew I'd want you, oh yeah
I meet so many people
I feel I don't know
But I felt so close to you
When you said hello
I'd like to love you
And together we'd find
The place we've been looking for
Where we'll have peace of mind
And there we'll be happy
And there I'll know why
I knew I'd want you, oh yeah, oh yeah
11 Chimes of Freedom (03:53)
Far between sundown's finish and midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts, struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors, whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
And for each and every underdog soldier in the night
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far off corner flashed
And the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless seeking trail
For the lonesome hearted lovers, with too personal a tale
And for each unharmful gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
Starry-eyed and laughing, as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
And we listened one last time, and we watched with one last look
Spellbound and swallowed 'til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, srung-out ones and worse
And for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
12 We'll Meet Again (02:07)
We'll meet again
Don't know where, don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling true
Just like you always do
'Til the blue skies make the dark clouds fade away
Some sunny day, hey hey hey
Some sunny day, hey hey hey
Some sunny day, hey hey hey
We'll meet again
Don't know where, don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling true
Just like you always do
'Til the blue skies make the dark clouds fade away
Some sunny day, hey hey hey
Some sunny day, hey hey hey
Some sunny day, hey hey hey
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di GASGUIC.
La grande invenzione (e merito) dei Byrds fu quella di aver trovato un genere di compromesso, ma non per questo un ibrido privo di personalità.
Mr. Tambourine Man... cover di Dylan, che da singolo spazzò via tutti i rivali e rivoluzionò tutti i parametri del folk-rock.
