Description
A key transitional touchstone in The Byrds' fabled canon, 1969's Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde was the next stop in the band's pioneering country-rock trajectory and the first album by the post-Gram Parsons lineup. With leader Roger McGuinn at the helm of a stellar new edition of the band featuring guitar god Clarence White, drummer Gene Parsons, and bassist John York, Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde sees The Byrds bridging the gap between the psychedelic flights of the group's mid-60s albums and the down-home, country-based style developed only months earlier with Sweetheart of the Rodeo. In addition to containing strong McGuinn originals King Apathy III, Old Blue), more of the band's beloved interpretations of Bob Dylan classics (This Wheel's on Fire and a medley blending The Bard's My Back Pages with Jimmy Reed's Baby, What You Want Me to Do), and even a Gram Parsons collaboration (the bemusing Drug Store Truck Drivin Man, which cleverly celebrates The Byrds love of country music while simultaneously taking a dig at small-minded rednecks), Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde also boasts two tracks composed by McGuinn for the obscure, racy 60s cult movie Candy. Mastered from the original Columbia Records analog master reels, Sundazeds exact reproduction of the original LP will have Byrdmaniacs everywhere soaring to high heaven!