Although this switch led to the most stable of Byrds lineups in future years, it also heralded an unofficial end to the band’s streak of pop success, and nothing released in the resulting four years of their lifespan would capitalize on the resurgence that Ballad Of Easy Rider suggested. The album’s most stunning moment, however, may be the Woody Guthrie cover “Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)”, a worrisome but shimmering extension of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo’ s country stylings that showcases The Byrds at the height of their Americana-fueled powers.įollowing the successful release of Ballad Of Easy Rider, the band underwent yet another lineup change, swapping bassist John York for noted session man Skip Battin. The requisite Dylan cover, “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” is a sad-eyed melancholy-soaked updating of the original, and even the sea shanty experimentation of “Jack Tarr The Sailor” scans as a creatively-reinvigorated band broadening their reach and exploring new sonic frontiers. Beyond the string-laden, dignified country-rock veneer of the title track, ‘Oil In My Lamp’ and ‘’Jesus Is Just Alright’ are strong reminders of this band’s capacity for gold-tinged harmonies and lush arrangements. The album re-established McGuinn and the Byrds as capable interpreters of others’ material as well as contemporized traditionals. The Byrds “Wasn’t Born To Follow”/”The Ballad of Easy Rider”, Columbia 1969 Hyde, the band returned to working with Terry Melchier, who’s work behind the scenes been an integral element to their earlier successful chart forays. Dissatisfied with Bob Johnston’s production on their previous and disappointing full-length, Dr. Still, the association proved fruitful, resulting in what was then the Byrds’ highest-charting album in the US. Outside of the title track (co-written with an uncredited Dylan as the film’s theme song), most of the album has little to do with the film directly or thematically, consisting largely of covers and rearranged standards. Having shed notable talents David Crosby and Gram Parsons in previous years, the endless lineup reconfigurations now led to a tighter rein over band affairs by primary songsmith Roger McGuinn. Now, inspired by the success of Easy Rider, they found the film a useful launchpad to deepen their experiments with the melding of those two disparate elements that had come to define them.īallad Of Easy Rider arrived at a strange time in the band’s history. Undergoing constant lineup shuffling and inter-band tension, they’d grown past their early fame as jangling interpreters of Dylan standards to explore early psych-rock ( Fifth Dimension ) and country-rock ( Sweetheart of the Rodeo ), the latter drawing them serious ire from Nashville purists who assumed the longhairs were satirizing or toying with their beloved traditions.
The Byrds had undergone their own small revolution in the years leading up to the end of that legendary decade.
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