Tag Archives: The Byrds

Nico – I’m Not Sayin (1965)

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Today sees two releases on Immediate Records: the first being Fifth Avenue, which I produced, with a version of the Pete Seeger / The Byrds ‘The Bells of Rymney’ and my composition; ‘Just Like Any One Would Do’ and also Nico’s ‘I’m Not Sayin (the Gordon Lightfoot song, produced by Andrew Loog Oldham). The b-side was titled ‘The Last Mile’, produced and written by me. I routined with Nico in her muse flat that she had during her stay in London. Editorial note: he’s keeping all the details to himself! This was before Nico was to go to New York and become part of the magical Velvet Underground. ~ Jimmy Page






[via Jimmy Page]

Jackie DeShannon – Laurel Canyon (1968)

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Jackie DeShannon dated Elvis Presley and formed friendships with The Everly Brothers and Ricky Nelson. She also co-starred and sang with Bobby Vinton in the teen surf movie Surf Party. DeShannon’s biggest break came in February 1964 when she supported The Beatles on their first U.S. tour, and formed a touring band with guitarist Ry Cooder. DeShannon also wrote “Don’t Doubt Yourself Babe” for the debut album of The Byrds. Her music at this stage was heavily influenced by the American West Coast sounds and folk music. Staying briefly in England in 1965, DeShannon formed a songwriting partnership with Jimmy Page, which resulted in the hit singles “Dream Boy” and “Don’t Turn Your Back on Me”. Page and DeShannon also wrote material for singer Marianne Faithfull, including her Top Ten UK and U.S. hit “Come and Stay With Me”.


[via Kent Munch]

The Byrds – Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965)

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“Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)”, often abbreviated to “Turn! Turn! Turn!”, is a song adapted entirely from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible (with the exception of the last line) and put to music by Pete Seeger in 1959. Seeger waited until 1962 to record his own version of it, releasing the song on his The Bitter and the Sweet album on Columbia Records. 45% of the royalties for the song are donated to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, because, in Seeger’s own words, “[in addition to the music] I did write six words.” The song became an international hit in late 1965, when it was covered by The Byrds, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #26 on the UK Singles Chart. Thus, the song easily holds the record as the #1 song with the oldest lyrics.


[via Christian Shannon]

Hüsker Dü – Eight Miles High (1984)

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In 1984, Husker Du took the trippy, ethereal Byrds tune “Eight Miles High” and reworked it as an expression of punk rage while somehow managing to retain the melodic core of the song. It stands as one of the greatest recordings of all time, let alone one of the greatest cover versions ever. Husker Du recorded their studio version of “Eight Miles High” at the same time they were recording the sprawling double-LP Zen Arcade. With the 1984 release of Zen Arcade and “Eight Miles High”, Husker Du broke through many of the constraints that punk rock had placed on itself without sacrificing any of the intensity of punk. “Eight Miles High” signaled that Husker Du had a broad range of influences and could channel them into their own sound. It also laid down a challenge to punk bands to expand how they approached their music. SST label-mates the Minutemen responded with their own double-LP Double Nickels on the Dime, writing “Take that, Huskers!” in the acknowledgements. [Source]

[Inspired by Sebastian Gullach Büttrich]