Click on the link here for Audio Player – The Byrds – Live At Fillmore West – January 4, 1970 (Late Show) – Band soundboard.
More classics this weekend. The Byrds, in concert at Fillmore West, recorded during the late show on January 4th 1970.
Aside from founder Jim (Roger) McGuinn, the 1970 lineup of The Byrds bore little resemblance to the Byrds who took the country by storm in the mid-1960s – a mere five years earlier, when you think about it. But then, The Byrds were more or less in a constant state of evolution anyway, so the revolving door aspect of members coming in and dropping out was not much of a surprise at the time.
Still a potent entity, McGuinn was taking the Byrds further into a Roots/Country direction, which lost many fans along the way. Their Country excursion in the late 1960s was met with much hostility from the conservative Country-Western audience. But, after tackling the resistance from the established community, The Byrds found acceptance back on the West Coast, and it eventually paved the way for bands like The Flying Burrito Brothers (Byrds alumni Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman) to further explore Country-Rock. Hillman would go off to form Desert Rose – and the influence of The Byrds Country twang became something of a new West Coast sound in the 1970s.
This weekend’s concert features the Byrds during their Clarence White, Gene Parsons, Skip Battin period.
However fans felt about The Byrds’ many incarnations, the fact that they maintained an influence for many musicians over the years further proves the notion that Roger McGuinn knew what he was doing and there was a goodly amount of method to the madness.
The history of Rock is loaded with hindsight.
For now though, it’s The Byrds at Fillmore West from 1970.
