I was recently inspired by the Albums That Never Were blog post, in which The Byrds’ album The Notorious Byrd Brothers was redone as if David Crosby had not been fired. I looked at the band’s previous album, Younger Than Yesterday, the first without any input from Gene Clark, and created a new version. This one includes three songs by Clark that were on his first solo album released nearly simultaneously with Younger Than Yesterday.
SIDE A
1. So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star
2. Have You Seen Her Face
3. Needing Someone
4. CTA – 102
5. Renaissance Fair
6. Time Between
7. Everybody’s Been Burned
SIDE B
1. So You Say You Lost Your Baby
2. Mind Gardens
3. The Girl with No Name
4. Tried So Hard
5. It
Happens Each Day
6. My Back Pages
Without contributions from Clark, Chris Hillman stepped up with four songs, plus a co-write with Roger McGuinn. This is interesting because prior to this, no other Hillman-written songs had been recorded by the band other than one track that was a group effort.
Rather than simply inserting Clark's songs, I looked at the album overall to see if I could improve it (at least in my mind). The album as released is very short – the first side clocks in less than 14 minutes. Besides adding three Clark tunes, I also decided to jettison two other tracks to make room for them. I removed Hillman’s “Thoughts and Words” as I didn’t think it contributed much, especially as the opening track of Side B. Plus, Hillman already has four other writing credits on the album. I also removed “Why,” a song co-written by McGuinn and Crosby. This was an odd choice in the first place because the band had released a slower version of the same song as a B side to the “Eight Miles High” single the previous year.
Clark’s solo album, Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers, includes both Hillman and Michael Clarke throughout, so it actually has three “Byrds” playing on it. I included the tracks “Needing Someone,” “So You Say You Lost Your Baby” and “Tried So Hard.” The first two I added because I simply liked them the most. I included “Tried So Hard” because I saw a video on YouTube of Clark performing it in maybe the late 1970s so I figured it must have been important to him. Also, Hillman recorded it in the early 1970s with his later group The Flying Burrito Brothers, so obviously he liked the track too.
Finally, I also added one outtake from the album, Crosby’s “It Happens Each Day.” Other than the insertions and deletions, the album's tracklist remains pretty much the same, although I moved the cover of Dylan’s “My Back Pages” to the end to close out the album. Because the album title is inspired by the song, and since it was released as a single, I thought ending the album with it made sense.
The result is an album with more variety, more tracks and a longer running time (each side is just under 16 minutes). It wasn’t until after I’d figured out a tracklist I liked that I realized the songs opening both sides have the same two first words in their titles. Weird.
And now for a special treat (ha!), I went the extra mile and created a second version of the album as a double, adding in more Clark songs and outtakes (see below). Sides A-C are about 15:10 give or take a second, while the fourth side is about 20 seconds shorter. You decide what you like more: a single or double album.
For cover art, I needed a photo that included Gene Clark, making the one I chose a bit dated. But doesn't having a photo of them a year or two earlier fit in with the album's title? Hmmmm. Otherwise, I think it looks good for a simple design. I removed some background imagery and added titles.
SIDE A
1. So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star
2. I Know My Rider (I Know You Rider)
3. Think I'm Gonna Feel Better
4. Time Between
5. The Same One
6. Mind Gardens
SIDE B
1. So You Say You Lost Your Baby
2. The Girl with No Name
3. CTA-102
4. Is Yours Is Mine
5. Everybody's Been Burned
6. Echoes
SIDE C
1. Have You Seen Her Face
2. It Happens Each Day
3. Needing Someone
4. Don’t Make Waves
5. I Found You
6. Psychodrama City
SIDE D
1. Renaissance Fair
2. Couldn't Believe Her
3. Why
4. Tried So Hard
5. Thoughts and Words
6. My Back Pages
Here's a YouTube playlist of the double album version.
Sources:
* Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers
* The Byrds' Younger Than Yesterday 1996 version with bonus tracks
* The Byrds box set
