The Byrds - "Gene Tryp"

In 1969, Roger McGuinn and friend Jacques Levy conceived of a play that would be based on Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt." Titled Gene Tryp, the Ibsen storyline would be loosely followed, but set in the American southwest instead of Norway. According to McGuinn, Gene Tryp would include 23 songs, and supposedly, most if not all would be recorded by The Byrds.

It is unknown how many songs were actually written. What is known is that The Byrds recorded six songs originally intended for Gene Tryp. Four of the songs appeared on the band's "(Untitled)" album, and two more would end up on their next album, Byrdmaniax. So not only was Gene Tryp not completed, but what songs were recorded for the project didn't even end up on the same album.

It wasn't until 1992 that "Gene Tryp" the play was finally performed at the Colgate University Theater, and directed by Jacques Levy. For that performance, apparently only the songs known to have been recorded by The Byrds were included. So perhaps that's all that was actually completed before McGuinn and Levy gave up and moved on to other projects.

This is my attempt to create an album that features all known songs for Gene Tryp.

SIDE A
1. Chestnut Mare
2. All the Things
3. Lover of the Bayou
4. I Wanna Grow Up to be a Politician
5. Kathleen's Song
6. Just a Season

SIDE B
1. Yesterday's Train
2. Hungry Planet
3. Take a Whiff on Me
4. You All Look Alike
5. Well Come Back Home

For this recreated Gene Tryp album, I made all of the first side the "Gene Tryp" concept. From what I've read this is the order the songs were performed in the 1992 production. It's impossible to determine what a 23-song, double album version of Gene Tryp would have sounded like, but I actually like the idea of a truncated version anyway.

I used most of the remaining studio tracks from "(Untitled)" on the second side. This includes songs written by other members of The Byrds and allows the album to be more of a group effort than simply a McGuinn/Levy production.

And I used the cool cover design from http://idesignalbumcovers.tumblr.com.