The Byrds - "Blackbyrd Pye"

Gram Parsons' time in The Byrds was short, and it's difficult to discern how much of an impact he really had on the band. He did convince the rest of the band, specifically Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, to record a country album rather than McGuinn's idea of one that took on multiple music genres (see our earlier post).

The result was Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and while that album is highly rated today, it was a commercial disappointment at the time. Byrds fans didn't want a country album, and country music fans didn't care for The Byrds. After Parsons refused to take part in the Byrds' tour of South Africa, McGuinn and Hillman fired him.

Strangely, a few months later Hillman quit The Byrds to join Parsons in a new band called The Flying Burrito Brothers. That band's debut, The Gilded Palace of Sin, came out in February 1969. By the time a new Byrds album Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde was released a month later, McGuinn was not only the last original member of the band but the only one remaining from the lineup that recorded the previous album.

For this outing, I wanted to put together an album that might have come out had McGuinn, Hillman and Parsons remained together for another Byrds album.

SIDE A

1. Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man

2. Sin City

3. My Uncle

4. Child of the Universe

5. Bad Night at the Whiskey

6. Christine's Tune 

SIDE B

1. Wheels

2. King Apathy III

3. Old Blue

4. Juanita

5. Hippie Boy

6. Stanley’s Song

I took songs from both The Gilded Palace of Sin and Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde for material. I didn't include any tunes written by other members of the respective bands, and I didn't include any cover tunes other than "Old Blue," a traditional song McGuinn arranged.

The album opens with "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man," a Byrds song McGuinn and Parsons co-wrote before Parsons was shown the door. This is followed by two Parsons-Hillman songs from the Burritos' album: "Sin City" and "My Uncle." Two songs McGuinn co-wrote with friends come next ("Child of the Universe" and "Bad Night at the Whiskey"), and the first side closes with another Parsons-Hillman song, "Christine's Tune."

The second side opens with "Wheels," just as it does on The Gilded Palace of Sin. McGuinn's "King Apathy III" and the previously mentioned "Old Blue" follow. Two more Hillman-Parsons penned songs, "Juanita" and "Hippie Boy," come next before the album closes with "Stanley's Song," an outtake from Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde.

Since neither The Gilded Palace of Sin nor Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde sold very well, it's doubtful that this album would have made a bigger dent in the charts. However, it might have been welcomed by critics at the time and might be well-regarded today.

All tracks are from either The Gilded Palace of Sin or the expanded version of  Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde.

For a title to this album, I did a lot of pondering. I don't like the name Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde and I assume The Gilded Palace of Sin is related to the song "Sin City" and Vegas, but it doesn't really do anything for me. I started thinking about country music and that led me to think about comfort food, and for some reason, I thought of the line "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie" from the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence." So I titled this album Blackbyrd Pye.

While searching Google images I came across the one above for a San Clemente, Calif., pie shop and used that with new titles, including using y's for i's as the Byrds often liked to do.

Here's a YouTube playlist of the album.