The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - Eighteen Is Over the Hill (1968)

It’s often been written that this band’s “leader,” Bob Markley, was only a member of the band because he was chasing the money, girls, and the celebrity status that came along with being in a popular band. According to rock historians and his bandmates, Markley wasn’t much of a musician and could hardly play a note. But luckily for him, he could at times be quite poetic and thus contributed his fair share to what would amount to very appealing music.

The song heard below was released on the band’s fourth album, Volume 3: A Child’s Guide to Good and Evil. If you’re bewildered about their albums’ naming conventions, you can find some insight on one of our previous posts. The album is widely considered one of the best to be put out by the band, but the song heard below doesn’t quite reinforce Markley’s ability to sometimes be poetic. Where the song really shines is in its melody and complex studio techniques.

The cover art for the album was created by renowned artist John Van Hamersveld, who most notably designed covers of albums for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, among others. Although the album is now considered an accomplished psychedelic record, it sold poorly upon its initial release and failed to chart nationally.

The song heard below is what I consider to be the highlight of the album. The lyrics were written by Markley and the music was written by his bandmate Ron Morgan.



The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - Eighteen Is Over the Hill (1968)

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Lyrics:

Antique white lace
A plastic face
A tinfoil place
An empty space
You are so hung up on yourself
And nothing else

I like too much the rain
The power of my brain
The sunshine
And the open road
Ahead of me

Laughing because
It’s right to laugh
Dress up at night
In the right dress
You can’t change me
Into something
That I’m not

I like too much the rain
The power of my brain
The sunshine
And the open road
Ahead of me

I’ll hear your line
Some other time
When miming
Performance rhyme
The way you feel
It is so phony
And unreal

I like too much the rain
The power of my brain
The sunshine
And the open road
Ahead of me

I like too much the rain
The power of my brain
The sunshine
And the open road
Ahead of me

Ellen Margulies - The White Pony (1968)

Ellen Margulies is an American singer who was briefly in the duo “Tom & Ellen” (with Tom Everett) which released the single “Too Many Things” b/w “My Up Is My Down” in 1966. It appears to be the only single released by the duo.

It also appears that Margulies recorded one more single, as a solo artist in 1968, before exiting the music industry for good. In ’68, Margulies recorded “The White Pony” b/w “Meditation.” “The White Pony” was written by Roger Joyce, Steve Steinberg, and Danny Secunda, while “Meditation” appears to only have been written by Joyce, who also served as producer, arranger, and conductor.

It’s rumored that Margulies was unaware of her songs being released until sometime after the year 2000, leading one to assume that she never saw any royalty money from her recordings.



Ellen Margulies - The White Pony (1968)

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Lyrics:

Prague lee wing raindrops come down from the skies
Like crystalline tear drops, they roll from my eyes
I reach for the sunlight, the bright rainbow door
And chase the white pony through doomed skies once more

I’ll ride so high, where cotton clouds fly
And cellophane nightingales always sing
There I’ll seek worlds that could be
And I’ll know that I can do anything

Cross-legged, I sit in this cold, cloistered room
Trying to see if the flower will bloom
I’ll taste the sweet pollen and open my eyes
And ride the white pony through crumbling skies

I’ll ride so high, where cotton clouds fly
And cellophane nightingales always sing
There I’ll seek worlds that could be
And I’ll know that I can do anything

I’ll ride so high, where cotton clouds fly
And cellophane nightingales always sing
There I’ll seek worlds that could be
And I’ll know that I can do anything

We Five - You Were on My Mind (1965)

Michael Stewart (younger brother of The Kingston Trio’s John Stewart) is largely responsible for putting together this band from the ashes of its forerunner, The Ridgerunners. Assembled in 1964, the group was signed to Herb Alpert’s A&M Records and released their first album, You Were on My Mind, in 1965. The album’s title track, heard below, sold over one million copies and was nominated for a Grammy.

After the release of their second album Make Someone Happy in 1967, the group’s Beverly Bivens decided to leave the group. Having sang lead on the group’s biggest hits, Bivens departure from the group severely hurt the band. Although they would release two more albums in ‘69 and ’70 with Debbie Graf Burgan replacing Bivens, the group was unable to reach their prior levels of success. They disbanded in 1970.

Written by Sylvia Fricker (later Sylvia Tyson) in 1962, the song below was first recorded and released by the duo Ian & Sylvia on their 1964 album, Northern Journey. The version heard below was altered slightly both musically and lyrically by Michael Stewart. Released in 1965, the song reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100.



We Five - You Were on My Mind (1965)

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Lyrics:

When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind
And you were on my mind
I got troubles
I got worries
I got wounds to bind

So I went to the corner
Just to ease my pains
Just to ease my pain
I got troubled
I got worried
I came home again

When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind
And you were on my mind
Yeah, I got troubles
I got worries
I got wounds to bind

And I got a feeling
Down in my shoes
Said, way down in my shoes
Yeah, I got to ramble
I got to move on
I got to walk away my blues

When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind
And you were on my mind
Yeah, I got troubles
I got worries
I got wounds to bind

Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction (1965)

Barry McGuire was born on October 15, 1935 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but moved to California at the young age of two years old. In the early 1960s, McGuire performed in a folk duo with Barry Kane, calling themselves Barry & Barry. In 1962, both McGuire and Kane joined a larger folk group known as The New Christy Minstrels. In 1965, McGuire left the Minstrels, wanting to record more political-oriented, serious music. He started off with a bang, as, that summer, he recorded what would be his most well-known song, “Eve of Destruction,” heard below. Its release propelled McGuire into international stardom, but unfortunately the artist would never again break into the Top 40. His lustrous career has spanned more than five decades, resulting in more than twenty-five albums.

Written by P. F. Sloan in 1964, this song was first offered to The Byrds, who were known to record political songs such as this one. However, The Byrds declined and the song was thus first recorded and released by The Turtles, whose version you can hear in one of our previous posts. As it was, the version recorded and released by Barry McGuire in July 1965 garnered the most success. Surprisingly, the version with McGuire was also only a rough draft.

In mid-July 1965, some members of The Wrecking Crew had recorded the music for “Eve of Destruction” for McGuire to use, and McGuire ran through the vocals off of a crumbled piece of paper to get a feel for the song. He only recorded one take, but sometime later that day, his rough cut was leaked to a DJ and the song became an instant hit overnight. Ultimately, the song went to number one in the United States and has since been widely regarded as an iconic anthem encompassing the mood of many during the 1960s.



Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction (1965)

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Lyrics:

The eastern world- it is explodin'
Violence flarin', bullets loadin'
You're old enough to kill, but not for votin'
You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'?
And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'

But ya tell me over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, ya don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Don'tcha understand what I'm tryin' to say?
And can't you feel the fears that I'm feelin' today?
If the button is pushed, there's no runnin’ away
There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave
Take a look around ya, boy; it's bound to scare ya, boy; and ya

Tell me over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, ya don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin'
I'm sittin' here just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation
Handful of sedatives don't pass legislation
And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'; and ya

Tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, ya don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
Ah, you may leave here for four days in space
But when you return, it's the same old place
The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace; and

Tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Mm, no, no, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Grateful Dead - Ripple (1970)

The Grateful Dead began recording their American Beauty album just a few months after the band had released Workingman’s Dead. The close proximity of the two works has led many Deadheads to consider the two albums as a pair. Some of the notable aspects of the album were its abundant folk influences, as well as its improved and more complex harmonies. The latter was in thanks to Crosby, Stills & Nash, who had been giving the Dead tips on how to harmonize and sing together. The two bands had had their social circles intersect more and more at that time, as CSN had been recording their album Déjà Vu at Wally Heider Studios, the same place the Dead were recording American Beauty.

With music written by Jerry Garcia and lyrics by Robert Hunter, the song below was released as the opening track to Side Two of American Beauty. And when the group’s famed “Truckin’” was chosen from that album to be released as a single, it was the song below which accompanied it as its B-Side. Hunter’s lyrics were said to have been written after drinking half of a bottle of retsina; and much of the lyrics seem to have been influenced by the 23rd Psalm of the Bible.



Grateful Dead - Ripple (1970)

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Lyrics:

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music?
Would you hold it near as it were your own?

It’s a hand-me-down; the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they’re better left unsung
I don’t know- don’t really care
Let there be songs to fill the air

Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
If your cup is full, may it be again
Let it be known there is a fountain
That was not made by the hands of men

There is a road- no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go, no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone

Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

You who choose to lead must follow
But if you fall, you fall alone
If you should stand, then who’s to guide you?
If I knew the way, I would take you home

Four Jacks and a Jill - Master Jack (1967)

This South African band first performed together in 1964 under the name The Nevadas. Later, when they were going by the name The Zombies (no, not those Zombies), they added a new lead singer, Glenys Lynne and changed their name to the one above, which is now most remembered. Besides Glenys, rounding out the band was Clive Harding on bass; Till Hanamann on guitar, trumpet, and organ; Bruce Bark on guitar, harmonica, and saxophone; and Tony Hughes on drums. The group performed together for eighteen years, sometimes recorded in the Afrikaans language, and reunited for a tour in 2000.

The band received their biggest hit to date in South Africa when their song “Timothy” rose to number eighteen in 1967. Later that same year, the band released the song heard below and topped the charts of South Africa with the number one spot. When it was released in the United States the following year, the song managed to reach number eighteen, where it would become their highest charting song stateside.



Four Jacks and a Jill - Master Jack (1967)

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Lyrics:

It's a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack
You taught me all I know and I'll never look back
It's a very strange world and I thank you, Master Jack

You took a colored ribbon from out of the sky
And taught me how to use it as the years went by
To tie up all your problems and make them look neat
And then to sell them to the people in the street

It's a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack
You taught me all I know and I'll never look back
It's a very strange world and I thank you, Master Jack

I saw right through the way you started teaching me now
So someday soon you could get to use me somehow
I thank you very much and though you've been very kind
But I'd better move along before you change my mind

It's a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack
You know how I feel as if I'll never come back
It's a very strange world and I thank you, Master Jack

You taught me all the things the way you'd like them to be
But I'd like to see if other people agree
It's all very interesting the way you disguise
But I'd like to see the world through my own eyes

It's a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack
No hard feelings if I never come back
You're a very strange man and I thank you, Master Jack

You're a very strange man and I thank you, Master Jack
You're a very strange man, aren't you, Master Jack

Crosby, Stills & Nash - Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (1969)

According to singer/songwriter Judy Collins, she first met Stephen Stills at a party in 1967. She thought Stephen was “possibly the most attractive man” she had ever seen. And although the two became romantically linked for the next two years, it was clear to Stephen that breaking up was imminent when Judy had fallen in love with Stacy Keach, her co-star in a stage musical.

The deteriorating relationship led a devastated Stills to pen multiple songs about Collins, who was known for her piercing blue eyes; and the song heard below is a weaving of four of those pieces of work. The “Suite” in the title was a pun, half indicating that the song was a musical suite or, a collection of songs in the classical sense, and half referencing the meaning of its homophone, implying “sweet” Judy Blue Eyes.

Although the song didn’t convince Collins to remain with Stills, she admits that it did make her feel more regretful about her decision to leave him. And when the song climbed to number twenty-one in the United States, it certainly made it that much more difficult for her to avoid hearing it.



Crosby, Stills & Nash - Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (1969)

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Lyrics:

It's getting to the point where I'm no fun anymore
(I am sorry)
Sometimes it hurts so badly I must cry out loud
(I am lonely)
I am yours, you are mine, you are what you are
You make it hard

Remember what we've said and done and felt about each other
(Oh, babe, have mercy)
Don't let the past remind us of what we are not now
(I am not dreaming)
I am yours, you are mine, you are what you are
You make it hard

Tearing yourself away from me now, you are free
And I am crying
This does not mean I don't love you; I do; that's forever
Yes, and for always
I am yours, you are mine, you are what you are
You make it hard

Something inside is telling me that I've got your secret
(Are you still listening?)
Fear is the lock and laughter the key to your heart
(And I love you)
I am yours, you are mine, you are what you are
You make it hard

(And you make it) hard
(And you make it) hard
(And you make it) hard

Friday evening
Sunday in the afternoon
What have you got to lose?

Tuesday morning
Please be gone, I'm tired of you
What have you got to lose?

Can I tell it like it is?
(Help me, I'm sufferin')
Listen to me, baby
It's my heart that's a’sufferin'; it's a’dyin'
(Help me I'm dyin')
And that's what I have to lose (lose)

I've got an answer
I'm going to fly away
What have I got to lose?

Will you come see me
Thursdays and Saturdays?
(Hey, hey, hey)
What have you got to lose?

Chestnut-brown canary
Ruby-throated sparrow
Sing a song; don't be long
Thrill me to the marrow

Voices of the angels
Ring around the moonlight
Asking me, said she’s so free
How can you catch the sparrow?

Lacy lilting lyric
Losing love, lamenting
Change my life, make it right
Be my lady

¡Que linda! Me acuerdo a CubaHow pretty! She reminds me of Cuba
La reina de la Mar CaribeThe queen of the Caribbean Sea
Quiero sólo visitarle allíI only want to visit her there
¡Y que triste que no puedo vaya!And how sad that I can't go
O Va! O Va!Oh, go! Oh, go!

Simon & Garfunkel - America (1968)

In 1964, Paul Simon was living in London, England with his then-girlfriend Kathy Chitty. His debut album with Art Garfunkel, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. had recently been finished recording and was now in the stage of being mixed and having the artwork created/picked out. Simon’s producer, Tom Wilson, informed him that he wanted Paul to come back to the United States to assist with the work. Not wanting to leave his girlfriend behind, Simon suggested he and Kathy go together, where they could spend five days touring the country before he got back to work. The resulting road trip became the inspiration for the song heard below.

It was in 1966 when Simon eventually wrote the song; and, according to a former disc jockey from Saginaw, Michigan, Bob Dyer, Simon wrote the song while he was in town- in Saginaw- to perform in a concert series.

The finished song was first released in 1968 on Simon & Garfunkel’s third album, titled Bookends. That version of the song begins with a segue from the previous track; so the version heard below- the single- was chosen for being featured here instead, as the intro is cleaner. The single version heard below and released in 1972 reached #92 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #25 in the UK. It features Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel from The Wrecking Crew on drums and bass, respectively.



Simon & Garfunkel - America (1968)

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Lyrics:

Let us be lovers
We’ll marry our fortunes together
I’ve got some real estate here in my bag

So we bought a pack of cigarettes
And Mrs. Wagner’s Pies
And walked off to look for America

“Kathy,” I said, as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
“Michigan seems like a dream to me now”
It took me four days to hitch-hike from Saginaw
I’ve come to look for America”

Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said, “Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera”

“Toss me a cigarette; I think there’s one in my raincoat”
“We smoked the last one an hour ago”

So I looked at the scenery
She read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field

“Kathy, I’m lost,” I said, though I knew she was sleeping
“I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why”

Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They’ve all come to look for America

All come to look for America
All come to look for America

KAK - Lemonaide Kid (1968)

In 1966, high school students Gary Lee Yoder and Dehner Patten were first introduced to one another when Patten replaced Bob Daigl in Yoder’s band, The Hideaways. In that same year, The Hideaways had dissolved and Yoder and Patten started a new band, The Oxford Circle. Although The Oxford Circle was primarily based in Davis, California, they managed to travel all around northern California for live shows. They even made it to San Francisco, where they opened for acts such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin.

When The Oxford Circle disbanded in late 1967/early 1968, it was the father of Yoder’s writing partner, Gary Grelecki, who gave Yoder and Patten their next big shot. Working for CBS, Grelecki’s father persuaded the boys to record a demo with their new bandmates Joseph David Damrell (bass) and Chris Lockheed (drums). With that new demo and a single by The Oxford Circle, Grelecki’s father had enough material to persuade his connections to get the boys signed to Epic Records. They called themselves KAK and relocated to San Francisco.

Together as KAK, Gary Lee Yoder, Dehner Patten, Joseph David Damrell, and Chris Lockheed only recorded one album. It was recorded in Los Angeles at CBS Studio over the span of two days. Although a few low-level partitions were used, the album was primarily recorded like a live album, with little to no overdubs being involved. The album, self-titled, was released in 1968 and sold poorly. A large reason for the lack of sales was the reluctance of the record label to promote the album or even the band itself. Besides two half-page ads in Rolling Stone magazine, the band had been given virtually no promotion.

With no manager to guide them, the members of KAK weren’t sure what steps to take after the release of their album. They performed about a half dozen more shows, all booked by themselves, and then disbanded.

After the split, Patten and Lockheed would go on to perform in a band called Cherry Jam, amongst many others, until Patten settled down in Oregon where he still lives today. Yoder released a solo album for Epic before joining Blue Cheer, with which he remained from 1969 to 1972. All members continue to play, separately, to this day.

The song heard below was the last track on the band's only album, released in 1968.



KAK - Lemonaide Kid (1968)

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Lyrics:

Life’s road is not clear to me
No, the mapwork has not been laid
I thought I’d take a little detour
And go sit in the shade
Well, I got to take it easy, babe
I better watch out what I do
I saw the lemonade kid on the peppermint sticks
He had a mind-blowing kitty
He said he’d set it aside for you

Lemonade and I went walking
We met a man down the path
He said he was Donk, the feast-giver
Ooh, this can’t last
Oh, no- yes it can
Due to the kid’s luck
You know the feast was good
Well, we drank our fill and we ate until
The sun went down and the moon stood still

Here’s the road again
Oh, no, we can’t be sold
Just when things were getting good
The kid had to go
“Well, I’ll see you later”
“I hope you can make it back again someday”
“Got a lot more tricks to show you”
“And I’ve got a lot more places where we can play”

Life is just a play
And the world is its theater
Do you want to have a bit part
Or do you want to be a leader?
You’ve got to think for yourself
Don’t want to put any notions in your head
‘cause the only one that counts is watchings inside ya
And the way you act, he might as well be dead

The Gentle Soul - Flying Thing (1968)

If you haven’t seen our previous post featuring The Gentle Soul, you may want to check that out first. There’s a good, little biography about the group, including the famous names they worked with and why they had to split up. The best part, though, is that it features an interview conducted with half of The Gentle Soul, Pamela Polland.

You’ll notice near the beginning of that post that there was a song The Gentle Soul recorded, which had been written by a fourteen year old Jackson Browne. The song heard below in this post is that song. “Flying Thing” was one of the three songs Jackson Browne had written by the age of fourteen. He wrote the music and lyrics, but the arrangements were done by The Gentle Soul (Pamela Polland and Rick Stanley). It wasn’t released on The Gentle Soul’s only album (probably because it wasn’t written by them, as claimed by Pamela Polland herself), but it was released on one of the two singles the band put out. Unfortunately, like with their rest of their music, the single wasn’t promoted and it made little impact on the charts.

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A Special Edition post with Rick Stanley of The Gentle Soul!
After a little over a year of correspondence, I’m proud to announce that The Gentle Soul’s Rick Stanley has supplied numerous stories to share with A Bit Like You And Me. Rick was kind enough to share a bunch of excerpts from an upcoming autobiography he’s writing, titled My Song of Life. There was a very large quantity of material, so I’ve taken the liberty of chopping it down to the very best parts.

Excerpts from My Song of Life by Rick Stanley
[...]Not long after my audition with Stephen [Stills, to try out for Buffalo Springfield], Terry [Melcher] contacted Pamela [Polland] and was raving about the two of us. He wanted to get us in the studio as soon as possible to make a demo for the Columbia Record exec.’s who make the decisions about signing new acts.

What happened next is a bit hazy in my fading memory-pictures, but I think some time passed before Terry had time to get us into the studio. Pamela had already started to recruit other musicians to back us up; and, I somehow ended up in the Valley, staying in a rented house with two of the potential band members: Riley “Wyldflower” Cummings and a drummer from Riley’s sort of Beatle-esque group. They had toured the southwest and one of the groupies latched on to them in Tulsa, by offering the money she received from an insurance claim for her broken leg, so that the drummer could buy a new set of drums. Riley wrote his own songs in the vein of the early Beatles- like “Love Me Do” and “Twist and Shout”- which didn’t interest me at all. It had been done and couldn’t possibly attract a record company or get us on the radio.

Riley was six-foot five-inches tall with wild, light-brown, curly hair and almost always stoned. He was a likable Irish-American, son of a car dealership owner in the valley, and played decent rhythm guitar in the typical pop band genre. But Pam and I were really acoustic folk musicians and I couldn’t understand why she wanted a pop guitar player who couldn’t really sing well enough to add a harmony. I think she just liked him. And so, she would come over and we would practice her songs and a few others in preparation for the Columbia demo with Terry. Meanwhile, we were trying to come up with a name for our group, which is probably more fun than practicing.

The original group with Riley “Wyldflower” Cummings and Sandy Konikoff [before The Gentle Soul was finalized as a duo]

One night, Riley had “scored” a kilo of grass with the groupie’s money and proceeded to lie back on his bed and blow pot smoke into the face of his cat, who just lay there on his chest, looking up at him and throwing cat-kisses with his eyes. Riley said, “He’s such a gentle soul,” and, I jumped on this and said, “That’s the name for our group! ‘The Gentle Soul’!” And so it was! I felt like Riley must have thought that marijuana was a universal balm for all creatures great and small, and that it couldn’t possibly do any harm. The next day, the cat was acting like he’d eaten fifty pounds of cat nip- running, flipping, and jumping in a spastic frenzy- seeing something in la la land and lunging for it, only to flop upside down on his back. He got up and bashed headlong into the patio window and lay there unconscious for a while. I guess the poor thing managed to get out of the house and we never saw it again.

Soon, we all moved in to an old house on Venice Beach that Pam and the groupie managed to lease. Each of us had our own room and I rigged up some bamboo curtains on the walls all around my little abode, and slept on an old mattress with a new cotton cover that I found in a thrift store. Pam still had her own place, but would come over to practice. The groupie and the drummer had the choice room downstairs, and Riley and I had our little rooms upstairs. I was beginning to feel like this wasn’t going anywhere. The drummer didn’t know how to drum and Riley’s main focus was getting high. Anyway, nature doesn’t allow a vacuum to persist, and thus brought a stranger to the house. He arrived when the drummer was away for some reason and proceeded to seduce the groupie without much effort. After four days of being serviced by the stranger, her previous lover returned: the inadequate drummer. The groupie pretended that nothing had happened with the stranger, and offered the attic as her new lover’s bedroom.

The attic was where we practiced, and this didn’t suit lover-boy at all. He never spoke a word to any of us; only the groupie was privy to his profound thoughts. He would just sit and stew when we were up there, making all kinds of bored and inconvenienced expressions, with his little poet’s pad in full view and his pencil sticking out from behind one ear. I didn’t like this asshole’s attitude at all. He didn’t contribute anything for rent, expected to be fed, and all for the price of having sex with the groupie when the drummer wasn’t around. You may be a bit surprised to know who this guy was. It was Jim Morrison- you know, The Doors.

The whole thing finally came to a head when the drummer discovered Jim and his true love going at it in his own bed. He flew into a rage, but ended up begging the groupie to stay with him. It was clear that she finally understood why he wanted her: the bloody drums and the rest of her insurance money to live on, of course! So, that day, he packed up his drums and left the house. Jim didn’t hang around much longer either[...]

Thanks,
Rick Stanley

There is a lot more to tell about Rick's unusual life; check out My Song of Life by Rick Stanley when it comes out. If you want to know when it’s released, just send your email to nr.stan[at]gmail[dot]com.

How hilarious is that? Even though Rick didn't seem to appreciate Jim Morrison's antics, I have to say it sounds pretty amusing all these years later! And it's definitely fun to know that The Gentle Soul's name was helpfully inspired by a cat. A big 'thank you' to Rick Stanley for sharing such interesting excerpts from his forthcoming book, My Song of Life! Be sure to check out the book when it's released, as it contains other stories involving Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Levon Helm, and many, many more!

And now that you've enjoyed this exclusive story, why not check out what other exclusive stories we've received?

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The Gentle Soul - Flying Thing (1968)

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Lyrics:

She’s a flying thing that sings
With her eyes like smoky rings
And the sun can feel her presence in the sky

And I think I’m gonna stay
‘cause there’s nothin’ in our way
And she says that she can teach me how to fly
(Teach me how to fly)

If I could love her more than I have ever loved before
Then tomorrow I’ll be standing at her door

And when I hear her voice
I have no other choice
But to bend back my head and search the sky

Her hair is spun so fine
Roses fell like laughing wine
And she says that she can teach me how to fly
(Teach me how to fly)

If I could give her all the things she’s never had before
Then tomorrow I’ll be standing at her door

To see her walking by is to see a windy sky
And the clouds reflecting in her eyes

And the softness of her skin
Makes me wonder where I’ve been
And she says that she can teach me how to fly
(Teach me how to fly)

If she could love me more than she has ever loved before
Then tomorrow I’ll be standing at her door

She’s a flying thing that sings
With her eyes like smoky rings
And she says that she can teach me how to fly
(Teach me how to fly)
And she says that she can teach me how to fly
(Teach me how to fly)
And she says that she can teach me how to fly
(Teach me how to fly…)

The 31st of February - Morning Dew (1968)

David Brown and Claude “Butch” Trucks had both traveled, separately, from their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida to Tallahassee, Florida after graduating from Englewood High School and enrolling at Florida State University for the 1965 fall semester. They came together when they found themselves living on the same floor of the same dormitory and sharing a mutual interest in the new folk rock sound being pioneered by The Byrds. Together, they teamed up with Scott Boyer, who had also gone to Englewood High School in Jacksonville and had been living in Tallahassee as a professional musician.

The three new bandmates decided to call themselves The Bitter Ind. (Independents) and attempted to find work in Daytona Beach, Florida after Brown and Trucks left school after their freshman year. They struggled, but landing a performance at Club Martinique introduced them to Gregg and Duane Allman, who, at that time, were in a band called the Allman Joys. Their meeting with the two future stars would be paramount to their careers.

After the Daytona show, The Bitter Ind. returned home to Jacksonville, Florida, deflated from a lack of work. Not long after, Butch Trucks received a call from Duane Allman that his band would be in town, playing at a club called the Beachcomber, and needing a drummer to fill in for the night. Trucks played with the band and then convinced the Beachcomber’s manager to allow his band, The Bitter Ind., to perform as well. The manager agreed, liked what he heard, and used the group as his house band through 1967.

After 1967 and the end of the Beachcomber gig, the band decided to change their name, briefly using The Tiffany System before settling on The 31st of February. They relocated to Miami, Florida, signed a record deal with Vanguard Records, and released their first album, The 31st of February, in 1968. Unfortunately, it didn’t sell very well.

The group soon crossed paths with Gregg and Duane Allman once again, who were now members in a band called The Hour Glass. The 31st of February and the Allman brothers joined forces under The 31st of February name and began working on a new album together. Interestingly, one of the tracks on the album was an early version of “Melissa” (which would later be re-recorded by Gregg and Duane Allman as members of The Allman Brothers Band, and released in 1972). But, unfortunately, here in 1968, the album was shelved, never finished when the group split up before finalizing any of the tracks.

It wasn’t until 1972, after Duane and Gregg Allman found success in The Allman Brothers Band, that there became an interest in the members’ previous group. For this reason, The 31st of February’s unfinished second album finally saw the light of day, being released under the title of Duane & Greg Allman (which had misspelled “Gregg”).

The song heard below was the opening track on The 31st of February’s unfinished second album. It was recorded by Scott Boyer, David Brown, Butch Trucks, Duane Allman, and Gregg Allman in 1968, but released in 1972, as mentioned above.

The song itself was written in 1961 by Bonnie Dobson, and first recorded by Dobson in 1962. The lyrics are supposed to represent a conversation between the last man and woman left alive after a nuclear holocaust. Dobson stated that the lyrics were inspired by the 1959 movie titled On the Beach.



The 31st of February - Morning Dew (1968)

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Lyrics:

Walk me out in the morning dew, my heart
Walk me out in the morning dew, my heart
Though I can't walk you out in the morning dew, my heart
Though I can't walk you out in the morning dew, my heart

Thought I heard a young girl cry, yeah
Thought I heard a young girl cry, yeah
No, you didn't hear no young girl cry at all
No, you didn't hear no young girl cry

Thought I heard a young girl cry, yeah
Thought I heard a young girl cry, yeah
No, you didn't hear no young girl cry
No, you didn't hear no young girl cry at all

Now there is no morning dew
Now there is no morning dew
What they've been sayin’ all these years has come true
What they've been sayin’ all these years has come true

Got no morning dew

The Vejtables - I Still Love You (1965)

This folk rock group was started in Millibrae, California in 1964 while its members (Ned Hollis, Bob Bailey, Jan Errico, Rick Dey, and Bob Cole) were still in high school. They began their journey by touring the bars of San Francisco, notably along the famous El Camino Real. When the band put on their live performances, they often surprised audiences by having a female drummer, Jan Errico, who also sang lead. The group was signed to Autumn Records in late 1964 or early 1965 and managed to squeak onto the charts once.

Written by Jan Errico and released in July of 1965, the song heard below was the band’s only track to make it on the charts, albeit near the bottom. The song has a bit of a British vibe to it, as all songs of the era usually did in thanks to The Beatles. It also has a similar sound to The Beau Brummels, which could probably be explained by the fact that The Beau Brummels were on the same label.

By the end of 1965/early 1966, Errico, who at some point had changed her surname to Ashton, parted ways with the group, feeling they were moving in a direction she didn’t agree with. She went on to join The Mojo Men, who had already released a bit of material without Errico, while the rest of The Vejtables began experimenting with the heavy psychedelic sounds that began arriving around 1966. Without Errico and without success, the new lineup disbanded before 1967 had even arrived.



The Vejtables - I Still Love You (1965)

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Lyrics:

I still love you, even though I know I shouldn’t
I still want you, even though I know it wouldn’t
Do me any good to say I love you more each day
But I know now that your love for me has gone astray

When I held you in my arms the other night
I could tell that something just wasn’t right
My love for you was not returned in that same old way
Then, I knew that very soon there would come a day
When I’d lose you

Oh yeah
When I’d lose you

Everyone told me that this would happen some way
But all I did was laugh and say

“Now you’re just jealous”
(Oh yeah)
“‘cause I’ve got a love that’s true”
(Don’t you know?)
But love, I realized
That they were only trying to help me

When I held you in my arms the other night
I could tell that something just wasn’t right
My love for you was not returned in that same old way
Then, I knew that very soon there would come a day
When I’d lose you

Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Oh yeah

The Other Side - Walking Down the Road (1966)

This band was originally a surf outfit calling themselves The Topsiders, formed at Washington High School in Fremont, California circa 1964. The members of The Topsiders were Jim Sawyers, Ken “Toad” Matthew, Tom Antone, and David Tolby (born David Phelps). In early 1965, Skip Spence briefly joined the band, before being convinced by Martin Balin to join Balin’s band as their drummer. When Balin’s band rejected the band name proposed by Spence, favoring instead to call themselves Jefferson Airplane, Spence suggested that The Topsiders should use it. They did, and from then on, The Topsiders were known as The Other Side.

For the duration of the band, personnel changes were very common. The band often stole and swapped members with another local act, The Chocolate Watchband. When Jim Sawyers left the group to join The Vejtables (citing that he didn’t get along with Sawyers), the band replaced him with Ed “Ned” Torney III, the lead guitarist of The Chocolate Watchband. In turn, David Tolby left The Other Side to join The Chocolate Watchband. Born David Phelps and using the stage name David Tolby, he again switched his name (this time to Sean Tolby) when he joined The Chocolate Watchband.

At this point, The Other Side was made up of Ken “Toad” Matthew, Tom Antone, and ex-Chocolate Watchband guitarist Ed “Ned” Torney. Torney’s departure from The Chocolate Watchband had an effect on his ex-bandmates Jo Kemling and Danny Phay, who soon followed Torney’s lead by leaving the Watchband and joining The Other Side. This was the lineup of the band which reached the most acclaim, but it didn’t last long. In January 1966, Torney was drafted into the Army and was only able to practice and play with the band on the weekends. To help fill his void, the group brought in Martin Van Slyke Battey. But by May 1966, Torney re-joined the band full time, thus making the group a little too large. Rather than ejecting the newest member, Battery, the group decided to part ways with Jo Kemling, who was soon followed by a departing Danny Phay. The last personnel change of the band came when they recruited Alan Graham, a guitarist from the Lord Jim Quintet that was brought in to assist on vocals. It was this final lineup of the band which recorded The Other Side’s only single, heard below.

The demise of the band began shortly after Tom Antone received his draft notice. With Antone being plucked from the group, Battey soon quit the band. To replace the two, the remaining members recruited Wayne Paulsen and renamed themselves Bogus Thunder. The Other Side was no more.

To reiterate, at the time of the recording heard below, the group consisted of original band members Ken “Toad” Matthew and Tom Antone; Ed “Ned” Torney, previously of The Chocolate Watchband; Martin Van Slyke Battey; and Alan Graham, previosuly of The Lord Jim Quintet. The song heard below was written by R. Kleinsinger and J. Darion, featured as the A-Side to their sole single, and released in December 1966. It was backed with the B-Side “Streetcar,” which was written by Battey and Graham of the band.



The Other Side - Walking Down the Road (1966)

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Lyrics:

Walking down this road to my town
Walking down this road to home
Traveling through these hills and valleys
Traveling and I'm all alone

Gonna see my woman
I'm gonna see my pa
I’ve been a long time movin’
It gets ya wonderin’ how they are

Walking down this road to my town
Walking down this road to home
Traveling through these hills and valleys
Traveling and I'm all alone

Walking down this road to my town
Walking down this road to home
Traveling through these hills and valleys
Traveling and I'm all alone

Gonna see the parson
If I can catch him in
I bet he’s down there fishin’
Fishin’ with my brother Jim

And if I ever get there
I’ll tell ya what I'm gonna do, yeah
I'm gonna write ‘em all a letter
And tell them “I’ll be seein’ you”

Walking down this road to my town
Walking down this road to home
Traveling through these hills and valleys
Traveling and I'm all alone

Walking down this road to my town
Walking down this road to home
Traveling through these hills and valleys
Traveling and I'm all alone

Hot Tuna - Water Song (1972)

Jack Casady (b. April 13, 1944) and Jorma Kaukonen (b. December 23, 1940) had first met in the city which they were both born, Washington, D.C. in the United States, while growing up. Together as teenagers, the duo formed their first band together called The Triumphs. While Casady remained enrolled in high school, Kaukonen went off to Ohio for college, before abruptly following his family to live overseas. Eventually Kaukonen found his way back to the States and re-enrolled in college in California. In 1965, Kaukonen joined Jefferson Airplane and, within a matter of months, recruited Casady to join the band on bass, replacing Bob Harvey. Although Jack and Jorma wound find great success with the psychedelic sounds created in Jefferson Airplane, it was the blues to which they always remained loyal. In 1969, Jack and Jorma began a side project, this band, which allowed them to perform the blues and record original material of their own. Although Jefferson Airplane would eventually split up, and although Jack and Jorma have each had their own share of solo albums and guest appearances on other records, it is only Hot Tuna which still remains intact today. From 1969 until the present, the band has never broken up, continues to release new material, and continues to put on live shows which can last anywhere from three to six hours.

The first two albums released by Hot Tuna were live albums (Hot Tuna from 1970 and First Pull Up, Then Pull Down from 1971). The album that this song appeared on was the group’s third release, but first studio-recorded album, titled Burgers, and released in February 1972. Written by Jorma Kaukonen, the song featured Kaukonen on guitar, Jack Casady on bass, and Sammy Piazza on drums.



Hot Tuna - Water Song (1972)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

The Art of Lovin' - Daily Prayer (1968)

Coming out of Newton, Massachusetts, this five-piece band was composed of high school kids who managed to stay together long enough for the release of one album. They were composed of Gail Winnick (vocals), Paul Applebaum (vocals, guitar), Johnny Lank (bass), Sandy Winslow (drums), and Barry Tatelman (saxophone). Although the band drew comparisons to the San Francisco Sound and received generally positive reviews, they were forced to split apart when its members decided to go off to college. You’d have to think their choice to go off to college was also a sure way to avoid being drafted into Vietnam.

With the exception of the band’s cover of a song by Tim Hardin (“(How Can We) Hang On To A Dream”), each of this group’s songs were written by Paul Applebaum. The song heard below, featured on the band’s only album, The Art of Lovin’, was featured as the sixth track. If you enjoy listening to it, I highly recommend getting a copy of The Art of Lovin’. The entire album is a real joy to listen to.



The Art of Lovin' - Daily Prayer (1968)

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Lyrics:

All the words come flashing by me
Watch the letters fly
And the sequence, as an ember
Burning so high

Causes spaces far between us
Dealing with our minds
Thinking only to talk in letters
That can only rhyme

And we follow in our blindness
And we read the daily prayer
And we walk the streets of kindness
Frozen by the stares

Of a young man who’s lost the language
Looks behind their eyes
And the thoughts of danger
Are all thoughts of surprise

Thinking only of frozen pathways
Banked by hidden lies
Follow through the twisted causeways
Of the empty skies

And we follow in our blindness
And we read the daily prayer
And we walk the streets of kindness
Frozen by the stares

And we follow in our blindness
And we read the daily prayer
And we walk the streets of kindness
Frozen by the stares

The Beau Brummels - Just a Little (1965)

As mentioned in the previous post featuring this band, The Beau Brummels were eternally honored by being animated as The Beau Brummelstones for an appearance on The Flintstones, singing their first hit song “Laugh Laugh” in its entirety for an episode. More than that, the band also appeared in the 1965 movie Village of the Giants and the 1966 movie Wild Wild Winter. The band made a unique screen appearance once more in 1994, when Village of the Giants was chosen as the subject for an episode of the satirical comedy show Mystery Science Theater 3000. Since the mid-1990s, the band has performed at San Francisco’s Baypop Festival and Summer of Love Festival in 2000 and 2002, respectively. In March 2013, the living original band members released an album titled Continuum, using drum recordings of the band’s drummer, John Petersen, who had passed away in 2007 from a heart attack.

When the band’s first hit “Laugh Laugh” halted at number fifteen on the charts, the band themselves blamed its stalling on their label’s lack of ability to effectively distribute their material nationally. With the release of their second single, heard below, the band was able to climb a little higher on the charts. Written by the band’s guitarist, Ron Elliott, with his friend Bob Durand, this song reached number eight on the American charts. It was produced by Sylvester Stewart, later to be known as Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone.



The Beau Brummels - Just a Little (1965)

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Lyrics:

I can’t stay, yes, I know
You know I hate to go
But goodbye; love was sweet
Our worlds can never meet

So, I’ll cry just a little
‘cause I love you so
And I’ll die just a little
‘cause I have to go
Away

Can’t you see how I feel
When I say love’s unreal?
So goodbye; it’s been sweet
Even though incomplete

So, I’ll cry just a little
‘cause I love you so
And I’ll die just a little
‘cause I have to go
Away

Every night I still hear
All your sighs very clear
Now love’s gone, gone away
As I once heard you say

Now I’ve cried just a little
‘cause I loved you so
And I’ve died just a little
‘cause I had to go
Away

Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship - Have You Seen the Stars Tonite? (1970)

Internal problems amongst the members of Jefferson Airplane began to boil over in 1970, starting with their drummer, Spencer Dryden, being unanimously voted out of the band. Members Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen launched a side project, Hot Tuna; Paul Kantner and the married Grace Slick began a love affair; and Marty Balin felt like a bit of an outcast because of his bandmates pairing up without him.

Since Jefferson Airplane had only released one single in 1970, Paul Kantner decided to work on a solo album with Grace Slick titled Blows Against the Empire. The entire album was conceptualized around a science-fiction theme and was released under the name “Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship.” It’s important to note that this was not the same Jefferson Starship band that would be created in 1974 by Kantner. This was, if anything, a coincidental name that would provide the inspiration for Kantner’s Jefferson Starship four years later. It’s said that the name “Starship,” was inspired by many things: the evolution of Jefferson Airplane to something more grandiose, the star-filled lineup that accompanied Kantner and Slick on the album, and the fact that the characters within the album were seeking a starship to leave the planet Earth.

Speaking of the talent involved in the creation of the album, Blows Against the Empire featured not only the talents of Paul Kantner and Grace Slick, but also fellow Jefferson Airplane members Jack Casady and Joey Covington; the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart; CSN’s David Crosby and Graham Nash; Quicksilver Messenger Service’s David Freiberg; The Electric Flag’s Harvey Brooks; and Jorma Kaukonen’s brother Peter Kaukonen.

The song heard below appeared as the eighth song on Blows Against the Empire. It was written by Paul Kantner and David Crosby. It features Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jerry Garcia (pedal steel guitar), Mickey Hart (percussion), and David Crosby (vocals, guitar). Although the song never charted, Blows Against the Empire itself was the first rock album to be nominated for the Hugo science fiction award. If you like this song, I highly recommend listening to the entire album.



Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship - Have You Seen the Stars Tonite? (1970)

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Lyrics:

Have you seen the stars tonight?
Would you like to go up on ‘A’ Deck and look at them with me?
Have you seen the stars tonight?
Would you like to go up for a stroll and keep me company?

Do you know?
We could go
We are free
Any place you could think of
We could be

Have you seen the stars tonight?
Have you look at all the family of stars?

Arlo Guthrie - Coming into Los Angeles [Live] (1969)

Arlo Davy Guthrie was born July 10, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York to iconic folk legend Woody Guthrie and professional dancer Marjorie Mazia Guthrie. From birth, Arlo was raised around his father’s folk music and friends, including Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Ronnie Gilbert, and numerous others. His first public appearance as a musician was in 1961 at the age of thirteen, and his first solo album, Alice’s Restaurant, came out six years later in September 1967. After his father’s passing in October 1967, Arlo inherited one of his father’s closest friends, Pete Seeger. Arlo and Seeger performed at demonstrations together, toured together, and performed at least a dozen shows per year together over the next forty years. To put it succinctly, Arlo Guthrie is the living link between the earlier generation of folk singers from the 1930s and ‘40s (Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, etc.) to the new era of folk singers from the ‘60s (Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, etc.), having been born and raised into one generation and growing into adulthood in the next.

Like all of Arlo Guthrie’s popular songs, the one heard below was never a hit. His famous “Alice’s Restaurant” from 1967 was over eighteen minutes long and therefore dodged radio airplay. The song heard below also missed airtime because of it being banned by countless radio stations for its subject matter. Luckily, the song remained popular by word of mouth between Guthrie’s fans. Written by Arlo himself, the studio version of this song can be heard on Guthrie’s 1969 album Running Down the Road. The live version heard below is from Guthrie’s hour-long appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, where it opened Guthrie’s set at 11:55 p.m., technically closing out the first day of the festival.



Arlo Guthrie - Coming into Los Angeles [Live] (1969)

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Lyrics:

Coming in from London from over the Pole
Flying in a big airliner, oh
Chickens flying everywhere around the plane
Could we ever feel much finer?

Coming into Los Angeles
Bringing in a couple of ki’s
Don’t touch my bags if you please
Mr. Customs Man

Guy with a ticket to Mexico
No, he couldn’t look much stranger
Walkin’ in a hall with his things and all
Smiled and said he was The Lone Ranger

Coming into Los Angeles
Bringing in a couple of ki’s
Don’t touch my bags if you please
Mr. Customs Man

Yes, a hip woman walking on a moving floor
Tripping on the escalator
There's a man in the line and she's blowing his mind
Thinking that he's already made her

Coming into Los Angeles
Bringing in a couple of ki’s
Don’t touch my bags if you please
Mr. Customs Man

Coming in from London from over the Pole
Flying in a big airliner, oh
Chickens flying everywhere around the plane
Could we ever feel much finer?

Coming into Los Angeles
Bringing in a couple of ki’s
Don’t touch my bags if you please
Mr. Customs Man

Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime (1970)

Ray Dorset, an early rock and roll enthusiast, met Colin Earl when they had been in the band the Good Earth together. When their band failed to make any sales for their Saga label, the two got together with Mike Cole, and Paul King to form this British band. Their band name was inspired by Mungojerrie, a character in a poem featured in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot. The original lineup of the band was responsible for their biggest hit, heard below. They followed up their big hit with an album; but, after its release, the group slowly began to splinter. Original members left one after the other, eventually leaving Ray Dorset as the sole original member. By 1972, Dorset practically was Mungo Jerry himself. Despite all of the people who parted from the band (over thirty-five of them), they have never officially broken up. Dorset and whomever he has recruited have continued to release music since their formation in 1970, with their most recent album having hit the shelves in 2012.

Written by Ray Dorset, the song heard below was easily the band’s biggest success. When it was released in the UK in the beginning of summer 1970, it only took two weeks for the song to climb to number one. It remained in the charts for the entire summer, and was also a Top Ten hit in the United States. The song was supposedly written by Dorset in less than ten minutes, during a break he was taking while working his day job. Today, the song is considered to be one of the highest selling songs of all time, with over thirty million copies sold to date.



Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime (1970)

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Lyrics:

In the summertime when the weather is hot
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather's fine
You got women- you got women on your mind

Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find

If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal
If her daddy's poor, just do what you feel
Speed along the lane
Do a ton or a ton and twenty-five

When the sun goes down
You can make it- make it good in a lay-by

We're no threat, people
We're not dirty, we're not mean
We love everybody, but we do as we please
When the weather's fine
We go fishing or go swimming in the sea

We're always happy
Life's for living, yeah, that's our philosophy

Sing along with us
Yeah, we're happy

Yeah
Alright, alright, alright

Alright

When the winter's here, yeah, it's party time
Bring your bottle, wear your bright clothes
It'll soon be summertime
And we'll sing again
We'll go driving or maybe we'll settle down

If she's rich, if she's nice
Bring your friends and we'll all go into town

In the summertime when the weather is hot
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather's fine
You got women- you got women on your mind

Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find

If her daddy's rich, take her out for a meal
If her daddy's poor, just do what you feel
Speed along the lane
Do a ton or a ton and twenty-five

When the sun goes down
You can make it- make it good in a lay-by

We're no threat, people
We're not dirty, we're not mean
We love everybody, but we do as we please
When the weather's fine
We go fishing or go swimming in the sea

We're always happy
Life's for living, yeah, that's our philosophy

Sing along with us
Yeah, we're happy

The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season) (1965)

As mentioned a few days ago, The Jet Set had come up with their band name from band member Jim McGuinn’s love of aeronautics. When they signed with Columbia Records on November 10, 1964 and desired a new name, they kept with the aerial motif and chose The Birds. Almost instantaneously, however, the band started spelling it as The “Byrds,” fashioning the misspelling after The Beatles’ misspelling of their name. The band wasted no time recording and releasing material. They released their debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man on June 21, 1965 and quickly followed it up with Turn! Turn! Turn! on December 6th of the same year. These were the peak years for the band and consequently the pinnacle of the folk rock movement. Unfortunately, the original lineup of McGuinn, Clark, Crosby, Clarke, and Hillman was not to last. By early 1966, Gene Clark parted ways with the group due to conflicts with band members and, probably more importantly, his fear of flying. In late 1967, David Crosby and Michael Clarke also departed from the band. And then in 1968, original member Chris Hillman parted ways. Although replacement members would continuously fill the empty slots, the only original member left by 1969 was Jim McGuinn (who by then had changed his first name to “Roger,” citing a rebirth due to his involvement in the Subud religion). It wouldn’t be until 1973 that all five original members reunited to create one final album. That album, titled Byrds, failed to become a commercial success and was the last album put out by the band to date.

Featured on their aforementioned Turn! Turn! Turn! album from late 1965, this song is often strongly associated with the 1960s. Originally, the song was written and performed by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s, who had adapted the lyrics from the Book of Eccelesiastes from the King James Version of the Bible. Since King Solomon is said to have written that book, it’s often noted that King Solomon (born in 1011 BC) wrote the words to a top charting pop song, The Byrds’ version in 1965.

Jim McGuinn was initially inspired to learn Pete Seeger’s version of the song when he was working with Judy Collins on her 1963 album, Judy Collins 3. Then, in July 1965 while he and The Byrds were touring the American Midwest, Jim’s future wife Dolores requested that he play the song on the bus. Having lived and breathed folk rock for his band's new sound, McGuinn naturally began to play an adapted folk rock version of the song.

Upon The Byrds’ initial release of the song as a single on October 29, 1965, the song went straight to number one. Its message of peace and tolerance struck a chord with the American public, who was witnessing the increased involvement of their country in Vietnam. The song continued the band’s international stardom and solidified them as one of the greatest folk rock bands of all time.



The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season) (1965)

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Lyrics:

To everything- turn, turn, turn
There is a season- turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything- turn, turn, turn
There is a season- turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything- turn, turn, turn
There is a season- turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything- turn, turn, turn
There is a season- turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late