Post by SAT-I need more room!! on Jul 14, 2009 16:36:00 GMT -5
Went from A to Z, to B!
This is an interesting choice because the Byrds are on that fineline between a singles act and album rock. They are directly from that period of change, so there are some obvious hit singles, but there are also some fan faves that many people want.
The first collection is The Byrds Greatest Hits from 1967. I'm sure everyone is familiar with this one, with the guy's faces across the top, and a group photo underneath. Anyway, this collection contains what I call the "starter's kit" of Byrds songs, their seven most well known (Turn!, Tamborine, All I Really, I'll Feel, 8 Miles, R-n-R Star, Pages).
Because it came out when it did, it suffers like collections from artists like Sly & Rascals did (albeit not as much as those); they had well known songs after these.
Which brings us to GH Volume 2. This is the one with the profiles of Jim & the latter day Byrds. This pretty much covers the later well known tunes.
Then we have 2 collections called Original Singles 1 & 2. A pretty neat concept where they have both the A & B sides to all their singles up to that point.
From there you have The Byrds, their original box set and it's less expensive offshoot, 20 Essential Tracks. I opted for the 20 Essential back then. (I remember reading about sound complaints about one or both of these.) Anyway, the box covers things pretty well (although nothing from the 73 reunion release). And the 20 suffers from nothing from the Sweethart album and 4 new recordings (the Byrds should NOT be covering Better Midler, I'm sorry).
There is a 27 track single disc set called the Very Best of which according to Wikipedia has seen "some US release". It seems pretty thorough, including several from Sweethart (although die-hards would tell you need that album anyway). Not sure about the sound or the presentation (booklet, etc) of this, but the selection seems good.
The 2 disc Essential seems to be very good mixing in the hits with some popular faves. (I have a buddy who likes Spanish Harlem Incident and that is not on here.) And no 4 new tracks!
Finally, there was ANOTHER 4 disc set called There is a Season. Seems like this one has more rarities like early tracks by the Beefeaters and more stuff with Parsons.
A bigger Byrds fan can tell you things that are missing from these sets but most have the "starter's kit" plus other essentials like Mr. Spaceman & 5D. (Crap like Super Hits leaves off no fewer than 3 from the "starter's kit"-that's wrong in every way!) I would say, if the sound is good on that Very Best of, that would be a good starting point (over the collection I have). If you are more curious, get Essential. And if you are a nut (said in a complimentary way), go for There is a Season!
This is an interesting choice because the Byrds are on that fineline between a singles act and album rock. They are directly from that period of change, so there are some obvious hit singles, but there are also some fan faves that many people want.
The first collection is The Byrds Greatest Hits from 1967. I'm sure everyone is familiar with this one, with the guy's faces across the top, and a group photo underneath. Anyway, this collection contains what I call the "starter's kit" of Byrds songs, their seven most well known (Turn!, Tamborine, All I Really, I'll Feel, 8 Miles, R-n-R Star, Pages).
Because it came out when it did, it suffers like collections from artists like Sly & Rascals did (albeit not as much as those); they had well known songs after these.
Which brings us to GH Volume 2. This is the one with the profiles of Jim & the latter day Byrds. This pretty much covers the later well known tunes.
Then we have 2 collections called Original Singles 1 & 2. A pretty neat concept where they have both the A & B sides to all their singles up to that point.
From there you have The Byrds, their original box set and it's less expensive offshoot, 20 Essential Tracks. I opted for the 20 Essential back then. (I remember reading about sound complaints about one or both of these.) Anyway, the box covers things pretty well (although nothing from the 73 reunion release). And the 20 suffers from nothing from the Sweethart album and 4 new recordings (the Byrds should NOT be covering Better Midler, I'm sorry).
There is a 27 track single disc set called the Very Best of which according to Wikipedia has seen "some US release". It seems pretty thorough, including several from Sweethart (although die-hards would tell you need that album anyway). Not sure about the sound or the presentation (booklet, etc) of this, but the selection seems good.
The 2 disc Essential seems to be very good mixing in the hits with some popular faves. (I have a buddy who likes Spanish Harlem Incident and that is not on here.) And no 4 new tracks!
Finally, there was ANOTHER 4 disc set called There is a Season. Seems like this one has more rarities like early tracks by the Beefeaters and more stuff with Parsons.
A bigger Byrds fan can tell you things that are missing from these sets but most have the "starter's kit" plus other essentials like Mr. Spaceman & 5D. (Crap like Super Hits leaves off no fewer than 3 from the "starter's kit"-that's wrong in every way!) I would say, if the sound is good on that Very Best of, that would be a good starting point (over the collection I have). If you are more curious, get Essential. And if you are a nut (said in a complimentary way), go for There is a Season!
