Post by erik on Jun 25, 2022 11:31:58 GMT -5
The Byrds go both twangy and interstellar in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight segment.
MR. SPACEMAN (The Byrds; CBS; 1966)—First thought of as America’s best response to the Beatles, the Byrds, consisting of long-time folk-turned-rock musicians Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark, and Michael Clarke, also helped to define a lot of movements that would resonate with audiences well after their 1960’s prime. First, they basically helped kick off folk-rock with their two huge #1 hits “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” in 1965. And then in 1966, with their album Fifth Dimension, they helped kick off mainstream psychedelic rock via their rather controversial hit “Eight Miles High”, which got up to #14 on the Hot 100 despite many radio stations refusing to play it for what they (wrongly) thought were drug-related lyrics. The album’s title song, also known as “5D”, was also a minor hit, and became something of a precursor to the space-rock sound that would form the basis of 1970’s FM rock. But another track, with somewhat “extra-terrestrial” connotations, became one of the Byrds’ most recognizable and innovative hits: “Mr. Spaceman”. Written by McGuinn, this song talks of the narrator talking about a “close encounter” he has late one night with a UFO. What was most unusual about this song is the way McGuinn approaches the way he played his Rickenbacker 12-string guitar. Instead of the jangly sound heard on the group’s previous hits, it had a noticeable twang to it, pointing towards the country-influenced stuff the group would follow on their next albums—and this was even before Gram Parsons managed to enter the picture. In retrospect, “Mr. Spaceman” became a cult classic of sorts on FM rock radio, but the weirdness of the lyrics as well as its country-influenced sound was still anathema in 1966, and the song only got up to #36 on the Hot 100 in October 1966. Nevertheless, it was to have staying power, being used I various TV programs, and getting used for real in orbit via NASA using it as the wake-up call for the crew on the first flight of the space shuttle Discovery on September 2, 1984.
MR. SPACEMAN (The Byrds; CBS; 1966)—First thought of as America’s best response to the Beatles, the Byrds, consisting of long-time folk-turned-rock musicians Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark, and Michael Clarke, also helped to define a lot of movements that would resonate with audiences well after their 1960’s prime. First, they basically helped kick off folk-rock with their two huge #1 hits “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” in 1965. And then in 1966, with their album Fifth Dimension, they helped kick off mainstream psychedelic rock via their rather controversial hit “Eight Miles High”, which got up to #14 on the Hot 100 despite many radio stations refusing to play it for what they (wrongly) thought were drug-related lyrics. The album’s title song, also known as “5D”, was also a minor hit, and became something of a precursor to the space-rock sound that would form the basis of 1970’s FM rock. But another track, with somewhat “extra-terrestrial” connotations, became one of the Byrds’ most recognizable and innovative hits: “Mr. Spaceman”. Written by McGuinn, this song talks of the narrator talking about a “close encounter” he has late one night with a UFO. What was most unusual about this song is the way McGuinn approaches the way he played his Rickenbacker 12-string guitar. Instead of the jangly sound heard on the group’s previous hits, it had a noticeable twang to it, pointing towards the country-influenced stuff the group would follow on their next albums—and this was even before Gram Parsons managed to enter the picture. In retrospect, “Mr. Spaceman” became a cult classic of sorts on FM rock radio, but the weirdness of the lyrics as well as its country-influenced sound was still anathema in 1966, and the song only got up to #36 on the Hot 100 in October 1966. Nevertheless, it was to have staying power, being used I various TV programs, and getting used for real in orbit via NASA using it as the wake-up call for the crew on the first flight of the space shuttle Discovery on September 2, 1984.