MOJO
A BYRDS COMPANION
Jingle Jangle Mornings
Courtesy Omnivore Recordings, Courtesy Ace Records, Michael Ochs Archives/Getty (3), Rachel Murray/Getty, Paul Hoeffler/Getty, Photofest, Gie Knaeps/Getty, Gijsbert Hanekroot/Getty
1 GENE CLARK Past Tense
“The Byrds were done when Gene left,” David Crosby is quoted as saying on page 69. Not quite, but they did lose the elegiac folk-tinged powerpop Clark had mastered. The gorgeous Past Tense is from 1967’s long-lost
Gene Clark Sings For You;
a tentative first solo effort, equal to his early Byrds classics.
To the best of Clark’s sons’ knowledge, Gene Clark is the sole writer of the song and it is published by Gene Clark Music. 2018 Gene Clark Music, Inc. under exclusive licence to Omnivore Recordings, A division of Omnivore Entertainment Group LLC. QMWHB1810957
2 THE SCOTTSVILLE SQUIRREL BARKERS Reuben
While many Byrds did early time in clean-cut folk groups, Chris Hillman apprenticed in this rowdier San Diego group. Maximum-velocity bluegrass was their forte, showcased on a solitary 1963 album,
Blue Grass Favourites.
Among other Squirrel Barkers: future Eagle Bernie Leadon, who’d briefly reunite with Hillman in The Flying Burrito Brothers.
Traditional arr by The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers. 1963 Ace Copyrights Ltd (Cosmos Music) ISRC GBBHN0300468. Orig Cat no is Crown CLP 5346
3 THE LOUVIN BROTHERS The Christian Life
Hillman’s bluegrass upbringing meant that the original Byrds were hardly ignorant of country music. But it was Gram Parsons’ brief tenure that made explicit their love of a tradition generally disdained by their rock peers. Among the covers handled with such class on 1968’s
Sweetheart Of The Rodeo
– this quavering devotional from the Louvins’ 1959 masterpiece,
Satan Is Real.