Last Albums: The Byrds - Byrds (1973)

Sometimes it's best not to make an album. That's sad, because The Byrds - the justifiably much-loved and highly influential folk-rockers who rose to fame in 1965 - disappointed nearly everyone with their eponymous final album. I remember buying it on faith before I ever heard a note, and immediately upon listening to it I sided with the majority opinion.

It was 1973, and the reunited original quintet hadn't worked together since 1966. Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, David Crosby, Gene Clark, and Michael Clarke got the old band back together while McGuinn was still touring with his latest version of The Byrds that evolved from the original band. That outfit had long ago turned away from the sounds that initially made them stars into a group of full-blown country pickers that achieved only a modicum of commercial success.

To me - just like The Beatles' White Album - this eleven-song set sounded as if it was the work of individual singers, composers and producers instead of a cohesive ensemble. The difference here was - unlike the Liverpudlians' storied, double disc - there isn't much on Byrds that stands out except for Clark's opening track, "Full Circle." The band's glorious 12-string guitar work was nowhere to be found, their harmonies had lost their luster, and the quintet sounded like they really didn't want to be working together. Nothing on the record is particularly awful, it's just uninspiring. Despite the criticism, it was their highest charting album since Turn! Turn! Turn! in 1965, peaking at #20 on Billboard.

Years later, in separate interviews, McGuinn, Clark and Hillman - who formed a pop-rock trio together later in the decade - all said they agreed with the critics. They cited several reasons for the album's lack of artistic success. One was the brief amount of time the five were given to record it. Hillman said they were only allowed six weeks to complete the LP, and that just wasn't enough time for musicians who hadn't played together in many years to easily function as unified collaborators. Also - and not surprisingly - there was Crosby's stash of particularly strong weed. McGuinn said that they were constantly high, and he doesn't even remember doing a lot of recording.

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Last Albums discusses music that was recorded as new material and intended to be released to the public as a complete album but not necessarily the last one. Live albums, greatest hits or "best of" collections and compilations do not count, nor do posthumous releases of leftover tracks cobbled together to make a final album.