Track Listing

1. Mr Tambourine Man
2. All I Really Want To Do
3. Chimes Of Freedom
4. I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better
5. Turn Turn Turn
6. Times They Are A Changin'
7. World Turns All Around Her
8. It Won't Be Wrong
9. He Was A Friend Of Mine
10. Eight Miles High
11. 5D (Fifth Dimension)
12. Mr Spaceman
13. So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star
14. My Back Pages
15. Renaissance Fair
16. Goin' Back
17. Wasn't Born To Follow
18. Dolphin's Smile
19. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
20. One Hundred Years From Now
21. You're Still On My Mind
22. Hickory Wind
23. Ballad Of Easy Rider
24. Jesus Is Just Alright
25. It's All Over Now Baby Blue
26. Lay Lady Lay
27. Chestnut Mare

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31754 in Music
• Released on: 1997-06-23
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Excellent introduction... but for not much more there's so much more...
As an encapsulation of "the best of The Byrds" this is a pretty unbeatable CD... just about every track from what must be one of the most under-rated groups from the whole of the 60s features folk-rock, psychedelic-rock and country-rock at it's highest levels and, if all you know about them is a couple of their hit records, there's no better place to discover what's made them a key reference point for a huge number of groups over the past 40 years.

And then? Well the good news is that, for not a great deal more, there's so much more on offer. Ignore the boxed sets and zero in on their five key, recently expanded, mid 60s albums - "Mr Tambourine Man", "Turn, Turn, Turn", Fifth Dimension", "Younger Than Yesterday" & "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" - all of which feature superb tracks that fail to make the cut here but which would justify top billing on most of their contemporaries' "Best of" compilations, and all of which are now available for £5 or less. Music doesn't come much better and, for the price, they're absolute bargains.

Great introduction to their music
The history of the Byrds is long and complex, involving many line-up changes and various musical styles. This compilation contains all the essential tracks including their six UK hits. It begins, of course, with Mr Tambourine man, the song that was an international number one hit for them, firmly establishing their career as well as giving a considerable boost to the career of Bob Dylan, who wrote the song. It is still the song that the Byrds are best remembered for but, as this collection shows, there is much more to their music than just one song.

Classic songs such as All I really want to do, Turn turn turn, Eight miles high, Mr Spaceman, So you want to be a rock and roll star, You ain't going nowhere, Hickory wind, Ballad of easy rider and Chestnut mare are all here. Byrds fans all have their own favorite album tracks and can disagree about which ones should have been included (I particularly like America's great national pastime, not included here) but all the tracks that really matter are here.

The Byrds were sometimes promoted as America's answer to the Beatles but they were never that, especially as their line-up changed so frequently. Nevertheless, they were one of the most important pop groups of the sixties and (like the Beatles) they have been a major influence on those that followed.

As an introduction to the music of the Byrds, this is hard to improve on in a single CD.

Good, but should have been better
When I bought this compilation, I was impressed, but it didn't really inspire me to want any of their studio albums. As it turned out, the studio albums are that cheap that I bought them anyway, and I now rank the Byrds as one of my favourite bands.

But the point is, a best of is supposed to be an introduction to a band. So surely their best material would be included to entice people to want more. Yes, there's Mr. Tambourine Man, Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 Miles High, and Renaissance Fair to name but a few. But so many brilliant songs have been left off that I wonder how many other people have chosen not to buy anymore Byrds albums because of it.

I can't beleive that the songs, Whats Happening?!?!, I See You, Why, Have You Seen Her Face, Everybody's Been Burned, Thoughts And Words, Artificial Energy, Natural Harmony, Change Is Now, and Tribal Gathering have not been included. All these songs showcase The Byrd's versatility and brilliance, and if just half of them were included, it would have made the compilation twice as good.