Published on Jul 28, 2000
Roger McGuinn and The Byrds created some of the most beautiful
music that came out of the ’60s. In their pop days, they took songs
and raised them to entirely new levels that even their original
composers may never have envisioned. In their later days, The Byrds
became one of the prototypes for the blossoming California
country-rock sound that The Eagles would ride all the way to the
top of the charts.
One would think that the recently-released
Live At The Fillmore February 1969 would be the equivalent
of discovering the Holy Grail at a flea market. Instead, it shows a
band whose time was nearly at an end and who were merely going
through the motions.
In a sense, this is a surprising discovery, since Clarence White
was a member of the group at the time, and his playing style was
one of the highlights of the latter-day Byrds efforts. It’s also
surprising because this series of dates was the same week the band
released
Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde; one would have expected McGuinn
and crew to be attacking the material they played with new-found
gusto.
Instead, what the listener is presented with is almost
half-hearted efforts that relied heavily on the Nashville sound the
band had been working on around that time. Starting off the show
with two quick numbers, “Nashville West” and “You’re Still On My
Mind,” almost gives the impression that the band wanted to blow
through this material and go home. The band doesn’t feel entirely
comfortable with the material – and neither does the audience.
It’s not until “Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man” and the three-song
medley of their early hits (read: David Crosby days) that things
start to pick up a little bit for The Byrds. For a moment, it seems
like McGuinn and crew are going to salvage this show yet.
Alas, it’s just not to be. The Byrds quickly go back to the
“by-the-numbers” renditions of tracks like “The Christian Life,”
“Bad Night At The Whiskey,” “King Apathy III” and “This Wheel’s On
Fire” that fail to do anything more than show a shell of a band.
Even a blazing-fast rendition of “So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll
Star” can’t pull off the upset “save of the day”.
Two distinct things are missing on
Live At The Fillmore February 1969. The first is the rich
harmony vocals that were the highlight of The Byrds – and I don’t
care that Crosby had long since departed the band. When they were
on vocally, they were on – sadly, this wasn’t one of those shows.
Second, there is just no excitement in the lineup; compare this
whole disc to the live portion of
(Untitled), and tell me which band sounds like they’re
having more fun. ‘Nuff said.
So what went wrong with this particular two-night stand?
Frankly, I don’t quite know the answer to this question. Maybe
McGuinn was looking at an uncertain future for his band, and he was
dealing with those pressures. Maybe the band just had an off night
or two. I wasn’t there; I don’t know. All I know is that this is
not one of the highlights of The Byrds’s discography, and is one
that’s strictly for the die-hard fans. If you must have a live
Byrds performance, pick up the recently remastered
(Untitled) / (Unissued), and let
Live At The Fillmore February 1969 fall like a bird that
flew straight into a plate glass window.