By Grant McGee
I,
um...
I
don't quite know where to start.
I
just learned something that shook the underpinnings of my rock 'n' roll
sensibilities.
The
actual members of The Byrds did NOT perform on their big debut single "Mr.
Tambourine Man" back in 1965.
Nope.
There
were professional studio musicians hanging with Roger McGuinn of The Byrds,
knocking the single out in tight fashion so there were no mistakes and the
record company could get it knocked out, on the radio and in stores right
quick.
Learning that Chris Hillman, David Crosby, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke
weren't making music history with McGuinn for that big song has subtly altered
my view of the world.
It
might be like if Jesus stuck his head out of the clouds and said, "Hey
little buddies, you know that thing where they thought I was walking on water
in the Sea of Galilee? I was just
strolling through the shallows."
Then if Moses stuck his head out right beside JC and said, “And y’all
know those tablets?” Sidebar
comment: Moses speaks with a Southern
accent, just like other patriarchal-type dudes like The Lord Thy God and Uncle
Sam. Anyway, it’d be like if Moses stuck
his head out right beside JC up there in the clouds and said, “Hey, y’all know
those tablets. I etched those in
stone. I was inspired by The Lord Thy
God but it was me.
I
mean it would mess with your head a bit, wouldn’t it?
I believed these rock 'n' roll stars were ALWAYS recording their own stuff in the studios.
I believed these rock 'n' roll stars were ALWAYS recording their own stuff in the studios.
I
learned this about “Mr. Tambourine Man” from hearing an interview about a
documentary about the studio musicians who made the magic on the American music
scene for years, particularly the ‘60’s… The Wrecking Crew.
Here
I'd been lambasting the American music scene for a long time, probably since
the music generally began to sound like pre-processed homogenized pasteurized pabulum
in the 1980's when it turns out a goodly portion of the stuff hadn't been
"real" for years.
Oh
well.
Thing
is every time I think of The Byrds I think of a few of their songs I've dug
over time. There's "I'll Feel a
Whole Lot Better" from 1965 with what I think is the world's greatest
12-string guitar solo in the middle.
There's "So You Want to be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" with its
driving beat.
"Wasn't Born to Follow" was a hippie tune used in the
soundtrack to the movie "Easy Rider."
Imagine my surprise when I found out that was written by Carole King who
had written a bunch of crap for bubble-gummy Top 40 radio and Neil Sedaka back
in the early '60's.
And
then I remember "Turn, Turn, Turn."
This was a song written by Pete Seeger and given the folk-rock treatment
by McGuinn and The Byrds. Now they
actually DID record "Turn, Turn, Turn" and not The Wrecking
Crew. The difference was it reportedly
took 77 takes for McGuinn and company to get "Turn, Turn, Turn" just
right while it took McGuinn and The Wrecking Crew just one take to knock out
"Mr. Tambourine Man."
If
you don't know the lyrics to "Turn, Turn, Turn" it's pretty
simple...the lyrics are in The Good Book, that's "moun-tayne" speak
for The Holy Bible."
It's
in the book of Ecclesiastes...chapter 3, verses1 through 8:
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity
under the heavens:
A
time to be born and a time to die,
A
time to plant and a time to uproot,
A
time to kill and a time to heal,
A
time to tear down and a time to build,
A
time to weep and a time to laugh,
A
time to mourn and a time to dance,
A
time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A
time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
A
time to search and a time to give up,
A
time to keep and a time to throw away,
A
time to tear and a time to mend,
A
time to be silent and a time to speak,
A
time to love and a time to hate,
A
time for war and a time for peace."
And
so Pete Seeger set the Bible verse to music.
A few years later The Byrds grabbed it and ran with it all the way to
the top of the charts in December 1965.
It
was on the radio as the Vietnam War was ramping up.
And
it was on the charts while my big sister was in high school.
She
had the 45 rpm record.
I was
just a dumb kid.
I
wasn't even 10 yet. All I knew about
Vietnam is that Walter Cronkite was talking about it every night on the evening
news.
All I
knew about "Turn, Turn, Turn" was that it was a song on the radio.
But I
also knew my sister had the 45 rpm record.
But
all I really knew was that my sister had a song that they were playing on the
radio.
And
she was playing it on the family's hi-fi stereo one evening when my dad came
home from work.
"GET THAT CRAP OFF MY STEREO," he bellowed.
Let
me introduce you to my dad.
His
career field was hotel management in the mid-20th century so when he
came home in the evening he was wearing a well pressed three-piece suit and
tie.
He
would generally come home, change into some relaxing clothes, settle down in
the master bedroom in an easy chair and watch the evening news whilst enjoying
a martini…or two…or three.
But
this night things were different.
My
father, who I thought was God because he was always yelling and making
pronouncements on stuff, was bellowing.
And
when he bellowed I got out of the way like critters scatter when people come
walking in their domain.
"GET THAT CRAP OFF MY STEREO."
Sidebar comment: It would be
years later that I would discover, while listening to The Who on my dad’s
stereo, that dad's stereo was not a stereo at all, it was basically a
glorified, one-channel record player. He
was either mistaken or got ripped off.
Big
Sis had been listening to the song on the stereo. She came running in from her room and stood
right in front of dad with her arms crossed.
I
peeked from behind the sofa.
"I SAID GET THAT CRAP OFF MY STEREO," he said, jabbing his
index finger in the direction of the hi-fi.
"I'm listening to it," said Big Sis. "I'll turn it down."
And
she did.
"THAT MUSIC IS PURE CRAP," he bellowed some more. "AND I'LL NOT HAVE ANTI-WAR,
ANTI-AMERICAN MUSIC PLAYED IN MY HOME."
"How is this anti-American?" asked my sister.
I
watched in amazement.
I
didn't know anyone could talk back to God.
"Besides," she went on, "The lyrics are straight from the
book of Ecclesiastes in The Old Testament."
"THAT'S SACRELIGIOUS," said my father.
"Why is this sacreligious?" asked Big Sis.
"BECAUSE IT IS," said dad.
And
with a wave of his hand to signify he was done talking he turned, walked down
the hall to the master bedroom and slammed the door behind him.
The
song ended.
Big
Sis walked over and turned off the stereo and went back to her room.
If I
was a few years older I would have come from behind the sofa and patted her on
the back and said, "DAMN, I didn't know you could talk back to God!"
But I
wasn't a few years older, I was just a kid.
And
all I knew was that my sister had talked back to dad.
And
that was an amazing thing.
-30-
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