Byrds Alt Albums, Part II: Some people call them the space cowboys

This album shouldn't exist. Not in a 'what the hell was he thinking' or in a sacred cow kind of way. This shouldn't exist - and didn't until a couple of days ago - because creating an alternate album from the Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde Byrds era is extremely difficult, bordering on impossible. During this period of reconstruction, when the Byrds finally were Roger McGuinn and whoever he hired,inspiration and songwriting were at an all-time low. Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde has the feel of a bit of a dog's breakfast, and for good reason, because really it was a collection of bits and bops. "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man" was by the time of releae almost a year old, co-written with Gram Parsons who left the band right before the release of the precedent album, Sweetheart Of The Radio. "Child Of The Universe" was written for the movie Candy, a counter culture sex comedy and if the cupboard hadn't been so bare, probably would have stayed there. "Nashville West", their instrumental salute to the old band of Clarence White and Gene Parsons (who already played the tune in their sets) sounded like pure filler. Speaking of: The closing medley was pure filler, recorded at the last minute to stretch out the feeble running time. Consequently, there is only a single outtake from the time that doubles also as one of the worst, or at least most akward Byrds songs of all time ("Stanley's Song"). So, not a great position for an alternate album. 

That's why originally I was going to skip this era entirely and go right to the 'Ballad of Easy Rider' era. Then, I thought about posting the early version of the album that surfaced about three years ago. This was described as an acetate, though our old pal Farq over at False Memory Foam island doubted the veracity of that statement. He also figured that the mix was a pitch too low  and fixed that, something that he got into an internet shouting match with with the guy who posted that version, if I remember correctly. I was going to post both mixes for comparison reasons, then realized that while I do have two versions of these tracks, both seem to be pitch-corrected. Either which way, it wasn't a satisfying solution as far as alternate albums go. (If you haven't picked up that early version from False Memory Island or elsewhere, give me a holler...)

So, instead of relying on a wealth of extra material, I had to get creative, and did. First order of the day: restructuring. Dr. Byrds And Mr. Hyde is indeed as shizophrenic as R.L. Stevenson's antihero. Half of it is country, following on from Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, or rather One Hundred Years From Now over here at One Buck Records. The other half is more surprising: Some very light touches of psychedelia in the aforementioned movie songs and - for the first time in Byrds history - some comparatively hard rock. So, old dog doing old tricks and all that, I decided to split the tracks according to their musical alignment - side a with the harder rocking and more psychedelic tracks, side b with the country material. The cover art and new album title came straight from what the band wanted to do for the album and did on the back cover. They are astronauts who turn into cowboys, thus you could possible go and say they are...space cowboys! But don't call them Maurice. 

Admittedly, I kneecapped my own concept right away by leading off with "This Wheel's On Fire", but not the heavily psyched out version found on the original album, but rather the first version recorded the same day, which is more straightforward, more country and also played quicker. Clarence White hated the album version of the song and producer Bob Johnston's production and mix, calling it "the most embarassing thing I've ever been part of", which seems a little exagerrated. But yeah, like White and Gene Parsons, I also prefer the more straightforward version. So, psychedelia, shmelia. But, as you will realize, the first thing you'll hear on Space Cowboys will be neither version of "This Wheel's On Fire", but rather the short part of "Your Back Pages" that originally opened the closing medley. I thought it'd be nice and reassuring to hear a bit of the 'old school Byrds', before the more adventurous stuff starts. 

Goofy, clean-shaven Gene Parsons will never not be creepy...

From there we dip into the slight psychedelia of "Candy", an underrated song rejected for the movie of the same name, with lovely harmony vocals by John York, my secret favorite Byrd. It is featured here in a slightly longer version whose longer outro features some of the ghostly vocals and driving guitar that then take center stage in "Bad Night At The Whiskey", so these two link up nicely. "Stanley's Song" might quickly wear out its modest welcome, but the beginning is rather nice, so I grafted this onto "Child Of The Universe". The last track of side a (a.k.a. the 'Space side)' is a total invention, taking the intro of  the psych version of "This Wheel's On Fire" and marrying it to the looser alternative version of "Baby What You Want Me To Do" that was of course part of the closing medley and is also surprisingly noisy, all things considered. Side B, the more relaxed 'Cowboys side', is way more straightforward, with all songs being the originals from Dr. Byrds And Mr. Hyde.  

Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde (and thus Space Cowboys) isn't a great album, but it has great moments. They didn't pursue that direction, and the question of whether people needed or wanted noisy guitar rock from The Byrds is an open one, but "Bad Night At The Whiskey" is a fantastic rock song with its ghostly background vocals, driving guitars and bitter lyrics. "King Apathy III" mixes rock and country to great effect and certainly belongs on the list of underrated Byrds tunes. And if the comic exaggerations of "Drug Store Truck Driving Man", aimed at Ralph Emery ("This one's for you, Ralph...) who had belittled the Byrds after their Grand Ole Opry gig, don't amuse you..well... 

So, does Space Cowboys make a flawed album better? As said above, the odds were against me, so I tried to make the album more unified from a structural standpoint and more interesting. Did it succeed? You tell me...