Q: What kind of Byrd flies really high? A: A Phoenix!

When the Byrds entered the studio in 1970, they were cautiously optimistic about the sessions for their new album. Unlike the two predecessors, which were more or less cobbled together, they finally had a whole arsenal of impressive new songs at their disposal. The source: Ironically, one of Roger McGuinn's biggest misses and disappointments. Having spent most of 1969 - when not on tour with his band - on writing the hippie musical Gene Tryp, McGuinn finally had to accept that no company wanted to mount the production: too expensive, with a number of ambitious set pieces that demanded various decors. The fact that McGuinn, despite his rock star pedigree, and writing partner Jaques Levy were unknown and unproven in the musical world probably also played a role. So Gene Tryp was dead, but from its ashes rose...a Phoenix!

Phoenix was for a long while the working title for the 1970 album of the Byrds, before a snafu while prepping the artwork and sending it to the printer's ended up with the album being called (Untitled), much to the surprise of the band itself. But Phoenix was a fitting name for a band that played with renewed purpose, on the best and most consistent set of songs (on the studio record) they had since the days of the original band and The Notorious Byrd Brothers. Roger McGuinn had a single credit on The Ballad Of Easy Rider, but thanks to the Gene Tryp debacle, all of a sudden he was flush with great songs. All the McGuinn songs on this album were originally Gene Tryp songs, and they all range from good to great. 

If you've read my intro to the Byrds alt album series you know that it was the majesty of "Chestnut Mare" that relaunched my love for the Byrds, and it is generally acknowledged as the best Byrds song from the years after the original group broke up.It's also arguably the last truly great Byrds song, even though there is plenty to like on the last Byrds albums. Included on Phoenix along with the usual suspects from (Untitled) is "Kathleen's Song", a song that was slated for inclusion until the eleventh hour (and showed up as a printed title on some back covers) and the studio version of "Lover Of The Bayou" with some suitably menacing lead vocals and harmonica from McGuinn, turning the Byrds into southern swamp rockers in the Creedence Clearwater Revival mode for about five minutes. 

But what really sets the studio half of (Untitled) and by proxy Phoenix apart is the consistent quality of the contributions by the subsidiary members of the Byrds (minus one, more on that later). Having contributed the excellent "Gunga Din" to The Ballad Of Easy Rider, Gene Parsons continues his winning streak with "Yesterday's Train", a lovely meditation on reincarnation, inspired by band partner Battin's Buddhist beliefs and co-written with him. Speaking of the devil: While latter-day Byrds albums, especially Byrdmaniax, were torpedoed by the sometimes questionable taste and sound of Battin's co-writes with partner in crime Kim Fowley, this is not true for (Untitled)/Phoenix. Their ode to a randomly killed hippie, "You All Look Alike", ably sung by McGuinn, was nicely restrained considering its authors. And "Well Come Back Home" was lovely and moving, even though here on Phoenix it is shorn of its long Buddhist chant outro which is interesting once, but which you will not want to listen to repeatedly. It's interesting that the most 'jive' and novelty-song minded member of the Byrds contributed the two most timely and politically charged songs of the album. 

Clarence White stepped up with his version of Lowell George's "Truck Stop Girl", after George gave him a tape of songs from the at the time still moths away debut album of Little Feat. He also contributed "Take A Whiff On Me", which became a concert favorite for years to come. And speaking of Lowell George. Having access to his demo tape, the band also cut a warm, beautiful version of "Willin'" with Gene Parsons on lead vocals, yet disppointingly it stayed in the can. Not so on Phoenix of course! To make place for these songs, "Hungry Planet" from the original (Untitled) line-up gets kicked off, another contender for worst Byrds song (and way too long to boot), where McGuinn had taken a song from the Battin-Fowley team and then tried to improve it with some melody changes and Mood noodling. "None of us liked the way it turned out", noted Battin drily, and he's right. The song as presented sucks, and while it's not clear that the Battin original would have been better, I have the feeling McGuinn's intervention just made things way worse. 

Phoenix uses the longer, alternate versions of "Yesterday's Train" (I hesitated long time which version of "Train" to include, as they are both great in their own right) and "All The Things", and it ends with something McGuinn always wanted to do as a conclusion to an album. He always wanted to end one of their albums with an a capella rendition of "Amazing Grace" but somehow never made it, so the One Buck Guy did it for him! And for once I'm also really happy with how the cover art turned out, simple and elegant, as I had hoped. 

So, Phoenix, rising from the ashes of the Byrds cratering career. It really was the last great moment from the band, one that deserves even more praise than the warm welcome and good sales figures (Untitled) got, because by now many old Byrds fans had already tuned out or turned to hipper bands. It's nothing short of a lost classic, even more so I say without pretenses of being humble, in this version. So, follow that byrd, that Phoenix flying really high one more time...