Younger Than Yesterday

The Byrds' fourth album, their second psychedelic record, is the closest they ever came to recording a psychedelic "masterpiece." The record is still inconsistent both stylistically and from a song-writing standpoint, but it is probably the best example of what the Byrds' sounded like during their psychedelic phase.

The Byrds are largely forgotten as the innovators they were in part, I think, because of how their records from this period seemed to straddle the past present and future. There's folk rock here, psychedelic rock just about as "out there' as the most psychedelic bands, and country rock. It's a weird amalgam pretty unique in the music of the time.

I think this is probably their best record in part because it contains my favourite Byrds song ("So You Want to be a Rock 'n' Roll Star") and some others I like a lot. It also feels more coherent than 5D, even if it is even more all over the place stylistically.

The most underrated band of the '60s probably. (They weren't at the time, of course.)

Track Listing

1. "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" (Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman) – 2:05
2. "Have You Seen Her Face" (Chris Hillman) – 2:25
3. "C.T.A.-102" (Jim McGuinn, Robert J. Hippard) – 2:28
4. "Renaissance Fair" (David Crosby, Jim McGuinn) – 1:51
5. "Time Between" (Chris Hillman) – 1:53
6. "Everybody's Been Burned" (David Crosby) – 3:05

1. "Thoughts and Words" (Chris Hillman) – 2:56
2. "Mind Gardens" (David Crosby) – 3:28
3. "My Back Pages" (Bob Dylan) – 3:08
4. "The Girl with No Name" (Chris Hillman) – 1:50
5. "Why" (Jim McGuinn, David Crosby)

The Byrds

• Jim McGuinn – lead guitar, vocals
• David Crosby – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Chris Hillman – electric bass, vocals
• Michael Clarke – drums

Like the previous album, Younger Than Yesterday, The Byrds play folk rock, psychedelia and country rock on this record.

Additional Musicians

• Hugh Masekela – trumpet (track 1)
• Cecil Barnard (Hotep Idris Galeta) – piano (track 2)
• Jay Migliori – saxophone (track 4)
• Vern Gosdin – acoustic guitar (track 5)
• Clarence White – guitar (tracks 5, 10)
• Daniel Ray (Big Black) – percussion
• unknown – organ (track 9)