''Preflyte'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

by the American

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

band

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

and was released in July 1969 on Together Records (''see''

1969 in music List of notable events in music that took place in the year 1969. __TOC__ Specific locations * 1969 in British music * 1969 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1969 in country music *1969 in jazz Events Summary Perhaps the two most famo ...

). The album is a collection of

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

recorded by the Byrds (then named the Jet Set) at World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles during late 1964, before the band had signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and become famous. It includes early demo versions of the songs "Here Without You", "You Won't Have to Cry", "I Knew I'd Want You", and "Mr. Tambourine Man", all of which appeared in re-recorded form on the band's 1965 debut album. The album peaked at number 84 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart upon its initial release, but failed to chart in the UK when it was issued there in 1973. The album's title is a deliberate misspelling of "pre-flight", meant to emulate the misspelling of "birds" that the band had used for their name.

History

Initially inspired by the success of the Beatles, folk singers

Jim McGuinn Jim McGuinn, born James Slusarek, is an American radio personality. He served as program director of the now defunct Y100 100.3FM (1997–2005) and its predecessor, WDRE in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1995–97), both of which changed formats ...

and

Gene Clark Harold Eugene Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds' principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966, writing most of the band's best ...

began playing as a duo in Los Angeles folk clubs in early 1964 and were soon joined by fellow folkie, David Crosby. The trio named themselves the Jet Set, a name chosen by McGuinn and inspired by his love of aeronautics. Crosby introduced McGuinn and Clark to his associate Jim Dickson who had access to World Pacific Studios, where he had been recording demos of Crosby. Dickson was impressed enough by the trio to take on management duties for the group and to utilize World Pacific as a rehearsal studio, where he recorded the band as they honed their craft and perfected their blend of Beatles

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and Bob Dylan-style folk. Dickson arranged a one-off deal with

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

' founder, Jac Holzman, for two songs from the World Pacific

sessions Sessions may refer to: * Sessions (surname), a surname * Sessions (clothing company), an American apparel company * Sessions Clock Company, an American clock manufacturer in the early 20th century Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Sessions' ...

, "Please Let Me Love You" and " Don't Be Long", to be released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on Elektra in October 1964. In an attempt to cash in on the British Invasion that was then dominating the U.S. music scene, the single was issued under the suitably British sounding pseudonym of the Beefeaters, but it failed to chart. Both songs on the Beefeaters' single featured McGuinn, Clark and Crosby, along with " Wrecking Crew"

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s Ray Pohlman on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

and Earl Palmer on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. Soon after, the Jet Set expanded their ranks to include

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

Michael Clarke and bass player Chris Hillman. The rehearsal and recording sessions at World Pacific studios came to a close when the Jet Set (soon to be renamed the Byrds) signed a recording contract with Columbia Records on November 10, 1964.

Album origin

In 1969, the manager of rock music for RCA Records on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

, Dick Moreland, heard about the existence of these early Byrds' demo recordings from Jim Dickson and immediately told

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Gary Usher about them. Usher, who had produced the Byrds' '' Younger Than Yesterday'', '' The Notorious Byrd Brothers'' and '' Sweetheart of the Rodeo'' albums, had recently formed Together Records with colleagues Curt Boettcher and Keith Olsen. Prior to the formation of Together, Usher had been involved with the Columbia Records' release of '' Conspicuous Only in its Absence'', a collection of previously unheard live recordings by the

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

band the Great Society (featuring Grace Slick of

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

). The album had enjoyed moderate success and Usher was keen to continue issuing previously unreleased, historically significant material on his new record label. Usher met with Dickson and was able to acquire all of the Byrds' World Pacific tapes that still existed for a reasonable sum. The tapes were then edited and compiled into an eleven track running order, before being

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed and mastered by Keith Olsen. Dickson approached the five original members of the Byrds in order to have them sign a letter of permission to authorize the release of these early recordings. Crosby was initially reluctant to sanction the release, but he was eventually persuaded by his friend and singing partner, Graham Nash, who convinced Crosby of the musical worth and historical value of the recordings. Dickson later recalled Nash's involvement during a 1977 interview: "Graham Nash said that the songs were charming baby pictures. You have to get a little older before you can tolerate seeing your baby pictures out there. We were all babies once! Graham just charmed David's socks off." With the permission of all five original members of the band secured, Together Records released the album in July 1969 with a great deal of publicity. As a collection of previously unreleased demo recordings, ''Preflyte'' can be seen as one of the earliest examples of issuing outtakes by popular artists, a practice that is now commonplace in the

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New aud ...

market.

Music

All of the music on ''Preflyte'' predates the release of the Byrds' debut

for Columbia, a cover version of Bob Dylan's "

Mr. Tambourine Man "Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written by Bob Dylan, released as the first track of the acoustic side of his March 1965 album '' Bringing It All Back Home''. The song's popularity led to Dylan recording it live many times, and it has been includ ...

", which topped the charts in America and the United Kingdom during 1965. Of the album's eleven songs, seven had never before been released by the Byrds. These previously unreleased songs included five written solely by Gene Clark: "The Reason Why", "She Has a Way", "For Me Again", "Boston", and "You Movin'". Of these, "She Has a Way" had been re-recorded by the Byrds during sessions for their debut album, ''

''. However, this Columbia recording of the song was discarded at the eleventh hour and remained unreleased until its appearance on the Byrds' archival album, '' Never Before'', in 1987. "The Reason Why", a brooding, Beatles and Everly Brothers influenced ballad, and the melancholy "For Me Again", would both be jettisoned from the band's repertoire by early 1965 to make way for higher quality material. The uptempo "Boston" and "You Movin'" were never seriously intended for release by the band and had been written purely to give fans something to dance to during the Byrds' early concert performances. A further two Clark compositions included on ''Preflyte'', "Here Without You" and "I Knew I'd Want You", had appeared in re-recorded versions on the band's debut album, with the latter also appearing on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single. In total, there were nine songs included on ''Preflyte'' that were either written or co-written by Clark, highlighting his early songwriting dominance over the group. The album also featured the Crosby and McGuinn penned "The Airport Song", a hauntingly romantic composition with subtle jazz overtones, highlighted by Crosby's clear lead vocal and Clark's wistful

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

playing. The song was inspired by the time that Crosby and McGuinn had spent hanging out at

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

, watching planes come in to land. The album also included two McGuinn and Clark compositions, " You Showed Me" and "You Won't Have to Cry", the latter of which had already appeared in a different version on the band's debut album. "You Showed Me" had not been released by the Byrds, but a cover of it had been a

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

for the Turtles in early 1969 and had peaked at number 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The embryonic version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" included on ''Preflyte'' illustrated how the song sounded prior to its recording as the band's debut single for Columbia Records. The Byrds' biographer Johnny Rogan has stated that McGuinn's distinctive Bach-inspired guitar intro is already present in this early version, but Crosby's harmony singing displays signs of uncertainty. Rogan has also remarked that perhaps the most striking difference between the version of the song found on ''Preflyte'' and the more famous Columbia recording is Michael Clarke's use of a militaristic drumming style. This military band style of drumming was abandoned when the song was recorded for the Columbia single on January 20, 1965, with session drummer Hal Blaine adopting a standard rock beat instead.

Release and reception

''Preflyte'' was released on July 29, 1969 in the United States on Together Records (catalogue item ST-T-1001), but it was not issued in the United Kingdom until January 1973, when it was released by

Kim Fowley Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been ...

's Bumble record label (catalogue item GEXP 8001). It was then reissued in the U.S. in April 1973 by Columbia Records (catalogue item C 32183), with alternative cover artwork by British

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

Barry Windsor-Smith, depicting the five original members of the Byrds as futuristic

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

s. Upon initial release, sales of ''Preflyte'' were fairly good in the U.S., resulting in the album outperforming the Byrds' most recent studio offering, '' Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde''. The album managed to climb to number 84 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart in 1969, and again charted in America at number 183 when it was reissued by Columbia in 1973. It was less successful in the United Kingdom, however, where it failed to enter the UK Albums Chart when it was issued there in 1973. The album was met with mixed reviews, with Lester Bangs in '' Rolling Stone'' magazine criticizing the sub-standard sound quality of the recordings, but also noting that the songs on the album "still overflow with that unique unschmaltzy beauty and lyricism that has been the Byrds' trademark."

Lenny Kaye Lenny Kaye (''né'' Kusikoff; born December 27, 1946) is an American guitarist, composer, and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group. Early life Kaye was born to Jewish parents in the Washington Heights area of upper Ma ...

, writing in ''Jazz & Pop'' magazine, praised the album, noting that "One of the more interesting things about ''Preflyte'' is the consistency of the Byrds sound, especially when compared with their later post-Tambourine Man days." In more recent years, '' Classic Rock'' reviewer Rob Hughes praised "the purring harmonies, the extraordinary songcraft of frontman Gene Clark and the smooth exhalations of what became the California folk-rock sound", despite the fact that the Byrds had "yet to become competent musicians". Andrew Lynch, writing for the entertainment.ie website, described the album as "a fascinating slice of pop history and a pretty good album in its own right too." In 1988 Rhino Records released another compilation of recordings from the Byrds' 1964 World Pacific sessions, entitled ''

In the Beginning In the Beginning may refer to: Biblical phrase * "In the beginning" (phrase), a phrase in the Bible verses of Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 Books * ''In the Beginning'' (novel), a novel by Chaim Potok * ''In the Beginning'', a 2004 story arc and col ...

'', which consisted largely of previously unreleased recordings. The first CD release of ''Preflyte'' came in 2001 from Alan McGee's Poptones record label. Later that year Sundazed Records released a 2 CD compilation of tracks from the World Pacific era titled ''The Preflyte Sessions''. This double CD compilation included all of the tracks originally released on ''Preflyte'', along with other tracks that had first appeared on ''In the Beginning'' and fourteen previously unreleased recordings. ''The Preflyte Sessions'' also included four recordings made by David Crosby at World Pacific studios in 1963 and 1964, before the formation of the Jet Set. In tandem with the release of ''The Preflyte Sessions'', Sundazed also issued a 7" single featuring previously unreleased 1964 recordings of "You Movin'" and "Boston", neither of which were included on ''The Preflyte Sessions'' album. As of 2010, the two World Pacific recordings of "You Movin'" and "Boston" found on this single have not been released on CD. In 2006, Sundazed Records reissued the original ''Preflyte'' album in a

remaster Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

ed edition. In 2012, Floating World Records issued another compilation of the Byrds' World Pacific recordings titled ''Preflyte Plus''. This compilation was essentially a re-release of the earlier Sundazed 2 CD compilation, but with an additional eight previously unreleased tracks.

Track listing

All tracks written by

except noted.

Side one

Side two

''The Preflyte Sessions'' track listing

Disc one

#"The Reason Why" ersion #2(

) – 2:38 #"You Won't Have to Cry" lectric Version(

, Gene Clark) – 2:17 #"She Has a Way" ersion #4(Gene Clark) – 2:29 #" You Showed Me" lectric Version(Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark) – 1:53 #"Here Without You" ersion #2(Gene Clark) – 2:28 #" Don't Be Long" (Jim McGuinn, Harvey Gerst) – 1:58 #"I Knew I'd Want You" lectric Version #2(Gene Clark) – 2:14 #"Boston" ersion #2(Gene Clark) – 2:15 #"Tomorrow Is a Long Ways Away" lectric Version(Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby) – 1:59 #"For Me Again" ersion #2(Gene Clark) – 2:39 #"It's No Use" ersion #2(Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark) – 2:20 #"You Movin'" ersion #3(Gene Clark) – 2:08 #"Please Let Me Love You" (Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, Harvey Gerst) – 2:25 #"The Airport Song" (Jim McGuinn, David Crosby) – 2:03 #"

" lectric Version( Bob Dylan) – 2:25 #"She Has a Way" ersion #3(Gene Clark) – 2:33 #"I Knew I'd Want You" lectric Version #1(Gene Clark) – 2:31 #"Boston" nstrumental Track(Gene Clark) – 2:15 #"You Showed Me" nstrumental Track(Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark) – 2:06 #" The Times They Are a-Changin'" nstrumental Track(Bob Dylan) – 2:26

Disc two

#"The Only Girl I Adore" (Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark) – 2:26 #"Tomorrow Is a Long Ways Away" coustic Version(Gene Clark) – 2:01 #"You Showed Me" coustic Version(Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark) – 2:04 #"I Knew I'd Want You" coustic Version(Gene Clark) – 2:18 #"You Won't Have to Cry" coustic Version(Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark) – 2:21 #"Mr. Tambourine Man" coustic Version(Bob Dylan) – 2:14 #"Willie Jean" (

Hoyt Axton Hoyt Wayne Axton (March 25, 1938 – October 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voic ...

) – 2:08 #"

Come Back Baby "Come Back Baby" is a slow blues song written and recorded by the blues singer and pianist Walter Davis in 1940. Ray Charles's version, with the title "Come Back" and with songwriting credited to Charles, was released as the B-side to Charles' ...

" ( Ray Charles) – 2:26 #" Jack of Diamonds" ( traditional, arranged David Crosby) – 1:46 #" Get Together" ( Dino Valenti) – 2:34 #"She Has a Way" ersion #1(Gene Clark) – 2:23 #"Here Without You" ersion #1(Gene Clark) – 2:29 #"For Me Again" ersion #1(Gene Clark) – 2:32 #"It's No Use" ersion #1(Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark) – 2:17 #"You Movin'" ersion #1(Gene Clark) – 2:10 #"Boston" ersion #1(Gene Clark) – 2:09 #"She Has a Way" ersion #2(Gene Clark) – 2:32 #"You Movin'" ersion #2(Gene Clark) – 2:12 #"The Reason Why" ersion #1(

) – 2:31 #"It's No Use" ersion #3(Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark) – 3:38 #*NOTE: this song ends at 2:09; at 2:18 begins "Studio Chat" *NOTE: Tracks 7-10 were recorded prior to the formation of the Byrds and are performed by David Crosby with backing musicians Tommy Tedesco (electric guitar), Ray Pohlman (electric bass) and Earl Palmer (drums). The initial release of "The Only Girl I Adore" erroneously credited the song to Jim McGuinn and David Crosby.

The ''Preflyte Plus'' track listing

The 2012 CD reissue titled ''Preflyte Plus'' is essentially the same compilation as ''The Preflyte Session'' 2-disc set, with the following songs added to the end of disc 2:

Personnel

Sources for this section are as follows: *

- lead guitar, vocals *

- percussion,

, guitar, vocals * David Crosby - guitar, vocals * Chris Hillman - electric bass * Michael Clarke -

, percussion

Release history

References

Bibliography

*Rogan, Johnny, ''The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited'', Rogan House, 1998, * {{Authority control The Byrds compilation albums 1969 compilation albums Sundazed Records compilation albums Columbia Records compilation albums Ariola Records compilation albums Poptones compilation albums