byrds

Sam Paddor and John York discuss John’s time playing bass for The Byrds, the Mamas and the Papas as well as our shared obsession with Bob Dylan.
John York’s Website:
https://www.johnyorkmusic.com
My Back Pages Website:
https://www.mybackpages.org 

On January 19, 2023, musician David Crosby passed at the age of 81.  Crosby's music was hugely important to Andrew Langer, and in this bonus episode, Andrew talks about that influence--from Crosby's music to how he lived his life.  He talks about his relationships with his bandmates, a little about his love life, but ultimately gives a tribute to this musical giant.

As legendary figures in American music go, few are as significant or as prolific as the Wrecking Crew; a loose collection of Los Angeles based studio musicians who initially merged together as session players for producer Phil Spector. They went on to define the sound of rock music laying down tracks for the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Monkees, the Mommas and the Poppas, Jan and Dean, and too many others to count. Though at the time they worked in relative anonymity, a few of them did achieve fame as solo acts, most notably Glenn Campbell and Leon Russell. Others, such as Carol Kaye, Hal Blaine, and Tommy Tedesco, have finally received some name recognition among the general public, thanks in no small part to the documentary film “The Wrecking Crew” produced by Denny Tedesco as a loving tribute to his father’s legacy. The creation of such a monumental testament is clearly no easy task, and in Denny’s case it was a labor of nineteen years which strained his family life and left him bankrupt, anxious, and suffering from an extremely protracted case of insomnia. Today, Jim and Denny will talk about how his tireless work on creating this film impacted his life, and how the Transcendental Meditation program helped him to get himself back on track on The End Anxiety Podcast: with James Meade and Friends.

PART ONE:
We pay tribute to Songcraft friend and legendary songwriter Lamont Dozier, who passed away recently at the age of 81. In happier news, we discuss Paul's recent nomination for a GMA Dove Award for Songwriter of the year before diving into the Ringo Starr Instagram foot controversy. 

PART TWO (14:39):
We make an important announcement about the future of Songcraft, reveal the winner of our Dave Alvin book giveaway, and share all the details on the brand new Byrds coffee table book. 

PART THREE (22:13):
Our in-depth interview with Roger McGuinn

ABOUT ROGER McGUINN:

Our guest on this episode of Songcraft is Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn. Best known for his work with The Byrds, Roger’s distinctive 12-string electric guitar style helped propel the singles “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” to the top of the charts. As a songwriter, Roger wrote or co-wrote many of the band’s classics, including “Eight Miles High,” “5D,” “Mr. Spaceman,” “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” “Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man,” “Ballad of Easy Rider,” “Chestnut Mare,” and others. He launched a solo career in the 1970s, releasing albums that explored new musical territory, and touring as part of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue. 

By the end of the decade, Roger had reunited with former Byrds bandmates Chris Hillman and Gene Clark as a trio known as McGuinn, Clark & Hillman, which yielded the McGuinn-penned Top 40 single “Don’t You Write Her Off.” His 1991 comeback album, Back from Rio, included the Billboard Mainstream Rock hits “King of the Hill” and “Someone to Love,” and featured songs co-written with Tom Petty, Dave Stewart, Jeff Lynne, Mike Campbell, and McGuinn’s wife Camilla, who has since become his primary songwriting partner. 

A lifelong folk music enthusiast, McGuinn has recorded hundreds of songs as part of his online Folk Den project. A compilation album, Treasures from the Folk Den, earned Roger his third Grammy nomination. Most recently, the three surviving founding members of The Byrds—McGuinn, Hillman, and David Crosby—have put together an oversized 400-page coffee table book of photographs and oral history called The Byrds: 1964-1967, which is available for order in both standard and limited-edition autographed versions at www.byrdsbook.com. 

OK, maybe we didn't get it right the first time. This is our chance to right some wrongs. We nominate a couple songs from the 1963-66 years for the Hall of Songs, including a big-time Beatles record. Plus, we talk about songs that we just plain love from this era, like a trio from Wilson Pickett. Visit our website at hallofsongs.com and follow us on social media at @hallofsongs.

Hosts: Tim Malcolm and Chris Jones
Genre: Music Commentary, Music History

Website: http://www.hallofsongs.com
Social: http://www.twitter.com/hallofsongs

Please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hall-of-songs/id1550546067

The music of Van Dyke Parks has always taken you on a journey, replete with exquisite sounds and thoughtful concepts. His most recent collaboration is no different. 

He never met Veronica Valerio, but the resulting album is no less compelling. We talked with Van Dyke about the new album, finger foods in Berlin, the Twentieth Century Fox theme music and the various books of the bible in this wide-ranging conversation. "Only In America," Van Dyke Parks orchestrates Veronica Valerio is available everywhere on June 11th.

And if that wasn't enough, we're giving away a copy of the EP... Listen to the very end of the show to learn how to enter!

Jackie DeShannon is best known for her hit records “What the World Needs Now is Love” and the self-penned “Put a Little Love In Your Heart.” The Songwriters Hall of Fame member and five-time Grammy nominee who won the coveted Song of the Year Grammy for “Bette Davis Eyes” joins us to chat about her remarkable career. 

PART ONE
Scott and Paul chat about their new theme song, Grammys lost and won, further reflections on Women's History Month, and why Paul's daughter is a little confused by Paul Stanley of KISS. 

PART TWO
Our in-depth interview with the legendary Jackie DeShannon

ABOUT JACKIE DeSHANNON

Jackie DeShannon was one of the first women in pop music to write and record her own material. As an artist, Jackie is best known for her recording of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David classic “What the World Needs Now is Love,” as well as for her self-penned “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” which was a Top 5 hit for her before being revived 20 years later to become a hit once again for Al Green and Annie Lennox. The five-time Grammy nominee who won the coveted Song of the Year Grammy for “Bette Davis Eyes” composed several classics, including “Dum Dum,” a hit for Brenda Lee, “Breakaway,” a hit for both Irma Thomas and Tracy Ullman, “When You Walk in the Room,” which was covered by The Searchers, and “Don’t Doubt Yourself Babe,” which was included on the debut album by The Byrds.

Jackie appeared with The Beatles on their first American tour in 1964 and has collaborated with a wide range of artists including Randy Newman, Jimmy Page, and Van Morrison. Her songs have been covered by Marianne Faithfull, Ella Fitzgerald, Glen Campbell, The Everly Brothers, Cher, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Dolly Parton, Rick Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Michael McDonald, and Taylor Swift. Jackie was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010. 

Chris Hillman is alt country royalty. Between his work in the Byrds & the Flying Burrito Brothers, Chris played a key role in combining country and rock.

In his new memoir, Time Between: My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother and Beyond is a fascinating look into his memorable and long-running career. For more information, check out Chris' website.

It’s that time again! Very fun episode this week. I was delighted to talk to Chris Hillman about his work with The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, as well as the process he went through to write his recent autobiography. We chat about memory, his songwriting process, and what people misunderstand about him.

You might not recognise the name Boy Meets Girl, an American pop duo consisting of George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, but you will undoubtedly be familiar with some of their work. As a band they are best known for 80’s classic “Waiting For A Star To Fall”, but they’re also the writing team behind Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” and the smash hit (is that still a thing?) “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”. They were so much fun to hang out with; I really enjoyed myself on this one.

Twitter: @signalspodcast

Instagram: @sendingsignalspodcast

boymeetsgirlmusic.com

chrishillman.com

Brian presents the second album by The Byrds as they continued their folk rock mix of vocal and twelve-string guitar harmonies originally explored in their debut album released earlier in the year. There are two songs from Bob Dylan - "The Times They Are A-Changin' and "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" - along with a number of other covers.

Join us as we explore the album Turn! Turn! Turn! as well as the famous title track and several other excellent songs from The Byrds.

“Oh! Susannah”
This Stephen Foster cover was originally intended as a joke, but they received a positive reception regardless. There aren't too many songs originally written over 100 years prior.

“Set You Free this Time”
This track features the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, common in many of the songs from The Byrds, and has a San Francisco feel. The Byrds were originally from Los Angeles.

“It Won't Be Wrong”
This brief track showcases the vocal harmonies of The Byrds, reminiscent of The Mamas and The Papas.

“Turn, Turn, Turn”
The well-known title track was written by Pete Seeger and originated in the book of Ecclesiastes from the Bible. There was a guitar solo in this song, a rarity at the time. It is a reaction to the tumultuous times of the mid-60's. "A time for peace - I swear it's not too late."

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

“Christmastime Is Here” by Vince Guaraldi Trio
The first airing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" occurred this year.

STAFF PICKS:

“Fever” by The McCoys
Originally recorded by Little Willie John and covered by lots of people, most famously by Peggy Lee, The McCoys were moving up the chart with this cover at the time. The McCoys featured Rick Derringer who would go on to play in the Edgar Winter and Johnny Winter bands.

“Seesaw” by Don Covay
Wayne's pick goes into the R&B genre. Aretha Franklin would chart even higher with her version of this Don Covay original. There is a great horn section in this track. "Your love is like a seesaw."

“Flowers on the Wall” by The Statler Brothers
Rob's pick goes into the country genre with this debut single. Check out that bass voice in the vocal harmony. The Statler Brothers were members of Johnny Cash's band at the time that this song was recorded. The name "Statler" came from a brand of tissue in their hotel.

“Let's Hang On” by The Four Seasons
Brian closes out Staff Picks with the distinctive high tenor that can only be Frankie Valli. He was recording both with The Four Seasons and his solo work at the time.

LAUGH TRACK:

“The Drinking Mans Diet” by Allen Sherman
Allen Sherman was a precursor to "Weird Al" Yankovic - a comedian who produced spoof songs like this track. "Drink, drink, everyone drink!"

Thanks for listening to “What the Riff?!?” 

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**NOTE: What the Riff?!? does not own the rights to any of these songs and we neither sell, nor profit from them. We share them so you can learn about them and purchase them for your own collections.

Dayna sits down with Andrew Slater & Jakob Dylan of the new documentary Echo In The Canyon, which is a film that celebrates the explosion of popular music that came out of LA’s Laurel Canyon in the mid-60s.

The film is set to hit San Francisco theaters in June, but there is a special SF International Film Festival screening on Saturday April 20, with a special performance by Jakob Dylan afterwards. 

For info and how to get tickets to the SF Film Fest screening, go to https://sffilm.org/event/echo-in-the-canyon/.

If you're just tuning in, or haven't listened in a while, Radio Rehab is a Podcast Show hosted by Radio Personality Dayna Keyes. Each Episode, Dayna has a wide variety of conversations. She shares stories, welcome Guests, and discuss topics around her experiences with addiction and recovery. Along with occasional RR Entertainment Entertainment Drop, talking movies, television, music, comedy & everything in between. 

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