The Byrds take wing with new boxed set

05/17/2006 5:23 PM, Reuters
Barry A. Jeckell

One of the most influential American-spawned bands will be celebrated with the five-disc box set, "The Byrds: There is a Season."

Due August 29 via Sony BMG's Legacy Recordings catalog arm, the package compiles 99 studio and live tracks on four CDs, and also includes a DVD featuring the band's appearances on U.S. and U.K. television shows in the 1960s.

Every participating member is heard, from the original quintet of Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke, through Clarence White, Kevin Kelley, Gram Parsons, Gene Parsons, John York and Skip Battin.

Every piece of the Byrds' flight is represented, beginning with 1964 demos as Jet Set and both sides of a single released under the name Beefeaters, through to the final Byrds studio album in 1973 and a 1990 McGuinn/Crosby/Hillman recording session for Legacy's first Byrds box set.

Following the 1990 release of the box set (which was Legacy's second behind "Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings), the label revamped the group's catalog with remastered and expanded editions. "There is a Season" includes most of the original and bonus material that was featured on those reissues and organizes them in chronological order.

Brand new are five previously unreleased live tracks, including a 1967 Swedish radio broadcast of the band performing "He Was a Friend of Mine."

The DVD shows the band performing such songs as "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)," "So You Want To Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star" and "Eight Miles High."

An accompanying booklet boasts liner notes by Rolling Stone scribe David Fricke, interviews with McGuinn and Hillman, and appreciations by Tom Petty and former Jayhawk Gary Louris.

Reuters/Billboard