Easy Rider Song I Wasnt Meant to Follow by the Byrds

I like this one a lot, it kicks the album's momentum back up after the ballad-y "Goin' Back", and is a very unpredictable song. Great stuff, reminds me of the psychedelic ground they first broke on Fifth Dimension but this is even more refined.

The MEZ and YardByrd like this.
Natural Harmony - This could almost be a song from Millenium's Begin or something from Sagittarius Present Tense but more Byrdsflavored. Shades of Curt Boettcher and Gary Usher. This is a fantastic song, a fantastic production. After you've gone back, thinking young and growing old you might reach natural harmony. Like almost every song on NBB this is over before it even begins, making its dreamlike qualities more apparent. The songs, the moods, the harmonies just floats on by, like watching those little fluffy clouds that Rickie Lee Jones talks about.
Hombre Forum Resident Thread Starter

Natural Harmony. This album is a rare case where I think that every song from side 1 is better than every song from side 2. But in my opinion, this song and "Get To You" are weaker than the rest of the tracks from the first part. "Dreamy" is a very suitable description, but perhaps I find it excessively "ambiented". I still think it's a listenable experience and I don't bother when I pass through this station during the trip.
Really? I love Side 1, but Side 2 is awesome, with two killer Crosby co-writes back to back — probably my favourite tracks on the album.
Natural Harmony
IMHO, the two most underrated songs in the entire Byrds catalog are "I See You" and this one. What a stunning dreamscape this is — like the best psychedelic music, it takes you somewhere you've never been before. It's simultaneously unsettling and reassuring, with the "head thrown back, arms open wide" conveying a great deal of warmth and good feeling.
So many interesting changes, and I love the guitar coda and the segué into "Draft Morning." Very creative on everyone's part. This song is pure magic to me.

From The Hillmen through "Satisfied Mind" through most of his songs on YTY through "Old John Robertson" through SOTR through the FBB, we tend to think of Hillman as a roots/country kind of guy. But this song (and "Thoughts and Words") show that he had another dimension too.

Finally, I am generally wary of synthesizers, but this may be the most effective use of them in any rock song I can think of.
Hombre Forum Resident Thread Starter

There's nothing I really dislike from side 2 (not even "Space Odyssey"), but somehow I find it less satisfying than side 1. My theory is that the album mood is so uniform that when I reach the second part I feel there's nothing new to expect. Probably that's why "Space Odyssey" is well received by me, because it works like an odd twist that breaks homogeneity.
Hombre Forum Resident Thread Starter

From what I've read here previously, I think "Thoughts And Words" is one of the most underrated Byrds' songs; my favorite Hillman's song along with "Have You Seen Her Face".
They released "Wasn't Born to Follow" as a single after the movie Easy Rider came out and it did not chart, at least according to Wikipedia. So neither Goffin/King songs did well as singles. But I am curious about whether people bought the album The Ballad of Easy Rider thinking it was the soundtrack and that "Wasn't Born to Follow" and "It's Alright Ma (I'm only Bleeding)" were on it.
I feel like this is one of the songs that Curt Boettcher does a lot of the higher sounding vocals on.
It's fine that "Wasn't Born To Follow" didn't appear on Ballad, as that song had already been released on NBB. But it is egregious that "It's Alright Ma" didn't appear on Ballad--one of the few times McGuinn didn't include a Dylan cover on Byrds album, and it was one of McGuinn's best renditions.
Fantastic track. This is where the album really kicks into gear IMHO.
Can't help but have a slight suspicion that Hillman was emulating or channelling the departed Croz with this one, at least musically.

That doesn't take anything away from it. It's marvellous. Brilliant production.
This. With a blindfold test, it would be hard not to believe that 'Natural Harmony' wasn't a Crosby song with Crosby singing. It is a veritable cousin to 'Dolphin's Smile', and it won't be wrong in believing that Hillman's composition bore perhaps some direct cause/effect from having seen the birth and delivery of Crosby's song and approach.
Hillman had come a long way in a short time from his nascent songwriting work on YTY (though 'Have You Seen Her Face' is somehow an instant classic). 'Natural Harmony' is light years ahead of most his songs on YTY - lyrically, musically, and in the realm of adventurous moods - and to this listener the song evokes something of the singer-songwriter having going through an awakening by way of an experience in the neighborhood of Ayahuasca/DMT-type substances.

Slowing down the tempo could have made this song twice as long, veering into epic serenity, tranquility and peace territory. But I suppose that's what the next song (despite its subject matter) is for.

Last edited: Mar 21, 2019
Given your avatar, your comments are very interesting. The same photographer (Frank Bez) did the cover photo for 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere', using a similar technique. I assume they were shot or re-shot through some sort of patterned glass. As I said in a previous post, I find the cover evocative of the sound of 'Younger Than Yesterday': crystalline.
It's pretty ironic that the title indicates that they are Brothers. But of course, brothers are known to quarrel. The title also refers to Crosby's attraction to the outlaw image, although by the time of the photos he had been kicked out of the gang.
I bought some of the singles not too long after they were issued. Here are the ones I had: 5D (Fifth Dimension)/Captain Soul (6/66), Have You Seen Her Face/Don't Make Waves (5/67) & Lady Friend/Old John Robertson (7/67). Have You Seen Her Face came in a nice picture sleeve. I liked all these sides & still do. Unfortunately, I no longer have the records.

rkt88 and Hombre like this.
Excellent observation. I thought of that but did not mention it. The modal inflections definitely have a Crosby vibe to them. Even the best songwriter would have no choice but to listen closely to Crosby's songs and Hillman did just that.
Same with me. I no longer have those records. I had the original 45s from the first album as well. Long gone.
I will probably start new threads for the albums after NBB. I hope everyone still has interest after this thread to keep them going. I guess I will see what happens with SOTR. I may be preaching to the choir after NBB but what the heck.
Frankly, i don't see any reason to split it apart - it's nice to be able to page back and refer to earlier posts, as different things come into perspective. I'd much prefer a single re-titled thread.
rkt88 The unknown soldier

100% and @vanhooserd said: ↑
"Try singing "Mr. Spaceman" in your best Buck Owens voice"

is there any other way?

sums it up.
Among other things, a magnificent headphone trip. I have no idea what this sounds like in mono, but I can't imagine any advantage to it. I've often wondered what this would sound like if performed live, without all that processing on the vocals.
rkt88 The unknown soldier

in addition to the wonder of this recording. there are pics in the clip of them at hillman's house above sunset strip and what i believe was his triumph 650 that caught all his hair on fire that fateful day on blue heights drive in 67? 68 ( whatever )

i still have, both my 650 triumph and my hair.
I'm a huge fan (huge) of SOTR and also Dr. Byrds!