I know their artistic ambitions aspired to ever loftier
terrain, but I like the Byrds* as a
simple pop band, which is exactly what Preflyte
delivers. Recorded in 1964, when they were just five cute, goofy young men
posing on the back cover with rifles (Gene Clark, unarmed and pensive, hides
behind a scrawny tree, naturally), but leaked only in '69, this delivers eleven songs in 25 minutes,
only one topping 2:30, and then by a mere second. Some are dry runs for album
tracks, and none are holy grails of lost song, but “You Showed Me” reclaims a
McGuinn/Clark composition from its better-known Turtles hit, and Gene Clark has
never rocked as unselfconsciously as he does on “You Movin’,” surely the most
Beatles-dance-party song he ever wrote. I can imagine the older, wiser, sadder
Clark sneering at it, but for two shouted, stomping minutes, it’s the best
thing in the world.
* I only just noticed that the only place the Byrds are actually named on this LP is in the liner notes--not on the cover, side, or record itself. So technically it should be credited to Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke--but to hell with that.
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