Disco de The Byrds: “The Original Singles 1965-1967 Volume 1”

Just to add to what others have said: if there are problems with this CD it is because of the digital transfer---it is not because of the original mono analogue tapes. I have the vinyl of this album and it is brilliant. The bass intro on Eight Miles High is full and deep, almost as deep as the original single---which I also have. Moreover that song does not have the treble on McGuinn's guitar dialled up to the max so that it completely dominates, as so many other recent issues of this song do. (I find this an annoying rewriting of history, making McGuinn disproportionately important in that song---as though Gene Clark and David Crosby were just there for the ride!)

And on the subject of Crosby: Everybody's Been Burned has to be one of his finest moments. Just a beautiful song!

What we really need is for CBS to do another transfer of this album and keep the whole thing as it was originally conceived---in glorious mono---but this time with the bass intact.

First off, this cd may have been released in several versions, or also in a remastered edition. My version is Columbia CK 37335. The sound is simply dreadful. The music has been subjected to massive treble cuts in order to hide faulty source material on nearly all the tracks. The highs waver in and out on many of these tracks! The sound is unimaginably lifeless!! Too bad they didn't use better tape sources, or even the original vinyl on this one.

I relistened after reading the comments about the mastering of this, and I have to admit the complaints are reasonable. I had gotten past it by just cranking the bass a little in the equalizer, and accepted that the voices were a little, just a little, muddy, but not enough to keep me from enjoying the album tremendously. Someone suggested having CBS reissue using the original mono and just leave it at that. I probably would buy the album on CD again if they would do that. So much good music here. Buy it if you don't have it on CD yet.

First off, my copy of this CD is one of the "old" ones (I think it may have been reiussed again since I bought it; I'm not sure), from before the group's albums were reissued on CD with bonus tracks and liner notes. Those CDs are great. This one...well... There are a lot of really good songs on the CD, and a great one or two (especially "Turn! Turn! Turn!"), and even the songs that aren't so good aren't really "bad." However, the sound quality leaves a LOT to be desired. I'm not just talking about the fact that all of the tracks are mono. Yes, I do prefer stereo (usually), but I respect the fact that the company wanted to be true to the original singles by including the songs in mono. And, a few of the mono versions here do sound better to me than the stereo ones, especially "Eight Miles High." But, most of the tracks sound like they were taken from really low-quality sources (they SOUND like they were, whether they actually were or not); they don't really sound like original master tapes (in fact, I'm not sure they are) or even vinyl records (which I'm pretty sure they're not). They just sound messy. The high notes are particularly irritating. I would think that even something copied from a vinyl record would sound better --- heck, I HAVE heard things copied from vinyl records that sound better!! If all this is because of the digital transfer and not the actual tapes, then it seems to me that something went VERY wrong during the transfer. I've heard other "legitimately" released CDs that have sub-par sound quality, but the sound on most of this CD is so bad it isn't even funny. A CD should sound GOOD (if not great) all the way through, and to me, this CD doesn't even come close. I know that it's an early CD, but even as an early CD, it doesn't cut it; I haven't heard ANY other "legit" CDs, old or recent, that had such bad sound quality as most of this one does. Another disappointing thing about this CD is that, for some reason, the album version of "Why" was included instead of the single version, although the notes talk about the superiority of the single version and claim that it is the version included. Overall, this CD is a mess. It's more like a bad bootleg than something put out by a major, reputable company. VERY disappointing.

This is a fun, serious collection. The sound is good. The music has that classic 60's sound. You recognize songs that you perhaps have forgotten or that they were recorded by the Byrds. "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)" are two of the pillars of the 60's music and culture. They have the same relevance (if not more) and freshness as they did thirty-five years ago. "Eight Miles High" is surely another pillar but not of the same stature as the previous two. "All I Really Want To Do" is a better version than Dylan's, the Bryds' harmony elevate their songs into something more. "Everybody's Been Burn" deserves a special mention. It's a good song and a harsh shot of reality. The rest of the songs make for an hour of good listening. Highly recommended.