Screaming 60'ss fans like for the Beatles, , a pretty serious folk song, played by titans of folk rock at its apogee. Who would believe that combination. Powerful!
That screaming is fake; I remember the Byrds did not evoke that extreme reaction....though they were very popular. That adulation was for the Beatles and the Stones.
First heard this song in high school mid 60s. Played it hundreds of times in my semi pro band. Then years later touring Wales with a pro band our van passed the sign for Rhymney and the other towns in this song and I got a huge grin on my face. I was actually there!
The Byrds we're Absolutely one of a kind band 🎼🎤🎶🎶🎶🎸🎸🎸🥁 can't mistake their unique jingle/jangle sound. They influenced countless bands that came after them .
I play this song for the public whenever I can... mines continue to collapse in West Virginia every few years... nothing has changed. BRAVI! Pete Seeger and Roger McGuinn!!!
The Byrds might well be true gods, but the likes of Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman would have maybe found themselves in fairly steep company when the Byrds, Beatles, and Stones were mingling during the height of flower power, amidst characters up there with Mozart and Elvis. Still, there they were, among the constituted litany of band members. Don't know that they'd have had a real lot to add to the deliberations.
The Byrds 1965🎵🎶💙❤️😊🎵🎶 BLACK And 🤍🤍 WHITE video Music and sounds of Rocks Legendary Performance The 1965 Byrd's I always and forever love their music Historical 1965 The Byrds Black 🖤 and 🤍 WHITE video (s) 1965❤️❤️❤️❤️0 🎶🎵🎵🎶🎶
That screaming,trust me, is fake, it's tape. I was 11 around this time, and as much as kids adored the Birds, they DID NOT SCREAM like that for anyone but the Beatles, and maybe Mick Jagger. And no, they were not morons as RL Rl would have you believe. Boys were much dumber than girls in the day, and they still are.
its funny how the byrds took "mr tambourine man" and put a beatle beat to it, and then george harrison took the 12 string guitar sound from the byrds and put their songs into it. Basically the beatles influenced the byrds and the byrds influenced the beatles
Did you know that the only member of the Byrds to play a musical instrument on the recording for Mr Tambourine Man was McGuinn? The other musicians used for that single were session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew who consisted of Hal Blaine (drums), Larry Knechtel (bass), Jerry Cole (guitar), and Leon Russell (electric piano) while McGuinn, Crosby and Clark did the singing. So perhaps it could be said that it was the Wrecking Crew who put a Beatles beat to Mr Tambourine Man.
True! If something's good enough, other people will copy it, bottom line. And the Byrds had quite a sound -- this original lineup of the group was by far the best. Later lineups didn't have quite the same chemistry. Though you could have McGuin front any group of musicians, and it would sound "Byrds like."
Oh What will you give me? Say the sad bells of Rhymney Is there hope for the future? Say the brown bells of Merthyr Who made the mine owner? Say the black bells of Rhondda And who killed the miner? Say the grim bells of Blaina Put the vandals in court Say the bells of Newport All would be well if, if, if, if Say the green bells of Cardiff Why so worried sisters? Why? Sang the silver bells of Wye And what will you give me? Say the sad bells of Rhymney Oh What will you give me? Say the sad bells of Rhymney Is there hope for the future? Say the brown bells of Merthyr Who made the mine owner? Say the black bells of Rhondda And who killed the miner? Say the grim bells of Blaina
As I was born in Cardiff South Wales I have regularly visited every town in Wales mentioned in this Byrds release so it means so much to me! l am now a young 75 and as a teen through the1960s I enjoyed the London club scene big time and all my pals thought The Byrds outstripped the likes of The Beatles and The Stones by miles! Hanging on the wall in my studio, in a place of honour since 1965 after I obtained it during my first visit to Arlington Virginia is an album cover containing a vinyl LP of Mr Tambourine Man signed by the entire group which I treasure to this day. When I met Mick Jagger in Mustique in 1988, as we both shared the same Italian architect Mario Spinella, when we built our villas on Mustique and St Vincent I showed him the signed LP which he would have bought at any price, but was not for sale and remains priceless to this day. At least then I got Mick to sing at my Norwegian wife's 40th Birthday party celebration's in January 1989 on Basils Bar in Mustique and Ringo Star and Barbara Bach turned up so a great party that finished at 8 am the following morning! I still listen to the Byrds at least 2 or 3 times a week. They were then and to this day remain the best Folk Rock group EVER!!!
The later Byrds with Rodger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gene Parsons and Skip Batten was the best live Byrds band ever. It was those performances with Clarence White's excellence as a guitarist which took the Byrds to a higher level and developed the new Country Rock sound. I had seen them play several times, plus was fortunate to speak with Clarence White at length. Part of that new Byrds sound was his idea for the B-bender which Gene Parsons invented and built into Clarence's Fender Telecaster
My first view since I saw this the first time on the original broadcast 45 years ago! I bought my first electric bass a few weeks later so i could learn Byrds bass parts..Now I remember why I was so inspired , Hillman's line is so solid, great counterpoint to the 12 string lead. Primitive recording, but these guys could flat-out play and sing. I play the bass almost every day all these years later, worked my way through college playing it, thanks guys.
McGuinn has been playing that 360-12 Rickenbacker 12 string electric forever. That gutiar created the signature sound of the Byrds from '65 until it all ended in the early 70's with Graham Parsons taking the group into a brief period of rockabilly.
"If I needed Someone" starts with the same riff on Harrison's 12-string as McGuinn plays in "The Bells of Rhymney." McGuinn confirms that Harrison was very clear that the guitar riff he used was based on McGuinn's riff. McGuinn originally got the idea to play the 12-string after seeing Harrison play it, though. They inspired each other ;)
McGuinn already played an acoustic 12 string before seeing Harrison play an electric 12 string in A Hard Day's Night. It was the Ruckenbacker electric 12 string McGuinn saw Harrison play that made him buy the same model electric the next day. th
@iamkwk We just had a mine disaster in West Virginia last week. The words still have meaning. Change the town names to those around the mine and see how appropriate this lament is.
The director might have thought that McGuinn (who was still known as Jim McGuinn in those days) was more photogenic, with the Rickenbacker 12-string and the Dickensian shades.
Couldn't agree more. Gene Clark a much better looking and much better voice than Roger....I think at this point , Gene is already over it because everyone else was so jealous because he wrote the good songs.
Interesting. The studio version is faster, though nowhere near 2x (just checked, and the studio is just over 120 bpm, this one around 108). The studio version isn't sped up either, which was common back then (at least, it's in concert pitch). I would guess they actually liked it at this slower tempo but the producer asked them to perk it up to make the recording a bit more commercial.
I studied the assassination for years. Much has come forth, much has yet to released. Can ever put our fallen President to rest...the river of time has been forever change, untimely death.
The crazy young girls in those rock audiences CAME to the shows to scream. The band could have sung anything...the phone book...Hamlet's soliloquy...a shopping list...and those idiot girls would have screamed all the way through it. The Byrds picked a good one with Bells of Rhymney. It suited their style well. The folk audience was utterly unlike the rock audience in the early 60s. Folk audiences listened with rapt attention to every word. Rock audiences came to scream and go berserk.
@neal1960 Yes, George did base "If I Needed Someone" on this song. He wrote it after the Beatles attended a Byrds recording session in L.A. He sent an advance copy to the Byrds saying "This is for Jim." Jim was the real first name of Roger McGuinn, which he went by back then. (Roger says he picked up a 12-string Rickenbacker because George was playing one on tour. Funny that his was the band that became associated with them.)
Gene Clark: Hot. D. Crosby: Cute McGuinn: not so. 1965 I was at Ciro's in L.A. as they premiered this tune, and all the others from their first album. As a group of 17 year old females, who saw many, many groups on Sunset Strip: let me tell you...the first time the audience saw and heard the Byrds we all fell for them. TV shows back then set up tons of bands on one show...technology not evolved to avoid lipsynching. It's music history and it's OK!
The words were written by Welsh poet (and erstwhile coal miner) Idris Davies in 1926 in response to the failed 1926 general strike by the miners in Wales and England. While there were lots of mining disasters in Wales, there were none in 1926. in fact, I believe that from 1921 to 1937 there were no mining disasters in that part of Wales. This is a great song. Too bad those empty headed girls couldn't see(or hear) the importance of this song.
I saw Roger in concert last October. He stated that when he was performing in Wales a few years ago, the locals said that the proper pronuncation is "Rum-ney". So he sang the entire song that way.
It's actually a rebel song about miners and the estranged encroachment of a caste system...this is slightly befor unions or the formation there of....I can go on but please anyone correct me if im wrong.
wow.. what a dark and vaguely creep thing the cameraman does when he swoops over the band out to Mcguinn in the shadows.. with his lil' weird glasses on . I wonder if this might be live, as the ending is different from the album version.Their vocals were SO awesome... Great vid, in any case.
@iamkwk I doubt this was taped in front of a live audience--the screams/crowd sounds are canned to liven up the lipsynced performance of this studio recorded album cut.
I actually like the slower tempo. I've always thought the song very haunting and this version exemplifies that aspect. The only way to improve on this would be to separate the screaming girls from the track. They really are annoying.
I've heard that comment made for so many years. Jim McGuinn (roger) sang it phonetically. For example In the states where he's from you wouldn't say he played Rhythm guitar as Ruh thum guitar. He's not familiar with the welsh pronunciation of the towns when he did this (although I bet he knows about it now!). I agree though, great band, great song.
Roger now uses the "Rumney" pronunciation whenever he sings this song--with the quiet "h" sound before the "r" at the beginning. (He became aware of that a while back....)
Haunting. Dylan covered Bells of Rhymney in the basement with the Band guys. Anyone with the bootleg out there? Please upload it here...mine is on casette and I'm a Luddite when it comes to techie stuff. They have fangs, they have teeth... friggin' mine owners.
You have to understand that lip synched performances and fake dubbed in screaming was part of state of the art entertainment in the sixties. We just didn't get it, or didn't mind too much. Watching pop stars on TV is always about getting manipulated by the media. No big deal, just commenting.
"Bells of the Rhymney" another Byrds version of a Pete Seeger folk song changed into folk-rock off their 1st album, would influence The Beatles in the making of their Rubber Soul album, also in 1965. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B8gBysv5gYQ.html
Annoying, yes, though also funny at times, especially in light of the lyrics. Like when McGuinn comes in after the solo and sings "Throw the vandals in court" and the girls explode with screams as if he had just sung "I wanna hold your hand."
If only there was a way to get a version of this without all the screaming fans (though I guess I might have been screaming too if I was in their place?)
Listened to loads of Byrds today and they all sound the same - Tempo, Rhythm, guitar sounds, etc just different words. This just sounds like Blessed by Simon and Garfunkel same chords and melody just about.
.why are there girls shouting all the time? it doesn't sound like a song that would drive girls wild....besides, none of the band members seem to react to it the least bit.
i know...i was just joshing. seems like the beatles came up with their own style first, and all the rest of the 60's bands were carbon copies, image wise
