The Byrds-"I'm A Loser"-10/23/65

[AgentChristian]

Great, I'm a loser was from the year before...

[ambersalcove]

they are both 1960's bands and several boy bands did have the same haircut apparently

[ambersalcove]

these guys are Amazing they remind me somewhat of the Beatles well girls did make a happy screams at both bands so maybe that's why the byrds remind me of the Beatles

[dadaist654]

the best of their time.

[mdudesk1]

OMGM OOOLD

[PAULLONDEN]

Wowie..thisis is rare psychedelic footage...although.....♠Ŀ♠ almost a bad trip at ►0:16◄

[sadieD52]

thank you for posting, those screaming girls here were nothing i went to a beatles concert in detroit in 65 and was only 7 rows from the stage, never heard a note of music when they got on stage and my feet didnt touch the ground either the entire crowd rushed the stage and all i did the whole time was watch security whacking people with thier clubs as i got forced closer, last time i ever sat on the floor in a big concert couldnt hear for a week.

[TheAgingstoner]

Surely you know this is "Chimes of Freedom" and it was written and first recorded  by Dylan?

[MrKikelenon]

actually this song is called "chimes of freedom"

[Thesquiddddo]

DAvid Crosby..BIG BABY BRAT !!!

[Thesquiddddo]

boring !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



[nazztube]

Is the compere Edd Wynn?

[grannyglo47]

Gene left because his hands were tied, he liked them all, but little by little he was put into the back ground. He had to break free to be who he was. You see what happened when he left. It was for the best, his album no other would have been created, what a masterpeice.

[SistaMorphine711]

@grannyglo47 ...you seem quite well informed, not sure what years you're referring to & I may be totally wrong, but Gene Clark during the 70s was a lost soul & it was a tragic loss of talent...too sad.

[waavdaav]

The late Gram Parsons joined the birds later.Sweetheart Of The Rodeo album.

[theonlyantony]

@amin1950 Feel a Whole Lot Better is one of the greatest recordings of a song i have ever heard. It has given me much-needed energy on several occasions!

[jaspurr77]

feel a whole lot betters a classic

[lemurianchick]

Wow, I never knew they ever did "I'm a Loser!" That is fascinating. And then they go into "Chimes of Freedom?" 1965 was a pretty good year for music, ya think?

[4457976]

like 

[duncanstpt]

This would have been a perfect song for Allison Krause and Robert Plant.

[kyfunster]

Now Dylan's a Conservative and claiming that he wrote those lyrics of his just to sell records to naive kids like me . . . F him! Sell Out MF! You belong in hell Bob, if that is trued.

[QueenBeatlesWings]

The Byrds and The Beatles actually knew eachother, and became good friends, so there's no reason why The Byrds shouldn't do a Beatles song in their own unique way.

[tacoeatingzebra]

@QueenBeatlesWings the byrds were around the second time john & george did acid in the summer of 1965.

[fanzappa]

@QueenBeatlesWings there is no evidence the groups were "good friends". the byrds, esp. gene clark and mcguinn, were heavily influenced by the beatles. they might have met once when the beatles toured california in 1966.

[OPIE916]

Poor video quality, but The Byrds at their historic best!

[werobanks]

i guess sumeone had to sing bob dylan on mainstream tv

[singersimon1]

@werobanks Yeah, I guess...LMFAO!

[kyannos]

I like the byrds, they were very good, but the beatles and stones were great and time tested!!

[Viewingpublic08]

@amin1950 Those sunglasses were called 'bins'. He (Roger) was the main man who wore them.

[alonenjersey]

@Viewingpublic08 Bins? I've always thought they were called "granny glasses. Have I been lied to all these years?

[ejectorerector]

poor gene is just off in the corner all by himself

[CDPuffer]

young girls ruin this :\ if your standing there screaming over the music your obliviously not there for the music...

[midmodgal]

@CDPuffer Yeah but look how cute these guys are. The girls probably stopped swooning when the band line-up changed and they all started looking like variations of Charlie Manson-Yikes!

[LaaLaa]

Cool video, but but can you upload the Shangri-Las singing "Thirty Days" that's immediately before this clip, I'd love to see it.

[wilhelm1974]

roger mcguinn is a great man, I saw him in richmond va last year, and he did old byrd and beatles songs, he was right up on uson stage and answered every question asked, he spoke to me for about 15 minutes after the show even let me play his 12 string ric....if you see him come to your town go see him its worth it...

[boblpage]

Great post about the glasses, Amin! I'm one year younger than you. My dad was a former FBI agent who was practicing law in my hometown of Detroit when I fell in love with The Byrds. Amazingly, he actually had been wearing McGuinn's sunglasses before Jim/Roger had been! I took them away, of course, and was wearing them myself by '64.

[WhoDoYouHaveToScrew]

why only 15s of Im a Loser?

BTW. I think McGuinn just washed his hair that morning

[carlmoore19]

I just hear an excerpt of "I'm a Loser" at the start of this video. What is the song in rest of this video?

[violetjm]

@carlmoore19 - The song the Byrds are singing after a bit of "I'm a Loser" is Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom."

[TamarZucker]

I am impressed with their rendition of Dylan's, "Chimes of Freedom". My God, on Shindig yet. That's some radical stuff to play to a mass audience in those years. Did those screaming teenieboppers even know what they were hearing?

[StevieReidEFC]

Fantastic!! My all-time favourite band (The Byrds) introduced by my all-time favourite theoretical physicist (Albert Einstein). It doesn't get better than this!

[andyinoregon]

@StevieReidEFC You're joking, right? I trust you know that's comedian and renowned character actor Ed Wynn introducing The Byrds in this clip. He gave one of the most memorable performances in the history of Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone" TV series.

[StevieReidEFC]

@andyinoregon Of course I'm joking Andy, Einstein died in 1955! Great as the Byrds undoubtedly were, raising the dead was probably too much even for them.

[Marshallsg]

Wow I never knew they covered this song. Great Beatles song.

[shanehenning26]

great version of im a loser

[tom6612]

Listen to the harmony in the vocals. Fantastic ! ! !

[capocamilo]

haha great bronx accent, "hee-uh dey awe, da BOYDS"

[1primusman]

Petty is great but this is where it came from. "Listen To Her Heart" sounds just like the Byrds

[fanzappa]

@1primusman  duh...the byrd's infulence on petty is clearly apparent.

[fanzappa]

harrison and mcguinn shared licks and sounds intentionaly. listen to bells of rhymney and if i needed someone. same riff. even dylan paid homage to lennon. i'm superised mcguinn wasn't asked to be in the wilburys.

[Grouchoman]

gotta love it ...Ed Wynn on the intro

[cleanandoftenseen]

Say what you want about the Byrds, they wouldn't have been much without Rickenbacker..I like them but that is the deal.

[fanzappa]

@cleanandoftenseen what are you talking about dude? put any other 12 string in the song and it's the same song. do you have that much of a hard on for rics?

[Knugabug]

Crosby won't sign autographs. He's a jerk.

[tmsphere]

There wasn't an "american beatles" not even the Beach Boys, there couldn't have been, like the Beachers, the Byrds were a unique american creation, influenced by brittish beat like all the others, but unmistakeably california.

[tmsphere]

You bafoons who must constantly call into question every 60s band who were not the bleeding Beatles and can't even tell the difference between Gene Clark and John Lennon,

Shut the fuck up!

[jtlirette]

I'msorry I'm from that that time &they all wanted to sound like the Beatles because that was the sound u had to

lived it I did  drummer

[jefferzone61]

The Shindig house band...."the Shindogs"...alumni include, among others, Lowell George and Leon Russell - and Delaney Bramlett, Glen Campbell, Billy Preston, and who knows who else?

[ausgang]

@jefferzone61  James Burton

[Building529]

@ausgang James Burton- - - what???

[AstoriaMichelle99]

Chris doesn't look like a happy camper in this clip. Coulda been that all that hair relaxer they made him use.

[IdiotTelevision]

Is that John Lennon singing with Jim in the first scene? Sure looks like it.

[alienhuman]

No.

[dankmon1992]

that would be gene clark.

[fanzappa]

@dankmon1992 these kids here on these sites have no clue.

[shaylanda]

no, that's Ringo on rythem guitar

[Building529]

@shaylanda  Ringo? Not!!!

[shaylanda]

yes dude, it was a joke...

[viceisthename]

No it doesn't!

[talerdudansk]

You are so right!

[darkknight91]

Too bad there's no music like this anymore.

[fanzappa]

@darkknight91 don't you listen to tom petty. he has been carrying on this music tradition for the past 30 years.

[darkknight91]

Tom Petty only wishes he was the Byrds. Not quite the same.

[fanzappa]

@darkknight91 i did not say he is the same. his music is "like" their's. that's what you asked for. don't you think? you just react with a negative response? he's had a longer and more profitable career then them. the byrds did inspire him, though.

[darkknight91]

Yes I'm quite aware of who inspired Petty. I remember when he came out. Never been a fan. Is that alright with you? Or is that too negative?

[fanzappa]

@darkknight91 you have a good memory, that's for sure.

[fanzappa]

@darkknight91 were you born in 1991? if so, that is why you are not that thought out.

[darkknight91]

No, I wasn't born in 91 and no I didn't graduate in 91. Maybe if you didn't post replies like the condescending twit that you are people might have a little more respect for what you have to say. Until then, I'll call it as I see it.

[fanzappa]

@darkknight91 many people have respect for things i say, thank you.

[johnnyscouser]

@darkknight91 And for every hung up person, in the whole wide universe, as we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

[fanzappa]

@johnnyscouser yeah, the dark knight is a bit of a "hung up" guy; a bit defensive...he does not want to discuss, only attack...

[fanzappa]

@darkknight91 were you the 91st dweeb who wanted "darkknight" as a handle?

[fanzappa]

@darkknight91 also, batman is gay...

[GeorgeHarrisonLuver]

What an amazing vid!!! =D

[jamesskb]

Great band, but with all the hoopla surrounding McGuinn and Crosby, Gene Clark was a silent, brilliant mind that has been somehow been inadvertently kicked to the curb. Hillman said he was very poetic and expressed beautiful phrasing in his work (Eight Miles HIgh ring a bell). As usual, jealousy and bitter fighting ended his tenure with this fantastic band. His smooth baritone vocals meshed perfectly with the tenor work of Crosby and lead vocal work of McGuinn. RIP Gene.

[sellwood86]

@jamesskb

Well put James. Hopefully, in time, Gene will get his due. He was a genius in my opinion!

[fanzappa]

@jamesskb actually, clark had to leave the band when he developed a fear of flying...

[jamesskb]

@fanzappa He actually got weary of the road in general, a quote from his biography: "the combination of Clark's dislike of traveling (including a fear of flying) and resentment that his songwriting income made him the best-paid member of the group led to tensions within the Byrds, and in 1966, Clark opted to leave the group." Band was jealous of his success and I guess he got tired of dealing with it. Either way, an amazing talent lost way too soon at the age of 47.

[fanzappa]

@jamesskb i'm reading the same book, if you are referring to"mr. tambourine man". a bit too much detail and drawn out, to my mind...

[decemberschild1217]

@fanzappa "You cant be a byrd if you dont like to fly"

[Eagle027]

@jamesskb I don't know where you get the idea Gene Clark has been ignored. All Byrds aficionados are quite aware of Gene's talent.

[jamesskb]

@Eagle027 Ignore was not the verbiage I used, although they may have. I was not there. Don't know about the group's aficionados regarding Clark? Please provide a source. See my post to fanzappa below. I stand by all of the articles I have read. Google his name. Then get back with me.

[tiranchula]

The American Beatles!

[Zendishwasher1]

hardly, the american beatles were the lovin' spoonful.the byrds woundn't have even been popular except for the fact that crosby and the rest of the band talked mcguinn into recording dylan covers,which he hated. it was only after they found there wings.

[tiranchula]

Everyone is entitled their opinion, thanks for sharing.....:)

[fanzappa]

@Zendishwasher1 cloumbia records thought enough of a new band without a record or hit to sign them and coin the phrase "the american beatles". the spoonful never had the chops, staying power (three hit wonders) or combined talent of the byrds.

[fanzappa]

@Zendishwasher1 the byrds did not want to cover dylan. it was their orig.producer, jim dickerson, at world pacific studios, where they recorded (for free, incidentally) their "preflyte" demos, who suggested they merge their "folk rock" sound with dylan songs. gene clark had not started writing his best, dylan inspired, work, at this time.

[rkt88]

@fanzappa .......dickson. jim dickson

[fanzappa]

@rkt88 right...into tube amps?

[fanzappa]

@rkt88 er...right...no er...very precise, you, eh?

[theoverbeat1964]

good version!!

[H4rryF]

bixbyglaser" :from what I understand, Chris and David want to do one, but Roger doesn't! "

-----------------

Mcguinn fired crosby from the band which he now says was a mistake.

Commenting on the re-union about 2 years ago,Crosby said, "I think it's probably my fault" and that mcguinn "doesn't like" him. Mcguinn's wife is against it as well.

For reasons that escape me, the band would do things like record goffin/king songs for 'the Notorious Byrd Brothers' album instead of crosby's stuff.

.

[fanzappa]

@H4rryF crosby was a dick. read the gene clark bio; "mr.tambouriene man".

[H4rryF]

@fanzappa "crosby was..."

So i've heard. He wrote some great songs

[deemilieu]

huh, a beatles song they covered.

[searching56]

what memories...along with CSN...the best

[bixbyglaser]

I'm only 36 and the Byrds are among my favorites. I saw Roger McGuinn in concert a few years back and he hasn't lost a step...I wish he, Crosby and Hillman would hook up for a surviving Byrds tour...probably won't happen though...from what I understand, Chris and David want to do one, but Roger doesn't...which is a shame, because nobody could harmonize like the Byrds, other than CSNY...the 60's were boss!

[xojbabyxo]

This is amazing...the Byrds are great!

[Yesimustbestupid]

Behind the Byrds playing "I'm A Loser" are the Shangri-Las (and it's one of the rare times when it's the four of them).

[TheWoodstockChannel]

The jingle jangle is doing a wiggle waggle!

Kids, this is what we have to deal with with our TVs!

[icarokar]

The camera take Acid! ;)

[anothercrazyguru66]

only beatlessssssssss (lenno and mccartney write)yes, i like this version

[captainfairfield]

Ed Wynn and The Byrds--only in the 60's would we find artists from such vastly different generations on the same show!

[axewulf]

OK so the film jumps but this is rare stuff and I am most grateful for you posting it. Love the Dylan lyrics but I do think the Byrds add something real good to it musically and vocally!