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From: 2old2Rock
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  • By this tme,only Chris and Roger remained from the 1966 lineup...Crosby was fired because of his refusal to participate in the recording of this..Weeks later,Clarke followed..a messy affair at the time,indeed.

  • Great song......real interesting to see Gene Clark with them here.......

  • you mean when Gram came to the rescue of the directionless band.

  • Of course they hate bush I'm not trying to spam this is so scum NOT EMO omg . -__- sweet! Sorry this just makes me rofl xD gotta love how he always says

  • Gene lasted, maybe three months, in his return trip to the band. He was with them between the firing of Crosby (beginning of October 1967) to the departure of Michael Clarke (end of December 1967) - leaving right before Gram came crawling on board.

  • in my humble opinion, this is simply one of the best songs ever written. both in terms of arrangement and relevance, but also, the chemistry between the lyrics/theme and the overall production is eminent. outstanding band!

    on a further note, it is completely INSANE that the byrds released two of the best albums ever with only something like a 6 months gap between them. notorious bird bros and sweethear of the rodeo are both masterpieces, but in different fields of the genre spectre - CRAZY! :)

  • It's sooooo relaxing!

  • It's attractively performed--and certainly better than the awful version by Queen--but this is still Dusty Springfield's song. Even Carole King, who wrote the song, said that Springfield did it better than anyone else, hands down.

  • @GaryFTaylor Awful version by Queen?First off, there's no version by Queen, it's only sang by Freddie Mercury in 1972. Please, get some ears and do some research before you insult Queen.

  • perhaps the most plush harmony of all the great harmonies they ever recorded! this carries you into the clouds. I use to listen to it the mornings after a wild evening to chill out. beautiful sound.

  • Man, this was music! Such beauty straight from heartville. What a group! Wow, didn't know it was a C. King song. "Catch me if you can, I'm goin' back." Such beautiful harmonies... almost like dolphins.

  • @DrFrets This one and Turn, Turn, Turn.

  • reading Mr. Tambourine, the Gene biography now. Apparently in that brief period when Gene came back after Crosby left, he not only recorded some vocals on Going Back, which Roger says you can here on the single, but he co-wrote Get To You and never got credit for it. That was news to me!

  • superb song written by carole king and played by one of the the most influential american rock n roll band alongside velvet underground and springsteen and e street band

  • Good...but I prefer Dusty's version

  • Gran cancion.muy buena tambien es la version que se hizo en el lp in nuce,cantada por fredie mercury antes de publicar su primer vinilo con queen.

  • 'The Notorious Byrd Brothers' is one of the most eclectic, underrated and underappreciated albums of the late -60's. It was considered an "off" album by the Byrds and was never popular.

    Side One of the album is a classic. 'Artificial Energy' just explodes and is a psychedelic rock classic. "Draft Morning" is one of the best anti-Viet Nam war songs ever written and "Wasn't Born to Follow' captures the spirit of the late great 60's perfectly --- it later appeared in the film 'Easy Rider'.

  • @dlphcoracl Can't forget Natural Harmony. Blows my mind that was written by Chris Hillman! And Change Is Now is another of my favorites. Back when I was doing a lot of mind bending this was always a staple album.

  • What a shame Gene didn't stay. He looked great. You've got all the components here of a great 4 piece band but alas, twas not meant to be. He looked cool banging a tambourine even.

  • Did anyone notice at 45 seconds, that Gene Clark is in this lip-sync performance, 2 years after he quit The Byrds? I think they briefly brought him back after firing David Crosby, but Gene Clark only lasted a couple of weeks before leaving again.

    Classic song from Notorious Byrd Brothers.

  • @Mactavish74 Yeah Gene looks thrilled to be there.

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  • forget about your house of cards

  • Crosby was on this album but was never credited.

  • did the crowd clapping cut off the end of their song?? It looked like the were going to keep playing, but then gave up because of the clapping.

  • Cool Fuckin FU ManChu mustache! My HERO justin bieber should grow one! That would be FUCKINGBAD ASS!!!!

  • @NSA666999 Your hero doesn't have a hair on his balls yet!

  • @49kasey YES HE DOES!!!

  • esto es lo que te va a suceder hoy El amor qe se fue sin ser echado,vuelve sin ser llamado, esta noche justo a la Media Noche tu AMORverdadero Se va a dar cuenta de que TE AMA. ALGO te va a pasar entre las11: 00 y la 1: 00am. Mañana Recibirás el shock mas grande de tu vida sirompes esta cadena vas a TENER Mala ...s ...uerte en el los próximos años... Envía esto a 15 personas en 15 minutos Copia y Pega a tus amigosconectado.....no me lo regrses!!........

  • i love this version, but why is Carole King the only one who knew this was a ROCK song. hers is the only version that rocks. the only FAST version. the ony one w/ drums i think. everyone but the Byrds turned it into a slow ballad. that takes a very special kind of stupidity. its a rock song.

  • @bobbyb826 that's the beauty of experiencing a different interpretation of something. A true artist offers their version and maybe the listener will hear and appreciate a different side/version.What would be the point of copying exactly? What's the point of that?

  • @oldhiway66 @oldhiway66 i agree, but what i meant was that they all DID copy each other's slow ballad interpretation of Goin Back. there are 4 or 5 of those. more really. including Freddie Mercury and Diana Ross, both of whom u might expect to see it as a rock song, but they also did slow versions. which would be great if they turned out great, but they make nothing of the song's great melody. only Byrds n Carole king did. the rock setting brings out the songs greatness. tnx. Peace.bye

  • notorius byrd brothers, is a great album the next morning, after to much of everything the night before. I use to drive in the country playing this song after a hangover  trying to get my insides to stay inside. it is a classic album I agree with all here. except that nut clucaspik down the list of comments. clucaspik must be tone deaf.

  • nice,notorius byrd brothers. great byrd´s album

  • The fact that Clark is suddenly appearing is totally amazing... Out Crosby, Clark in again - or what... That would have been something.

  • @Reinisen he didnt have any input on the record they were just giveing him a tv gig crosby was a drug ball and his songs were too kinky so they threw him out .

  • @spacepatrolman You got me laughing there - well put. They kicked him out for classic R&R qualifications. But you summed it up well. Pity Gene didn't really rejoin them- I'd have been more divided.

  • @psychoprosthetic crosby has his good points he said take those apartheid signs down in south africa his books are good he did the theme from the jacque cousteau pbs series oasis in space

  • @Dbusdriver71 I listened and confess that i didn´t like much Stone Roses. But i agree, they have the same intention on make this folk-rock with 80s language.

    Thanks

  • I found this allbum, in Brazil, a few months ago...Goin Back is a classic rock ballad.Wonderfull piece of poem in music format.God Bless The Byrds!!!

  • Sounds like the Byrds singing over the Wrecking crew to me.

  • @clucaspik which is doubtless what it is! really good though..

  • This is a fantastic band thank you for posting some really cool tunes I was about 8 then but I had my own record playing a ton of albums and many speakers, I love the music, I beleave the band really come to life when G. Parsons joined and wrote several songs from there on. Thanks again, I sub'd rated and friended hopefully got it all right, not use to this new layout been in hospt. 8 mo.ending with a right lung lobectomy, from mold that would not respond to meds, But doing good now.

  • Where's Dave Crosby? Oh, it's Gene clark instead!!!

  • smoooooth as butter

  • LOVELY TO SEE BUT THE VERSION I BELIEVE ON THE BYRDS GREATEST HITS WAS BETTER METHINKS, OR MAYBE I'M JUST CRACKING UP

  • elysian fields

  • Very memorable, goin back to the first time I saw this on Smother's Brothers" (a few decades ago) living youth at my age is pure grace. Thank you!

  • relaxed and elemental stage design + beautiful presentation

  • very beautiful song.

    one of my favourite from ,,Notorious byrd brothers"

  • OK it's a funny song to pick from one of my all time favorite bands The Byrds ....first I heard Dusty Springfield sing it ..... then The Byrds only to find this gem of a song is Goffin -King penned

  • @Hummingbird636

    And what a gem it is!

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  • krása

  • All versions I have heard of this Carole King/Gerry Goffin classic are great - because it is a great song. Byrds, Dusty, and two by Carole King.

  • @stellagranos72 Did you hear the version by Larry Lurex, which is actually Freddie Mercury of Queen?

  • @JeroenG8 .....Just came from Freddie's version of this - absolutely amazing, just like everything by Freddie & Queen! Incredible voice & best frontman ever!!

    Always loved The Byrds.....saw them @ 1972.....really great!

    Nice job, Roger!

  • @JeroenG8 Yeah man, I've just realized this is the song Freddie sings as Larry Lurex. Cool

  • @JeroenG8 Queen were recording their first album at De Lane Lea, I think, and Phil Spector was next door or something. Brian and Freddie were invited to record it.

  • @Inigobalboa Why the f**k are you talking about that rubbish here?

  • "@Inigobalboa Why the f**k are you talking about that rubbish here?"

    @clean3 Because this is a free medium and it is relevant that the most famous producer at the time (Spector) got interested in this song to remix it. Queen were next door and JeroenG8 was commenting on it. What's your problem?

  • @Inigobalboa Quite, and I'm free to say , Freddie was next door was he? how interesting. Queen and bands like them were inevitable (kiss are another one). RocknRoll had exhausted every decent idea....all but parody and camp pseudo operatics. Never has the Vox amplifier been so abused; and finally, McGuinn played a Rickenbacker and looked cool whilst May had a perm and wore clogs...my 15 yr old son can see the difference....thank god.

  • @Inigobalboa Quite, And I'm free to say, Freddie was next door was he? How interesting. Queen and bands like them were inevitable (kiss are another one). Rock’n’Roll had exhausted every decent idea....all but parody and camp pseudo operatics. Never has the Vox amplifier been so abused; and finally, McGuinn played a Rickenbacker and looked cool whilst May had a perm and wore clogs...my 15 yr old son can see the difference....thank god.

  • amazing song

  • freddie lo hace mejor

  • too fast

  • I´m a Brazilian guy and i wasn´t born when that song turned sucess, but i like this song very much! I listen all day! Don´t make more music like this today!

  • @3ADesigner You should try the Stone Roses. To me, The Byrds were the most brillant band until I heard the Stone Roses for the first time in 86. The Stone Roses touched on something that hasn't been heard since the Byrds. Try them and tell me if you agree.

  • @Dbusdriver71 I will and tell you. Thanks

  • @3ADesigner And whilst you're at it, check out The Second Coming as well. At its best, like on tracks such as the finishing few of Begging You, Good Times, Tears, How Do You Sleep and Love Spreads, they become Led Zep at their best.

    Amazing band, pity the lead singer couldnt sing, lol

  • great song

  • This was my favorite song by the Byrds. Thanks.

  • People often forget about Mike Clarke when they talk about the Byrds. The guy was an underrated drummer, just check out Eight Miles High! And he wrote one of my favourite byrds songs..Artificial Energy!

  • I prefer Dusty's more dramatic version

  • I appreciate your prefering Dusty's version, but I give The Byrds' US hit version the higher marks. This was their last real hit.

  • @moorlock2003 what hit ? this only reached number 89 on the billboard hot 100.

  • It was played on Los Angeles radio. That makes it a hit in my book. L.A. was the hippest region for music. Still is.

  • @moorlock2003 i agree with you that L.A. did and probably still has a great music scene but this song (as good as it is) is still not a hit unless it is played nationally . and i personally feel that very same belief goes for any song of any genre and i'm sorry if you don't agree with me but that's just my personal belief.

  • If a record charts on Billboard, that means it was played in some cities. That makes it a hit wherever it was played. "Gloria" by Them charted only #71 nationally, but was a No. 1 in Los Angeles. Nobody is going to tell me it wasn't a hit, because it was huge where I lived.

  • @moorlock2003 Agree with Moorlock...THIS is the definitive version.

  • Thank you. Most people go on about Dusty's version, but I've heard it and I still prefer The Byrds' version.

  • the truth bout gene clark why he quit twice was because he was very scared of flying-he witnessed a fatal plane crash when he was a kid, the second time he came back he refused to fly-one of the byrds told him "you cant be a byrd if you cant fly" thats the truth so he he quit after 2 weeks of playing. look it up

  • @misterb59801 ok I looked it up - that was only part of the reason. And it wasn't after 2 weeks - that happened in 1966, Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn started the Byrds in 1964.

  • That's one of my favorite Byrd's songs. I still listen to it often. Thanks for posting this.

  • I loved that song since the first time I heard it when it was first released. I still listen to it a lot.

  • this song is good but in my opinion it could use better string arrangement but otherwise its a perfect rendition of a perfect song. :)

  • THIS RULES. But I also love the secret track on the very end of the reissued version of Notorious Byrd Bros - so many feathers getting ruffled :)

  • Question: what is Gene Clark doing in the video? He didn't play on Notorious to my knowledge. They're all lip syncing to the album cut so it may not matter. It's like he was the only former Byrd available after Crosby was fired... curious to know (for the record I'm a big Clark fan).

  • Clark rejoined the group for about 2 weeks in 1968. It was a quick experiment, that didn't last. In fact, this was the only thing that came out of Clark's rejoining. There weren't any shows or recordings. Just this TV lip-synch performance.

  • I'm Guessing David Crosby left the group around this time

  • @Wehategod you guessed correctly david was an ex byrd by this time and just so you know david didn't leave he was actually fired by chris and roger.

  • I am an avid byrdmaniac yet this song is good, but does not have that traditional byrd richness and solidity to it nothing on Nutorious has, this is more in the same league as beatles or trems or monkees than pure byrd, I mean what happened to tracks like bell's of rhymney? "The world turns all aroundb her" and I come and stand at every door that is the true byrd style which is also evident on tracks like changing heart, full circle yeah anywhere but on this album apart from "space odyssey"

  • @janfreidun You gotta be kidding. Space Odyssey is the LEAST Byrd-sounding number on NBB. It sucks real hard by the way. The only letdown on an otherwise magnificent album

  • @skinnyskaller I totally agree with you all the way. This is one of the albums my best friend and I always played back in '68 when we tripped out. Space Odyssey is my least favorite song on the album. On the other hand, I don't know what I'd suggest as an alternate final track to such a, as you said, magnificent album. The actual ending of the song is appropriately electric and it fits.

  • Hey, Betsy Wells is a modern-day band that implements this style of folk-rock. They are the only band that I really have found that do so. Refreshing!

  • What a change from Chris Hillman! In 1965 he was just a shy kid with that Brian Jones haircut and in 1967, in less 2 years he looked like this.

  • @stoneeyedkiller Yeah...what about Michael Clarke. He was originally hired because his "Pageboy" hair style made him look like Brian Jones. I read somewhere that Michael was drunk on just about every performance and he looks it here. He was an alcoholic and eventually died from Cirrhosis of the Liver. I love the Byrds though and probably always will. I'm 16 again when I hear them even tho I'm really 61.

  • I think this version of the song is sensational, but the video doesn't do it justice. The lads are miming and do indeed look bored. Never mind, the Notorious Byrd Brothers album is one of their best, and this song fits it perfectly.

  • Dusty's is a beautiful, haunting, evocative version, but like this one as well, it's a "sexier" slightly faster version. I Like the accents and the la-la-la's neither of which are on Dusty's.

  • This version is OK, I suppose. The boys run through it without any real interest or emotion. Can't get excited. Will have forgotten it tomorrow.

  • @Oldtinear This version? It`s their bloody song, they can sing it how it`s meant to sound!

  • Now, now, kay, just because you do not like it, you should not call it 'their bloody song'. I know it is dull, but it is not that bad!

    Carole King wrote this song. Dusty Springfield released it as a single in 1966. The Byrds recorded their cover in 1967.

    Dusty's version is touching, the B's version sends me to sleep.

  • @Oldtinear Fair point! Truth is i like this version, like all versions i`ve heard, (except Bon Jovi) but especially Dustys! Have never managed to track down Carole Kings version though.

  • Chris and Gene look so cute here.

  • I think the audience applauded a little early on that one!!

  • "I'd rather see the world the way it used to be."

    Yes.

  • One of the best albums from the late 1960,s

  • thaz right...faboulous byrd bros. album

  • @iorioriorio

    The Notorious Byrd Brothers. Wonderful album.

  • @scalabration Have it on vinyl. amazing vibes.

  • everybody if anybody has 3 a capela versions of this song (freddie mercury . Byrds , Dusty springfield please let me know)

  • Freddie Mercury's version is much better :)

  • @PfifDeluxe

    Really????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!

  • Yes ;) Just listen it ;)

  • I am a big fan of Freddie's, but I totally disagree. Never mind, we are allowed to.

  • One of the greatest American bands singing one of the most brilliant songs ever written. Thank you Carole King. I think Dusty Springfield does the definitive version though.

  • Want to hear the worst song ever recorded come to my page

  • love this song and this version!  everyone just enjoy!!

  • From their 4th record, very fluid, really a "studio record" well produced.

    "I was not born to follow" far better , magnificient.

    The great Gene Clark was back in that vidéo, not significant on the record.

    The opposite case for Crosby

    Beautiful record that ends the first era of the Byrds.

  • Shame on the great lover of The Byrds that i am.

    That song belongs to their fifth record : "The notorious byrd brothers"

  • Sounds like "Paper-Back Writer" Ha Ha.

  • NBB was a great album - I have it on CD - but in my opinion the producer over-homogonized it, made it too synthetic sounding. It should have had a more raw sound like their earlier stuff.

  • incredibly, no ones mentioning carole king's verszion of this song. oddly, its the fastest and most rockin of all the versions. i mean her first recording of it in 1970, not the 1980. fully brings out the melody. i think dustys is too bland. this is next best tho.

  • @bobbyb826 Love this song,byrds and dusty do it brilliantly but cant find carole kings version anywhere, any suggestions?

  • This was nice to listen to ( but nothing compared to the emotional rendition by Dusty Springfield) they just sat there, playing, no sign of being alive or feeling anything about the story

  • i actually like the byrds' "style" of just standing/sitting there and playing

  • music is not pretending youre "feeling" the song. music is not acting. if the music is good it speaks for itself. you dont act it out like youre on american idol. why should a musician do anything besides just "sit there and play"" as you call it. thats the mtv generation for ya.

  • bobbyb826 The song is a very emotional one. Any decent singer will sing expressively. Just standing there belting our the words is not enough. It's the same as playing a musical intstrument. Any one can play the notes, but without expression, it's flat & uninteresting. The voice is the same.

  • that was my point.. you sing or play expressively, you dont act expressively. and actually this song isnt emotional as much as pensive and thoughtful. its about thinking. "I think im going back...."

  • bobbyb826 Who said anything about 'acting' apart from you? Now, back to what I said before.................do you really mean the Byrds sang expressively? that the pathos came across? that the place this man/woman wanted to be wasn't where he/she was? 'Going back' is impossible. Dreaming about it is o.k. but knowing it can never be, is the sadness. There was none of that in the Byrds 'performance'

  • Wrong. Any front man will tell you it's all about the show, not the music. Mick Jagger. What would the Stones be without him.? ..I'll tell you more clearly, cause I sing, too. When you get "expressive" physically, it helps you get the right expression out musically. More than that, you actually send emotion across to the crowd. And that is why they came. To have a good time. To be affected. Only the musicians want to see the finger-work. And most of them couldn't afford to come.

  • then why do we love records? theres nothing to see on a recording.  and we still feel emotion. music is made to be heard, not seen. you cant see it.

  • You also discount the way a singer can "pull" a band. It's soemthing you don't know know about yet. Perhaps someday you will get to see it.

  • gee, i cant wait. and how the hell would you know what i "dont know about yet, as you say.

  • what would the stones be without him? 2 great guitarists, a great drummer and 2 great songwriters. (once upon a time anyway)

  • Yes, agreed. But playing to an empty house some-where.

  • commit this phrase to memory: LESS IS MORE

  • bobbyb826  WRONG!!!!

  • onsidering the entire song is about daydreaming (of childhood) it makes sense to sing the song dreamily, which the byrds did. and the pathos is something we pull from the song. the narrator doesny know its impossible to go back. he thinks that by thinking like a child he can be one again, rather than an adult and

    all its problems.

  • Bobby We are getting all tangled up here!

    I would dearly love to HEAR the Carole King rendition (and hear what she really meant by 'going back') In the meantime I will stick to my guns and say...............this song demands better that the Byrds version

  • Wow - Gene Clark is back for the video - too bad he wasn't on the great NBB album. I do luv Crosby's stuff though....

  • I love Dusty Springfield, but I'd say this Byrds version is the best.

  • im a byrds fan myself, i love some of their stuff, but i think their cover of goin back is weak compared to dusty or nils

  • wow, gene clark is in it as well. feel sorry for david crosby getting the boot.

  • mil veces cierto la version de freddie es la mejor

  • is that michael clarke on drums? doesn't look like him!

  • Yes it is, he left not longer after.

  • yes, I believe so. The picture is from what, 1965 or so so it's hard to stand up to today's standards of pictures and such

  • ELTON JOHN when asked what song he wants played at his funeral, he named this song, GOING BACK, the Dusty Springfield version ....

  • wow, didn't know that

  • Gene's return was short lived sadly - his subsequent solo career evidences what the later Byrds missed! Crosby's sacking was allegedly the reason behind the group's joke cover of using a horse in the fourth window on the "Notorious" LP cover with the other 3 group members.

  • It's great to see Gene here! Even though the return was brief, it was for the better I feel. His solo work is just some of the best music I've ever known. It's funny how how soon Gene is gone Gram Parsons shows up--another legend whos byrds and post-byrds work is I cherish more than anything.

    Crosby actually was the reason Gene first ended up playing tambourine and not guitar. Difficult man to work with, on many accounts.

  • Alright! I bought Notorious when I was in high school 22 years ago at Tower Records for 3.99, was a favorite from first listen; only figured out the line "watch my sailboat glide" last month, when I thought to check what the lyrics were...

  • McGuinn looks like John Lennon in the period of Sergent Pepper's...

  • you're so right :)

  • Version FREDDIE better

  • i think this is beautiful - but i think Dusty Springfields version is the perfect balance of raw sincerity and experience but rough enough to be bittersweet. This song is young and old and is continualy relevant. Catch me if you can, i'm going back....perfect

  • Hm...i believe this was after Gene left, as The Byrds were in the Notorious Bros era!

    So why are they playing with Gene?

    What year is this from?

  • Gene Clark briefly rejoined the byrds in late 1967, as a replacement for David Crosby, whom was ffired by the other band members.

    Clark left after only 3 weeks (alcohol addiction and fear of flying being the main reasons why).

  • very nice song !

  • Smothers Bros. Comedy Hour was "must see" TV in my childhood,but must have missed this.Notorious Byrd Brothers is a MUST OWN record;one of those rare cohesive introspective statements.

  • wow, thanks for posting!

  • Someone below mentioned the old myth about the Byrds not playing on the first 2 albums...they were pure Byrds...apart from the A and B of the first single and the occaisonal bit of keyboard from producer Terry Melcher

    Jim

  • U can see that Michael Clarke is pissed off, i dont blaim him though because the rest of the band hated him.

    I suppose that was y he left.

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  • Gene Clark had everything really, did he not?

    As well as being a musical genius, and obviously having the sensitivity and depth that goes with that, as well as being extremely good looking...

    He also managed to epitomise 'A man apart'.

  • Gene was the man! After leaving the Byrds he headed north to beautiful Mendocino CA to get back to the land. Not bad for a kid from Bonner Springs Kansas. We miss him.