bydsongs, v

The Bells of Rhymney is the prettiest song you’ll ever hear about a mining disaster, and it’s also one of my favorite byrdsongs.  The original Pete Seeger version is a typical folky protest dirge, but in Jim McGuinn’s hands it becomes a transcendent piece of folk pop art.  The main guitar riff underlying the song is so simple, so perfect.  If you hear it and think to yourself that it sounds like a Beatles song, you might be surprised to learn that you have your causal arrow moving in the wrong direction.  The story goes that George Harrison heard the Bells of Rhymney and then proceeded to use it in the Rubber Soul period for If I Needed Someone.  The give and take between the Beatles and Byrds between ’65 and ‘67 is endlessly fascinating to me. I like thinking about the Beatles and the Byrds and maybe Derek Taylor hanging out in the Hollywood Hills at Peter Fonda’s house… LSD… She said I know what it’s like to be dead…Along with the loveliness of McGuinn’s guitar in the Bells of Rhmney, the stunning harmonies, and particularly David Crosby’s singing on the high end, are what make the song so special (his rhythm guitar playing is pretty great, too). The last harmonized high note in the outro is, without exaggeration, one of the most jaw droppingly gorgeous moments in the history of pop music…