For bluegrass fans, guitarist Clarence White needs no introduction. And as a member of The Byrds, White’s impact on rock music in its maturation phase was substantial. These dual achievements were often in dialogue with each other, and on Melodies from a Byrd in Flyte: 1963–1973, White’s groundbreaking acoustic bluegrass flatpicking is sequenced on side one and his equally innovative electric playing takes up side two. Released by Liberation Hall for Record Store Day, copies are available now.
Listeners with a deep appreciation for Clarence White are possibly familiar with this set as The Lost Masters: 1963-1973, which Liberation Hall released on CD in September of 2023. With a debut on vinyl comes a change in title and improved cover art, but nothing else has changed right down to the sequence of the tunes and the liner notes by producer John Delgatto.
White is a fascinating figure, a player so exceptional that he was able to essentially escape criticism and condemnation from the notoriously conservative segment of the bluegrass community for turning his attention to the rock scene, switching to electric guitar, and making a sizable splash as a member of The Byrds. He joined that band in earnest in 1968, having played on Sweetheart of the Rodeo the year before.
The transition to electric occurred prior to playing on Sweetheart, as White was a member of two noted country bands on the California scene, Nashville West and The Roustabouts. Featuring Gib Guibeau on rhythm guitar, Wayne Moore on bass, and Gene Parsons on drums alongside White and his distinctive tone, Nashville West are represented on Melodies from a Byrd in Flyte with two tracks, an excellent non-vocal run-through of “Ode to Billie Joe” that opens side two, and the gorgeous band original “Nashville West.”
Consisting of White, rhythm guitarist Richard Arlen, pedal steel player Dennis Mathes, bassist Jim Alley, and drummer Bo Wagner, The Roustabouts are heard here on a single track, “Buckaroo,” sandwiched between the two cuts by Nashville West. It’s a good fit, as all three cuts are informed by White’s inspiration on the electric guitar, session great James Burton.
The 1967–’68 timeframe of Nashville West and The Roustabouts is followed by a jump cut to 1970 and “Byrd Jam (a/k/a White’s Lightning),” a short studio groove capturing White’s full membership in the Byrds, with Roger McGuinn on rhythm guitar, Skip Battin on bass, and Parsons on drums. This cut is followed by the full-on studio tomfoolery of “Around the Barn” form White and Parsons, and then the side ends with one of the gems of the record, “I’m on My Way Home Again,” with White backing the Everly Brothers (with Gram Parsons on rhythm guitar) in a studio outtake from 1969.
The acoustic side one is very much a bluegrass excursion, opening with “No Title Yet Blues” featuring rhythm guitarist Marshall Brickman, fiddler Gordon Terry, and banjo picker Eric Weissberg. It derives from the Weissberg album New Dimensions in Banjo and Bluegrass, which served as flatpicking guitarist White’s big splash onto the scene.
After the short guitar duo flurry of “Fire on the Mountain” there’s a deep dive into full band bluegrass with “(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such As I” (from a 1963 Tut Taylor album) and then a jump cut to 1967 with “New Soldier’s Joy” serving as a bridge into “Yesterday’s Train,” a Byrds outtake on acoustic that brings the time frame into the 1970s. The side culminates with “Alabama Jubilee,” a considerably New Grassy post-Byrds track dating from 1973.
Make no mistake; Melodies from a Byrd in Flyte: 1963-1973 connects as a record of outtakes, but White’s playing is such a marvel to hear that it all adds up to a considerable sum. It should please anyone who enjoys the sound of acoustic and electric guitars.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
