Live At The Boarding House

This CD is a 2014 release of a 1978 live, mostly acoustic, date at San Francisco’s legendary Boarding House (1971-1980). The music originates from a radio broadcast and was never intended as a commercial release. No new musical ground is broken during the 67 minute concert. The set list comprises seventeen well honed numbers identified with each artist’s solo career and their collective work with the Byrds. The audio with few exceptions ranges from satisfactory to good.By 1978, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman and David Crosby were a decade plus into their post Byrds career. Even Roger McGuinn is about five years into his solo career having placed the Byrds (as a regular recording/touring group) on the shelf following the untimely death of Clarence White.Hillman, Clark and McGuinn were wood shedding in small venues, polishing their chops in anticipation of recording and releasing their first album for Capitol Records.The” special guest”, David Crosby was experiencing an extended hiatus from the temporarily inactive CS&N. Crosby, the consummate performer, was always eager to get on stage and play. The set starts with two numbers associated with Gene Clark, “Silver Raven” and “Release Me Girl”. The artist is in fine voice, unfortunately, the sound is flawed. Gene’s voice is in the back of the mix while his guitar is over balanced. It’s a fair bet, if this was a commercial release, these two tracks would have been omitted.Chris Hillman is featured in the next two selections,” Bound To Fall’ and “It Doesn’t Matter”. The prior audio challenges resolved, Chris and the band deliver a stellar performance.Next, Mr. McGuinn delivers strong renditions of “Ballad of Easy Rider” and ‘Jolly Roger”. The band, properly warmed up, tackles” Chestnut Mare” ,”Crazy Ladies” and ”Train Leaves Here This Morning”. It’s at this point the listener experiences the full synergy of the band. The harmonies are tight and the playing is relaxed and flowing.David Crosby is then introduced and the four musicians proceed to play six classic Byrd’s hits. They also perform energetic versions of Dylan’s classic,”Knocking on Heavens Door “and Roger McGiunn’s composition” Bye Bye Baby”.Overall, the primary value of this recording is twofold. It allows the listener to hear original Byrd band members (sans Michael Clarke) performing an acoustic set with Roger predictably playing his Rick 12. The set is relaxed, with the band in fine form and the audience responding in a very enthusiastic manner.Secondly, the three numbers , starting with” Chestnut Mare”, performed by McGuinn, Clark and Hillman( MC&H), offer a glimpse into what could have been a lasting musical legacy.If properly produced, with an emphasis on the folk/rock/country genre, this musical entity(MC&H) could have conceivably placed somewhere between CS&N and The Eagles circa 1978.Unfortunately, Capitol records A&R management choose a glossy pop/rock direction. the end result were two modestly successful albums all but forgotten by all but the most dedicated fans.So it goes.

This is surely an essential record to have for BYRD maniacs. Four of the five original Byrds reunite for one last time. I believe they did reunite when they were inducted in the R & R hall of Fame, but this is the last time they played both solo and Byrd music. Essentially, this might have been the formation of McGuinn, Clark, and Hillman. It comes via a radio broadcast from 1979. M,C, &H released their first Capital record in 1980, so this may have been a prelude.Clark,Hillman and McGuinn each perform solo pieces then start doing Byrds tunes. A lot of the Byrd tunes like Chestnut Mare did not have any original Byrds but McGuinn on them. But the X Byrds rise to the occasion and help Roger through these songs.David Crosby joins them on most of the songs they sing together, but does not sing any lead vocals. Missing is Drummer Michael Clarke. Still four out of five ain't bad. Another oddity is that McGuinn,Clark, and Hillman rotate on lead vocal for the full Dylan version of Mr. Tambourine man. This is odd in that only McGuinn and Crosby sang on the original recording. So this the only way you will hear all the Byrd vocalists do Mr, Tambourine Man.With the two Clarks gone, you realize, this music will never get this treatment again. So go for it. Gene Clark's two solo songs suffer from a quiet vocal over his guitar. Otherwise, quality is good in the recording.

This is a historic recording of a reunion of all four of the original singer-songwriters of the Byrds. Once they really get going, they are very, very good. The vocal harmonies are great, especially Clark's backing vocal on "Chestnut Mare". Gene Clark's acoustic rhythm playing is highly personable, Chris Hillman is a virtuoso mandolin player, and Roger McGuinn's 12-string electric playing is unmistakable. Clark's beautiful "Crazy Ladies" was previously unavailable, and this group's version of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a rarity. The bad news is that the cameo by David Crosby adds more confusion than value, the three solo sets are slightly underwhelming, most of the songs aren't well suited for mandolin, and the recording gets off to a bad start due to very bad sound quality. Musically, McGuinn & Clark were better as a duo, while MCH sounded much better as a full five piece rock band. Still, the sound problem is fixed midway through the first song and the recording is a very enjoyable listen, which shows the original Byrds as very good live performers.

What a GREAT CD! Oh my God! This blows the Byrds reunion LP pn the Asylum label right out out of the water. Everybody is right on the mark; everybody gives it their all. Also of interest, there is no drummer, yet you don't miss the drumming. Despite the tiny type on the cover, David Crosby appears on quite a few of the cuts.If you are a Byrds fan, you truly need this CD. McGuinn, Hillmann, Crosby and especially Gene Clark get their moments in the limelight. I cannot recommend this CD enough. An excellent release. The only drawback is that Gene Clark's vocals are mixed way down on the first few cuts, almost as if his microphone was off and his vocals were being picked up by the other mics.Outside of that, I repeat, this a great CD. If you have the black box collection of The Byrds from around 1990, you are familiar with the three new cuts by McGuinn, Crosby and Hillmann. This CD is similar in feel, but has the blessed addition of Gene Clark.

I've not read any of the other reviews of this, so I don't know what they say. I think when I ordered this that I was expecting a wonderful Byrds reunion, and it is, almost. But it is split into segments - a Gene Clark segment, a Chris Hillman one, and a Roger McGuinn one. It is only when David Crosby joins them, that they start to sound like The Byrds, and those lovely harmonies come into play. On Mr Tambourine Man they are flying with McGuinn, Hillman and Clark each taking a verse on the full version of the song driven my McGuinn's Rickenbacker. But this is followed by a slow, lame version of 'You Ain't Going Nowhere,' and all the momentum is lost. They do rally with 'Rock 'n' Roll Star, and 'Eight Miles High,' but there is some substandard material in between. I'm sure if you were there it must have been a night to remember, but the recording quality is not great, and, as I say, it's a bit of a curate's egg, just scraping four stars.

Live performance shows this talented Groups ability to impress as a complete unit or individually. A must for Byrds Fans.

As a long time fan of the Byrds the chance the buy this live recording of McGuinn, Clark, Crosby and Hillman from 1978 was too good to miss. I've not been disappointed. If you already have and enjoy a number of Byrds CDs then I can whole heartedly recommend you buy it. Great atmosphere, great performances and great songs.

Typical McGuinn, Superb.

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