FEATURE SONG: I KNEW I’D WANT YOU by THE BYRDS

If you had a 45 of “Mr. Tambourine Man” back in the day, then you probably flipped it over and heard our feature song. Or maybe like me you had the LP. Either way, this has got to be one of the sweetest, not to mention most under-appreciated, love songs of the era, written by Byrds member, Gene Clark. I decided that a song as affectionate as this just had to have been inspired by a real person, and I was going to try and find out who she was. I was sure that there would be scads for info and/or gossip and/or speculation out there on the W³. Imagine my surprise when I didn’t find any! At least not readily. So I decided to ramp it up and take my research to The Next Level (which consisted of making more coffee, relaxing, and then emailing an old friend in Toronto who is my go-to person about The Byrds). Here’s what I learned from his reply.

This song, like so many of the good vintage ones, is backed by the famous session musicians known as “Wrecking Crew, ” in this case Leon Russell on keyboards (see my June 28/08 post) and Hal Blaine on drums (who is also responsible for the percussion on the Beach Boys hit, “Don’t Worry Baby” and is therefore a total Drum God as far as I’m concerned). Well, okay, I’m glad to know that bit of info, but what about the girl? I read on. It turns out that back in the 60s, Gene Clark was a regular songwriting machine. He could turn out a couple dozen songs a week when he was on a roll. Of course, they weren’t all as good as this one or “8 Miles High.” The word among those in the know is that he would write about one good one per girlfriend. That could still be a lot of good ones, given the attraction young ladies have to musicians. Anyway, just as I felt we were getting somewhere, the trail went stone cold. Sorry I wasn’t able to come up with any names for you. Maybe we’ll hear from somebody out there in the Blogiverse who has the answer. Or a good guess. Or a wild guess. I’m up for anything.

Meanwhile, in looking for a YouTube vid for this song, I made the happy discovery of what has to be the YT resident expert on Byrds footage. Be sure to check out the rest of his channel. And now, without further ado, here’s our feature song:

“I Knew I’d Want You” – video, and lyrics




Byrds box set cover from Wikipedia
And special thanks to Doug in Toronto for the info.

FEATURE ARTIST: LEON RUSSELL, with a sidebar on Willie Nelson, and Life

I was talking recently with a long-time friend (the one I call my sister from another mother and father) about what we’d both been listening to lately. We’re both really into music, but our tastes are somewhat different – while she’s at the mall watching Tristan and Isolde broadcast live from the Met in HD, I’m hunched over my computer searching for rare and obscure doo-wop. She likes Dave Brubeck, and I like Dave Crosby. But we overlap on a few things, like Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson. And, I just found out, we both like Leon Russell. How could you know someone for decades and not know they like Leon Russell; that’s so basic! We were both surprised. Well, anyway, after that, I grabbed a Leon Russell CD as I was heading out the door, and drove off down the road to the familiar strains of “Roll Away the Stone,” smiling.

Leon Russell (b. 1941) is having a long and illustrious career, starting with his early days in L.A. as an arranger, producer, and a highly respected session musician for Phil Spector. He’s contributed to and worked with the widest spectrum of talent you can imagine; everybody from Gary Lewis and the Playboys to the Byrds to Herb Alpert. My introduction to Leon came through the rock and soul extravaganza, Mad Dogs and Englishmen. From there it was just a hop skip and a jump to Derek and the Dominos, Delaney and Bonnie, Rita Coolidge etc. I really could have a Leon Russell wing in my CD collection. In January of this year, Leon released In Your Dreams, his…wait, let me go to Wikipedia and count…I make it his 39^th album! And he’s still looking as fierce and Rasputin-y as ever.

Well, almost “as ever.” Leon didn’t always have his signature long hair and beard. Oh no. Like his friend and fellow artist, Willie Nelson (their duet of Heartbreak Hotel went to #1 on the Billboard Country chart in 1979), Leon is one of those guys whose looks, as well as talent, span several critical decades. Let me put it this way – if you see an early picture of David Crosby – or Dave Brubeck for that matter – they pretty much look the same over time. Don’t panic, what I simply mean is, if you put a photo of Crosby from today beside one of him from the 60s, you wouldn’t have much trouble figuring out they're the same person. But Leon, and Willie…I’m thinkin’ maybe you might have trouble.

Now, I’m not bringing this up to poke fun at anyone; we all have pictures of our younger selves we're glad aren't on our driver license permanently. But it’s a Law of Life – you live long enough, and you’re bound to leave a trail of photographic documentation of your questionable fashion statements behind…(see the 2 photos in the left hand margin of me, your most humble blogger, with 1965 helmet hair, and more recently). Well... enough philosophy already, let's hear some music.

Happily, someone on YouTube has posted a vid of Leon Russell doing “Roll Away the Stone.” It says it’s a 1964 clip, and judging by his getting-longer hair and still-bare chin, it’s “transitional.’

Another great YouTube find! “Roll Over Beethoven” No matter what style, what decade, Leon’s hair is impressive. What a pomp! And what's even more impressive is all that rockin' talent in one so young.