In 1989 a Byrds tribute album called Time Between was released. There were a flurry of these tribute albums, indie and leftfield rock 'n' roll bands recording covers of Neil Young, The Byrds, the Velvet Underground and Jimi Hendrix songs, with mixed results. The Neil Young tribute album, The Bridge, is uniformly superb- the others less so, but still, each one has its moments. On Time Between Dinosaur Jr stepped up and covered The Byrds I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better.
J Mascis' drawl and guitar playing were tailor made for some Byrds action, taking the song at double speed and the backing vox/ lead vox interplay sounds wonderfully half arsed, like the trio just stumbled out of bed, switched on their amps and played.
The 1965 original, a Gene Clark song, is out of this world, the Rickenbacker jangle, harmonies and element of doubt in the chorus line, 'probably', putting it right near the pinnacle of Byrds songs and any songs from 1965. Incredibly, I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better was a B-side (to All I Really Want To Do). And equally incredibly, it is sixty years old next June.
That was a B-side? Astounding. Maybe the thought at the time (of managers and producers, at least) was to keep knocking out other writer's songs (the Dylan seam was mined very profitably for them!) on the A-side and let the band have their fun on the B-side. Also, yes, "probably" is genius.
ReplyDeleteAmazing isn't it, a song this good on the B-side. As you say, they had some success with Dylan covers and 60s record labels were well known for following the market.
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