‘Change Is Now' is a tribute to The Byrd's entire catalog from 1964 to 1973. Christian Parker & Gary Jacob produced this fifteen-song deep-dive collection. "We wanted to pick songs off the beaten path that never had the exposure they deserved, Parker said" The first volume 'Sweethearts' A Tribute to the Byrds 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo" was released in the summer of 2023. Original session player Earl Poole Ball & Christian Parker produced the 1968 classic, and original pedal steel guitar player JayDee Maness contributed. 'Change Is Now' has the rigging of a Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar and a B-bender telecaster, with many Gene Clark original compositions. Earl Poole Ball played on three songs, one of which he performed while on the road with Johnny Cash for 20 years!

While the all-killer no-filler single-disc The Byrds' Greatest Hits remains the best distillation of their classic songs, The Essential Byrds is a smartly assembled double dose, including all 14 of the 1965-1967 tracks on Greatest Hits, but expanding its reach into their entire Columbia output, going as far as the early '70s. Inevitably, that means that disc two – which goes, roughly, from mid-1967 to 1971 – isn't as good as the first half, and that the last four tracks in particular are by far the least impressive, tagged on mostly so that the release spans the Byrds' entire Columbia catalog. That's a small reservation considering that the two-fer adds many first-rate songs not on Greatest Hits, from non-hit singles like "Lady Friend" and "Goin' Back" to standout album cuts like "Renaissance Fair," "Natural Harmony," "Jesus Is Just Alright," and "Chestnut Mare." There are no surprises here; even the songs that eluded inclusion on albums for many years, like the early B-side "She Don't Care About Time" and "Lady Friend," have been commonly available in the CD era. And it's true that this misses some other fine album tracks that could have stood with pride alongside those selected, like "I Knew I'd Want You," "John Riley," and "Dolphin's Smile." Within the confines of the two-CD format, though, it's a very well-chosen career overview.

Time Life Music’s Singers & Songwriters: Troubadours offers up 34 rock, folk, and pop cuts from the '60s and '70s. The two-disc set, which is part of Time Life’s Singers & Songwriters series, hits mostly high notes, covering everything from soft rock (Dan Fogelberg's “Longer”) to hippie folk (Scott McKenzie's “San Francisco [Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair]”) to classic rock radio staples (Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way").

A mix of fourteen rare acoustic and electric tracks from the late country-rock pioneer, and member of legendary bands The Byrds and Kentucky Colonels. The set includes tracks recorded both at the beginning and at the peak of his career, showcasing his critically acclaimed flat-picking guitar style. Features guest players such as Eric Weissberg, the Byrds' Roger McGuinn, Gene Parsons, and Skip Battin, the Flying Burrito Brothers' Byron Berline, and a rare rehearsal performance with the Everly Brothers with Gram Parsons on rhythm guitar.

'Sweethearts' is a tribute to the 1968's classic 'Sweetheart of The Rodeo' album. Christian Parker & Earl Poole Ball, one of the original sessions, co-produced and contributed piano to this modern interpretation. Jaydee Maness, one of the original pedal steel players making a special appearance, joined the sessions. In 1968 the album managed to disappoint and, in many cases, alienate almost everyone who heard it. It would be much later before it was recognized as the iconic piece of work that it is. 'Sweetheart of The Rodeo' is widely regarded as the album defining country rock, but the rock part is almost silent. The whole thing is almost out and out of the country, with huge dollops of pedal steel, banjo, fiddle, and almost everything other kinds of instrument you would expect to hear in the mainstream twangy country that existed at that time."

Forrest Gump (1994) is one of the most successful films ever made, winning Tom Hanks his second successive Best Actor Oscar (he won the previous year for Philadelphia) as well as claiming the Best Picture Oscar and many other awards and nominations, including several for music. A unique fable of American life from the 1950s to the 80s, the film blends comedy, drama, war, romance and groundbreaking special effects into a social and political portrait of the passing years, all seen through the eyes of the intellectually challenged but immensely likeable Forrest Gump. The soundtrack is a double album featuring 31 classic pop tunes plus a suite from Alan Silvestri's rich orchestral music, represented more completely on the companion score album.

Mr. Tambourine Man is the greatest hits album by the American rock band The Byrds, originally released as The Byrds' Greatest Hits. It is the first greatest hits album by the Byrds and was released in August 1967 on Columbia Records. It is the top-selling album in the Byrds' catalogue and reached number 6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, but failed to chart in the UK. The album provides a summary of the Byrds' history during Gene Clark and David Crosby's tenure with the band and also functions as a survey of the group's hit singles from 1965 to 1967, a period when the band had its greatest amount of success on the singles chart.

Before turning rock ‘n’ roll on its ear in the spring of ‘65, the Byrds spent countless hours creating and refining their unique sound at LA’s World Pacific Studios. Hear history literally in the making as McGuinn, Crosby, Clark, Hillman and Clarke record newborn, spine-tingling versions of classics-to-be like “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “You Won’t Have To Cry,” “I Knew I'd Want You” and “Here Without You” as well as lost gems such as “The Reason Why,” “Tomorrow Is A Long Ways Away” and “You Showed Me” (later a smash for the Turtles). This is the most comprehensive collection of the Byrds' pre-Columbia recordings ever assembled. The 2-CD (and double High-Definition Vinyl gatefold LP set) Preflyte Sessions set is filled with 40 World Pacific Studio recordings circa 1964 and '65; tracks include all cuts found on the original Together-label Preflyte album, plus unissued and alternate versions from both the acoustic and electric Byrds' sessions, early David Crosby demo recordings, and the rare pre-Byrds Jet Set recording of "The Only Girl I Adore."

These 12 songs were recorded by Twin Engine in 1971 with the intention of getting an album together for release on United Artists, but they weren't issued until more than 30 years later. The music has very much of a 1970 aura, mightily influenced at different points by the Let It Be-era Beatles (particularly in the guitar sound of "Give My Love a Chance," "The Time Is Now," and "Mistress of the Morning"), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (a riff in "The Time Is Now" seems airlifted directly from Neil Young's "Cowgirl in the Sand"), American Beauty-era Grateful Dead, and the country-rock being laid down by the Flying Burrito Brothers/Byrds axis in Southern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. (That last influence may not have been entirely due to chance, as Byrds and/or Burritos members Chris Hillman, Clarence White, and Sneaky Pete Kleinow are all referred to in the packaging as having played on the sessions, though it's not specified who played on what track). It's very accomplished, and Twin Engine's duo harmonies are quite cheerful and invigorating.

If Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde found Roger McGuinn having to re-create the Byrds after massive personnel turnovers (and not having an easy time of it), Ballad of Easy Rider was the album where the new lineup really hit its stride. Gracefully moving back and forth between serene folk-rock (the title cut, still one of McGuinn's most beautiful melodies), sure-footed rock & roll ("Jesus Is Just All Right"), heartfelt country-rock ("Oil In My Lamp" and "Tulsa County"), and even a dash of R&B (the unexpectedly funky "Fido," which even features a percussion solo), Ballad of Easy Rider sounds confident and committed where Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde often seemed tentative…

The Byrds' second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, was only a disappointment in comparison with Mr. Tambourine Man. They couldn't maintain such a level of consistent magnificence, and the follow-up was not quite as powerful or impressive. It was still quite good, however, particularly the ringing number one title cut, a classic on par with the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single. Elsewhere, they concentrated more on original material, Gene Clark in particular offering some strong compositions with "Set You Free This Time," "The World Turns All Around Her," and "If You're Gone." A couple more Bob Dylan covers were included, as well, and "Satisfied Mind" was their first foray into country-rock, a direction they would explore in much greater depth throughout the rest of the '60s.

One of the greatest debuts in the history of rock, Mr. Tambourine Man was nothing less than a significant step in the evolution of rock & roll itself, demonstrating that intelligent lyrical content could be wedded to compelling electric guitar riffs and a solid backbeat. It was also the album that was most responsible for establishing folk-rock as a popular phenomenon, its most alluring traits being Roger McGuinn's immediately distinctive 12-string Rickenbacker jangle and the band's beautiful harmonies. The material was uniformly strong, whether they were interpreting Bob Dylan (on the title cut and three other songs, including the hit single "All I Really Want to Do"), Pete Seeger ("The Bells of Rhymney"), or Jackie DeShannon ("Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe")…