June 25, 2007

"Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)"

Original Byrds line-up in 1965 - Chris Hillman, David Crosby, Michael Clarke, Roger McGuinn, and Gene Clark

From Wikipedia entry:

"Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)," often abbreviated to "Turn! Turn! Turn!," is a song written by Pete Seeger, wherein Seeger set text from the Bible to music, specifically, a reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes, 3:1–8. Although he wrote it in the 1950s, Seeger waited until 1962 to record it, releasing the song on his The Bitter and The Sweet album on Columbia Records. A famous version is the chart-topping single by The Byrds, released in October of 1965, and one of the defining records of the entire decade.

This was the second #1 hit for The Byrds (after "Mr. Tambourine Man"). Here they are on "Toast of the Town" (Ed Sullivan's show) on December 12, 1965 (a Sunday). And a broadcast quality stereo footage version of that same performance is available at YouTube. McGuinn really looked like a byrd bird!


In 1990, about a year before being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Chris Hillman, David Crosby, and Roger McGuinn reunited for a Roy Orbison tribute concert. They did "Mr. Tambourine Man," with Dylan, and a great version of "Turn! Turn! Turn!":

2 comments:

Chasrich said...

Never really could get in to "Turn, Turn, Turn." Did like their "Eight Miles High," though.

Chris said...

"Eight Miles High" is a great song, and it's one they actually wrote. It's about a visit to London (maybe their first one), the "rain gray town, known for its sound." But you've gotta love "Turn! Turn! Turn!" The guitar lick on that is classic.