Old John Robertson
| "Old John Robertson" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 1967 Danish picture sleeve. | ||||
| Single by The Byrds | ||||
| from the album The Notorious Byrd Brothers | ||||
| A-side | "Lady Friend" | |||
| Released | July 13, 1967 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | June 21, 1967, Columbia Studios, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 1:49 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn | |||
| Producer(s) | Gary Usher | |||
| The Byrds singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Old John Robertson" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by band members Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn, and included on their 1968 album The Notorious Byrd Brothers.[1] The song was also released as the B-side to the non-album "Lady Friend" single on July 13, 1967 in the United States and Europe, but in the United Kingdom the B-side was switched to "Don't Make Waves", another Hillman and McGuinn penned song.[2][3] The version of "Old John Robertson" featured on the flip-side of "Lady Friend" is a substantially different mix from the version that would later appear on The Notorious Byrd Brothers.[4]
Like a handful of other Byrds' songs from the period, "Old John Robertson" was a country-tinged composition that foresaw the Byrds' later country rock experimentation.[1][5] The song was based on the retired film director John S. Robertson who lived in the small town near San Diego where Hillman grew up. Robertson was an aberrant figure around the rural area, frequently being seen wearing a Stetson hat, and sporting a white handlebar mustache, which gave him the appearance of an American frontiersman out of the Wild West.[6] In "Old John Robertson", Hillman recalls the children of the town and their cruel laughter directed toward Robertson, as well as the combination of shock and awe that he provoked in the townspeople.[6]
Hillman attempted to capture the visual of the eccentric individual by having the band record "Old John Robertson" as a country-western two-step. On the album version of the song, an unnamed session musician underscores the visual representation by playing a fiddle, mixed deep within the track.[2] Writer Ric Menck speculates the fiddle player is Byron Berline who had recently moved to Los Angeles, and mingled with the Byrds crowd and appeared on various country rock albums.[2] During the recording of the song, Hillman switched instruments with David Crosby to play rhythm guitar, instead of his usual bass. In press conferences, Hillman explained he was beginning to improve upon his guitar playing, and since he wrote "Old John Robertson" with the instrument, he wanted to carry it over to the recording, even though Crosby had not played bass since the early days of the group.[2][6] The song also makes broad use, particularly during the song's orchestral middle section and subsequent verse, of the audio effects known as phasing and flanging.[7]
The single version of the song, without the fiddle playing present, was first released on the compilation album The Original Singles: 1967–1969, Volume 2 in 1982.[8] The song was also added as a bonus track to the 1996 Columbia/Legacy reissue of the album Younger Than Yesterday.[9] Additionally, "Old John Robertson" appears on several other Byrds compilations, including History of The Byrds, Nashville West, The Essential Byrds, and There Is a Season.[8]
References
- 1 2 Unterberger, Richie. "The Notorious Byrd Brothers - Review". allmusic.com. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 Menck, Ric (2007). The Notorious Byrd Brothers (33⅓ series). Continuum Books. pp. 113–116. ISBN 0-8264-1717-5.
- ↑ Rogan, Johnny (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd ed.). Rogan House. pp. 541–544. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
- ↑ Rogan, Johnny (1996). Younger Than Yesterday (1996 CD liner notes). Legacy Recordings.
- ↑ Swanson, Dave. "47 Years Ago: The Byrds Transform Again with 'The Notorious Byrd Brothers'". ultimateclassicrock.com. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
- 1 2 3 Rogan, Johnny (1997). The Notorious Byrd Brothers (CD liner notes). Legacy Recording.
- ↑ Hjort, Christopher (2008). So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965–1973). Jawbone Press. pp. 148–153. ISBN 1-906002-15-0.
- 1 2 "Old John Robertson - Appearances". Allmusic.com. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
- ↑ Unterberger, Richie. "Younger Than Yesterday - Review". allmusic.com. Retrieved August 16, 2016.