Here Without You (The Byrds song)

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"Here Without You"
Song by the Byrds
from the album Mr. Tambourine Man
ReleasedJune 21, 1965 (1965-06-21)
RecordedApril 22, 1965
Studio Columbia, Hollywood, California
Genre Folk rock
Length2:38
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) Gene Clark
Producer(s) Terry Melcher

"Here Without You" is a song written by Gene Clark that was first performed on the Byrds' 1965 debut album Mr. Tambourine Man . It was later covered by other artists, including Reigning Sound and Richard Thompson.

Contents

Lyrics and music

"Here Without You" is one of the earliest original songs written by one of the Byrds, dating back to 1964 when the band was known as the Jet Set. [1] [2] It was recorded at Columbia Studios in Hollywood, CA on April 22, 1965, in the last recording session for the Mr. Tambourine Man album. [2] It is a mid-tempo ballad which uses minor key harmonies to create a melancholy mood. [3] [4] [2] AllMusic critic Matthew Greenwald suggests that the melody was inspired by The Beatles. [3] Author James Perone notes resemblances between the vocal harmonies of "Here Without You" and those of some songs of Chad and Jeremy and the Searchers. [4] The lyrics express the singer's loneliness. [1] Music critic Johnny Rogan sees a resemblance between the theme of "Here Without You" and that of Hal David's "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me", in that both songs describe the singer going through a city in which everything reminds him of a relationship that has ended. [1] In lines such as "Streets that I walk on depress me / Ones that were happy when I was with you", Clark uses imagery to express his experiences of Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. [3] The song provides a little bit of hope for the singer in the lines "I know it won't last / I'll see you someday." [1] Will Levith of Ultimate Classic Rock notes that the melody combines major and minor keys and that the lyrics are both "dark and complex." [5]

Critical reception

Greenwald calls "Here Without You" a "highlight" of Mr. Tambourine Man and an example of Gene Clark's "incredible songwriting abilities." [3] Rogan considers the song to be impressive enough "to stand along some of the best Lennon/McCartney material of the period. [1] According to Rogan, it is "regarded among the highlights of the group's early work" and as "a crucial part of the group's history and development." [1] In the 4th edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide , Rob Sheffield calls it one of "the most vital songs" on Mr. Tambourine Man. [6] AllMusic critic Richie Unterberger considers it to be "lyrically less challenging, but equally powerful musically" compared to the Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and Jackie DeShannon-penned songs on Mr. Tambourine Man. [7] Levith rates it as Clark's #9 greatest composition, also praising the "baroque" 12-string guitar riff from Roger McGuinn. [5] Despite acknowledging its beauty, Perone claims that the song "does not stand up on its own as well as Clark's best work," attributing that to the reuse of the opening melody in the more famous, later song "Eight Miles High". [4]

Other appearances

"Here Without You" was included on several Byrds' compilation albums. It was included in the 2006 box set There Is a Season . [8] An early, alternate version was included on the 1969 album Preflyte and the 1988 album In the Beginning . [3] It was also included on the Byrds' tribute album to Gene Clark, Set You Free: Gene Clark in the Byrds 1964–1973 . [9]

Richard Thompson, Clive Gregson, and Christine Collister covered "Here Without You" on the 1989 Byrds' tribute album Time Between – A Tribute to The Byrds . [10] Thompson also included the song on his 2003 album More Guitar . [11] Reigning Sound released a version of the song on a 2001 single.

The song is covered on the 1991 release Mavericks , a project by The dB's principals Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey.

The song is covered on the 2000 release by Sui Generis, for the reunion album Sinfonías para Adolescentes appearing as "Aqui sin tu amor". The lyrics were translated by Charly Garcia keeping the meaning of the song but changing the real translation.

Related Research Articles

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Mr. Tambourine Man is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released on June 21, 1965, by Columbia Records. The album is characterized by the Byrds' signature sound of Jim McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and the band's complex harmony singing. The material on the album mostly consists of cover versions of folk songs, primarily composed by Bob Dylan, and originals written or co-written by singer Gene Clark. Along with the Dylan-penned single of the same name, Mr. Tambourine Man established the band as an internationally successful act and is widely regarded by critics as representing the first effective American challenge to the chart dominance of the Beatles and other British Invasion bands during the mid-1960s.

<i>Turn! Turn! Turn!</i> (album) 1965 studio album by the Byrds

Turn! Turn! Turn! is the second studio album by American rock band the Byrds, released on December 6, 1965, by Columbia Records. Like its predecessor, Mr. Tambourine Man, the album epitomized the folk rock genre and continued the band's successful mix of vocal harmony and jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar. The album's lead single and title track, "Turn! Turn! Turn!", which was adapted by Pete Seeger from text in the Book of Ecclesiastes, had previously been arranged in a chamber-folk style by the Byrd's lead guitarist Jim McGuinn for folk singer Judy Collins' third album, but the arrangement he used for the Byrds' recording of the song utilizes the same folk-rock style as the band's previous hit singles.

<i>Fifth Dimension</i> (album) 1966 studio album by the Byrds

Fifth Dimension is the third album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in July 1966 on Columbia Records. Most of the album was recorded following the February 1966 departure of the band's principal songwriter Gene Clark. In an attempt to compensate for Clark's absence, guitarists Jim McGuinn and David Crosby increased their songwriting output. In spite of this, the loss of Clark resulted in an album with four cover versions and an instrumental, which critics have described as "wildly uneven" and "awkward and scattered". However, it was the first Byrds album not to include any songs written by Bob Dylan, whose material had previously been a mainstay of the band's repertoire.

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<i>Preflyte</i> 1969 compilation album by the Byrds

Preflyte is a compilation album by the American folk rock band the Byrds and was released in July 1969 on Together Records. The album is a collection of demos recorded by the Byrds at World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles during late 1964, before the band had signed to Columbia Records and become famous. It includes early demo versions of the songs "Here Without You", "You Won't Have to Cry", "I Knew I'd Want You", and "Mr. Tambourine Man", all of which appeared in re-recorded form on the band's 1965 debut album.

"Full Circle Song" is a country rock-style song written by Gene Clark. For the lyrics, he used an allegorical wheel of fortune motif to comment on the unpredictable nature of fame and fortune. Recorded in Los Angeles in 1972, the song was originally released on Clark's Roadmaster, which was only issued in the Netherlands in January 1973.

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<i>In the Beginning</i> (The Byrds album) 1988 compilation album by the Byrds

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"She Don't Care About Time" is a song by American folk rock band the Byrds. It was released on a non-album single in October 1965, as the B-side to "Turn! Turn! Turn!". The song was written by Gene Clark, the Byrds' main songwriter between 1964 and early 1966. "She Don't Care About Time" was recorded during sessions for the group's second album Turn! Turn! Turn!. The song is on most of the band's hits compilations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Knew I'd Want You</span> 1965 single by the Byrds

"I Knew I'd Want You" is a song by the folk rock band the Byrds, written by band member Gene Clark, and first released as the B-side to their 1965 debut single, "Mr. Tambourine Man". It was also later included on their debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man.

"If You're Gone" is a song written by Gene Clark that was first released on the Byrds' 1965 album Turn! Turn! Turn!.

"The World Turns All Around Her" is a song written by Gene Clark that was first recorded by the Byrds for their second album Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rogan, J. (1997). The Byrds: Timeless Flight revisited. Rogan House. pp. 51, 84–85, 440–441, 481. ISBN   9780952954019.
  2. 1 2 3 Hjort, C. (2008). So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-by-Day 1965-1973. Jawbone. p. 31. ISBN   9781906002152.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Greenwald, M. "Here Without You". AllMusic . Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  4. 1 2 3 Perone, J.E. (2012). The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential and Important Creations. ABC-CLIO. p. 61. ISBN   9780313379079.
  5. 1 2 Levith, Will (18 August 2013). "Top 10 Gene Clark Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  6. ↑ Sheffield, R. (2004). Brackett, N.; Hoard, H. (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Fireside. p.  126. ISBN   0743201698.
  7. ↑ Unterberger, R. "Mr. Tambourine Man". AllMusic . Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  8. ↑ Unterberger, R. "There Is a Season". AllMusic . Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  9. ↑ Deming, M. "Set You Free: Gene Clark in the Byrds 1964-1973". AllMusic . Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  10. ↑ Ankeny, J. "Time Between – A Tribute to The Byrds". AllMusic . Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  11. ↑ Deming, M. "More Guitar". AllMusic . Retrieved 2014-02-24.
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