Turn! Turn! Turn! (album)

In the wake of the international success of their debut album and the hit singles "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "All I Really Want to Do", the Byrds entered Columbia Studios in Hollywood on June 28, 1965, to set about recording their follow-up album. By the latter half of 1965, the folk rock trend the band had been instrumental in originating was gaining momentum, with hit records by the likes of Cher, the Turtles, We Five, and Barry McGuire clearly bearing the hallmarks of the Byrds' influence. Despite being such an influential band, the Byrds had been disappointed with the relative lack of success that their second single, "All I Really Want to Do", had achieved on the American charts and felt they needed a strong third single to maintain their foothold in the marketplace. Initially, the band elected to record a third Bob Dylan cover, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", as their next single, but, despite a couple of attempts to record the song in June and August 1965, it was ultimately rejected. The song finally selected by the band for their third single was Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!", a musical adaptation of words taken from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes, which would return the group to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. This resulted in Clark becoming increasingly isolated within the band and some of his best songs being relegated to appearances on B-sides or left unreleased altogether. Ultimately, this resentment would be a contributing factor in Clark's departure from the band in early 1966. Yet another source of conflict was the power struggle that was developing between Melcher and Dickson. The album's front cover photograph was taken by Guy Webster at his studio in Beverly Hills, California, and was later nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Album Cover. The LP's back cover liner notes were written by the Byrds' publicist, Derek Taylor, ==Music==

Turn! Turn! Turn! opens with the Pete Seeger–penned title track, which was issued as a single two months ahead of the release of the album. Rolling Stone editor David Fricke has commented that the song's plea for peace and tolerance was custom-made for the 1960s, a decade colored by assassinations, urban rioting, and the horrors of the Vietnam War. Dylan was impressed when he heard the band's reading of his song, telling McGuinn: "Up until I heard this I thought you were just another imitator ... but this has got real feeling to it." The third Clark-penned song on Turn! Turn! Turn! was "Set You Free This Time", a densely worded rumination on a failed relationship that lyrically exhibited the influence of Dylan. The song was the first sign of the band's interest in country music, a genre they would explore further on subsequent albums, culminating with 1968's Sweetheart of the Rodeo. As with the band's previous album, Turn! Turn! Turn! ended on a quirky, tongue-in-cheek note, this time with a whimsical send-up of Stephen Foster's 19th-century classic "Oh! Susannah", arranged by McGuinn. Due to the infighting caused by the other band members' resentment of Clark's songwriting dominance within the Byrds, two of the songs he had brought to the recording sessions were excluded from the album. The song was finally issued in 1987, when it was chosen as the title track of the Byrds' archival album Never Before. Both "She Don't Care About Time" and "The Day Walk (Never Before)" were added to the remastered Turn! Turn! Turn! CD as bonus tracks. ==Release and reception==

Turn! Turn! Turn! was released on December 6, 1965, in the United States (catalogue item CL 2454 in mono, CS 9254 in stereo) and March 22, 1966, in the UK (catalogue item BPG 62652 in mono, SBPG 62652 in stereo). Remix information The album was one of four Byrds albums that were remastered at 20-bit resolution and partially remixed as part of the Columbia/Legacy Byrds reissue series. This release of the album was issued on April 30, 1996, and had seven bonus tracks: the Clark-penned B-side "She Don't Care About Time"; the outtakes "The Day Walk (Never Before)", "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", and "Stranger in a Strange Land"; and three alternate versions of songs. The reason for remixing some of the album was explained by Bob Irwin (who produced these re-issues for compact disc) during an interview: He further stated: Many fans enjoy the remixed album because it is very close to the original mix in most cases and offers noticeably better sound quality. ==Track listing==

• Note: The album erroneously credits "Oh! Susannah" to Jim McGuinn. • Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–11 on CD reissues. ==Singles==

• "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)" b/w "She Don't Care About Time" (Columbia 43424) October 1, 1965 (Billboard Hot 100 number 1, UK Singles Chart number 26) • "Set You Free This Time" b/w "It Won't Be Wrong" (Columbia 43501) January 10, 1966 (Billboard Hot 100 number 63) • "It Won't Be Wrong" b/w "Set You Free This Time" (CBS 202037) February 18, 1966 ==Personnel==

Sources: The Byrds • Jim McGuinn – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals • Gene Clark – rhythm guitar, harmonica, tambourine, vocals • David Crosby – rhythm guitar, vocals • Chris Hillman – electric bass (backing vocal on "Lay Down Your Weary Tune") • Michael Clarke – drums (tambourine on "He Was a Friend of Mine") Additional personnel • Terry Melcher – organ on "He Was a Friend of Mine" ==Release history==