Never Before | ||||
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Compilation album by The Byrds | ||||
Released | December 1, 1987 | |||
Recorded | January 20, 1965 – November 13, 1967, Columbia Studios and RCA Studios, Hollywood, CA | |||
Genre | Rock, pop, folk rock, psychedelic rock, raga rock | |||
Length | 27:59 | |||
Label | Re-Flyte, Murray Hill | |||
Producer | Jim Dickson, Terry Melcher, Allen Stanton, Gary Usher, The Byrds | |||
The Byrds chronology | ||||
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Never Before is a compilation album by the American rock band The Byrds, consisting of previously unreleased outtakes, alternate versions, and rarities. It was initially released by Re-Flyte Records in December 1987 and was subsequently reissued on CD in 1989, with an additional seven bonus tracks.Never Before consists of material recorded between 1965 and 1967 by the original line-up of The Byrds, featuring Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke (although Gene Clark had left the group by early 1966). The songs on the album were all originally recorded for Columbia Records during the sessions for The Byrds' first five studio albums: Mr. Tambourine Man, Turn! Turn! Turn!, Fifth Dimension, Younger Than Yesterday, and The Notorious Byrd Brothers. The album represented the first time that previously unreleased outtakes from The Byrds' tenure with Columbia Records had been officially released.
The album's genesis can be traced back to the early 1980s, when folk singer and friend of Gene Clark, Tom Slocum, stumbled across a cache of forgotten Byrds' recordings in the tape library at Wally Heider Studios in Los Angeles. According to Slocum, these tapes included early versions of "Eight Miles High" and "Why" that had been recorded at RCA Studios in late 1965, along with the outtakes "Triad" and "The Day Walk (Never Before)". Slocum immediately notified The Byrds' former manager, Jim Dickson, of his discovery and before long, Dickson had involved Bob Hyde of Murray Hill Records, with an eye to producing an archival compilation album.