Preflyte

Preflyte
Compilation album by The Byrds
Released	July 29, 1969
Recorded	Mid-1964 – November 1964, World Pacific Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Genre	Pop, folk rock
Length	25:38
Label	Together
Producer	Jim Dickson
The Byrds chronology
Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde (1969) ---- The Byrds Play the Songs of Bob Dylan (2001) Preflyte (1969) ---- The Preflyte Sessions (2001) Ballad of Easy Rider (1969) ---- Sanctuary III (2001)
Alternative cover
Cover of the 1973 Columbia Records reissue. Art by Barry Windsor-Smith

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Classic Rock
entertainment.ie
Rolling Stone	(favorable)

Preflyte is a compilation album by the American folk rock band The Byrds and was released in July 1969 on Together Records (see 1969 in music). The album is a collection of demos recorded by The Byrds (then named The Jet Set) at World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles during 1964, before the band had signed to Columbia Records. As such, the music on the album predates the release of The Byrds' debut single for Columbia, a cover version of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man", which topped the charts in America and the United Kingdom during 1965. The album's title is a deliberate misspelling of "pre-flight", meant to emulate the misspelling of "birds" that the band had used for their name.

Preflyte peaked at number 84 on the Billboard Top LPs chart upon its initial release and outsold The Byrds' most recent studio album, Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde. It was less successful in the United Kingdom, however, where it failed to enter the UK Albums Chart when it was issued there in 1973. The album was reissued in America in 1973 by Columbia Records and again charted, this time reaching number 183. The album is notable for including a number of previously unreleased songs that had not been recorded by The Byrds during their stint with Columbia Records. The album also 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.

In 2001, Sundazed Records released an expanded, double CD compilation of tracks from the World Pacific era, titled The Preflyte Sessions. In 2012, Floating World Records reissued the Sundazed collection, with an additional eight bonus tracks, under the title Preflyte Plus. Tracks from The Byrds' World Pacific sessions were also repackaged on the In the Beginning album in 1988.