I thought it was a good time to re-seed a show of mine after listening to it for the first time in many years. It was originally treed on the Lee-Shore lsit and uploaded on Dime back in the day. It's HARD to believe this show is over 32 years old! I had asked Goody if he could remaster this one, but I know he is VERY busy and he respectfully declined, so if anyone else want to try, feel free to do so. I used to seed many of my shows back in the early 2000s, but haven't done so in a LONG time. I hope going forward, I'll start contributing again. I have a VERY nice collection of shows, several of which are VERY rare, like this one.
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Well... I made a Veteran's Rookie mistake! At some point CSN, C&N, Crosby solo were banned from posting here.... I'm sorry for my lack of diligence. I have redone this to remove the offending filler tracks. WHat's left is the entire Byrds set I uploaded earlier, along with some tracks from:

A Benefit for Fred Walecki
Civic Auditorium
Santa Monica, CA
Aug 8 and 9, 2000
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My original notes edited for this new re-upload.

In late 1989 I read a blurb in the local paper that The Byrds (McGuinn, Crosby & Hillman) were going to perform 3 shows at SoCal clubs. One was in LA, another at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano and the final show at The Bacchanal in San Diego w/ tix going on sale the next day. I immediately scored tickets to the Coach House and Bacchanal gigs. This is THE LAST official full Byrds show they played.

The article inferred that these were shows to help bolster a claim by these 3 guys that THEY owned The Byrd name and rights, NOT Clark and Clarke, who had been using the name to perform live. I have included a copy of an article that discusses this in depth for you.

I brought my trustee Sony Walkman recorder/player unit with me and a set of headphones that included condenser recording mics and taped both shows. After listening to the tapes, it seemed that the solo acoustic set at The Coach House sounded a bit better that at The Bacchanal, while the reverse was true for the electric set. For a reason that seems utterly ridiculous now, I decided to combine both sets on 1 tape. So 1 of the sets is a 1st Gen, while the other is the master (I don�t recall which is which).

I also decided way back then to not include 2 of Hillman�s songs from his solo set, so there�s only one of his songs on the tape. I did however include some rare filler material on the CDs I made from this tape back in about 2000. I titled it �Legally Live� The entire setlist is below.

A few quick notes� these were FUN shows! The guys were obviously VERY happy to be playing together especially in a small intimate room before adoring fans. They even seemed to LIKE each other (LOL), with plenty of back and forth banter that helps make this show special.

Around this time, I was on the CSN mail-list where Crosby was a frequent contributor. After I put the CD together, I told him I had done so and he was very interested in hearing what it sounded like. I had the opportunity soon thereafter to see him in San Diego, where he was doing an AA speaker thing (as a member myself, I was looking forward to hearing what he had to say), and be able to present him a copy. I brought my master copy with artwork I made including some pix from the San Diego newspaper from the show and had him autograph the front inside insert. So I have a Croz autograph on a bootleg!

I have included the artwork and the review in the paper of the gig from The Coach House gig as well�.

You�ll notice in the setlist some of the filler on Disc 1 is from a show in Santa Monica that was a benefit from Fred Walecki who owned the hip music store that a lot of the So Cal musicians frequented. This was an all-star benefit with acts included The Byrds, Crosby & Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Spinal Tap, Don Henley and more.

I�ll post that set later on. For now�I�ve posted a link if you�d like to download the flac files, artwork and the docs about the legal stuff and a review of the show. This set sounds pretty good! I hope you enjoy it.

The Byrds � Legally Live - Jan 4 & 5, 1989

Disc 1: Coach House, San Juan Capistrano Jan. 4, 1989 (solo acoustic)

01. Desert Rose
02. Ballad Of Easy Rider
03. Wasn't Born To Follow
04. It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding
05. Chestnut Mare
06. Tracks In The Dust
07. Compass
08. Guinniviere
09. Almost Cut My Hair

Filler: Walecki Benefit Shows (Civic Thtr_Santa Monica, CA)

Aug 8, 2000
10. Turn, Turn, Turn - Crosby, Nash & Hillman (first night)

Aug 9, 2000
11. Mr. Tambourine Man - McGuinn, Crosby & Hillman (second night)
12. Turn, Turn, Turn - McGuinn, Crosby & Hillman (second night)

Disc 2: The Bacchanal, San Diego, CA Jan 5, 1989 (electric w/Desert Rose Band back-up)

01. Chimes Of Freedom
02. It Won't Be Wrong
03. Feel A Whole Lot Better
04. Everybody's Been Burned
05. My Back Pages
06. Mr. Spaceman
07. Bells Of Rhymney
08. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
09. Mr. Tambourine Man
10. Turn, Turn, Turn
11. Eight Miles High
12. So You Want To Be A Rock'n'Roll Star
13. He Was A Friend Of Mine

Bonus:
14. Everybody's Been Burned (from Coach House - Jan. 4, 1989)

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Byrds Battle for the Rights to the Name

By MIKE BOEHM
Jan. 5, 1989 12 AM PT
Times Staff Writer

How many Byrds does it take to make a band fly?
The answer to that riddle depends on which of the five original members of the acclaimed, Los Angeles-based �60s folk-rock group you ask--and it ultimately may depend on what a judge has to say concerning federal trademark law.
Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman think the answer, at least for now, should be three. Their aim in playing together as the Byrds for three Southland club dates this week--their first billing as Byrds in 15 years--is to establish their legal right to control the name Byrds as a registered trademark.
By controlling the name, they hope to stop what they see as its improper use over the last few years by the two other original Byrds, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke, less well-known musicians who since 1985 have toured together or individually under the Byrds banner.
Representatives of Clark and Clarke, however, said Tuesday that both musicians are considering legal action to stop the others from reserving the name for themselves.
Clarke, who plans to begin touring next month as �The Byrds featuring Michael Clarke,� thinks one original member--himself--is enough to justify putting the Byrds name on a marquee. A drummer who neither sang nor wrote songs for the Byrds, Clarke said he already has begun steps to register Byrds as his own trademark.
Clark, who made important vocal and songwriting contributions in the band�s early days but was the first original member to leave the group, said that only a full-fledged reunion of the original lineup should be allowed to hold the Byrds trademark.
Speaking from his home in Spokane, Wash., Clarke said that touring under the Byrds name in recent years gives him a greater legal claim on it than McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman, who haven�t been billed as Byrds since a 1973 one-shot reunion album featuring all five original members.
�If you give up your name for 15 years, it�s anybody�s name,� Clarke said. �I feel if you�re a part of something in the beginning, then you�re a part of it forever. I�m not the kind of person who gets denied a living or likes to be harassed. If this goes into a full (legal) battle, may the best Byrd win.�
Without elaborating, Clark said in a separate interview that the controversy over use of the Byrds name �has become a legal matter.� But Clark also said he doesn�t want to use the name by himself, and that he stopped touring as a lone Byrd last summer because he didn�t think it was proper.
�I really wasn�t comfortable having it be the Byrds,� he said. �But (touring under the Byrds name) was an opportunity that wasn�t available to me in any other way. When I got things back on the road for my own solo career, I figured if the other guys don�t want me to use the name, then I don�t think it�s the right thing to do.
�The best thing would be for the five people to sit down and come to some sort of agreement (to re-form the original band),� Clark continued. �At least a few hundred thousand people would love to see the original Byrds, and (in light of the band�s 25th anniversary this year), to give it to them right now would be the prime time.�



McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman see Byrds tours led by the other original members as rump versions of the band that can only hurt its legacy.
�Last thing I heard, they were playing at a lounge in Vegas,� Hillman said in an interview last September, well before the current controversy developed. �That�s the ultimate insult. It just drags it in the mud.�
This week�s Byrds� dates--Wednesday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, tonight at the Bacchanal in San Diego and Friday at the Ventura Theatre--don�t herald an ongoing re-formation of the band, according to McGuinn, although he said that is an eventual possibility.
Instead, the shows are a hastily organized tactical move intended to bolster McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman�s efforts to stake a legal claim to the Byrds name by showing that they are actively in business as the Byrds.
Crosby�s manager, Bill Siddons, who organized the current dates, said McGuinn is the only Byrd with the conceivable right to claim the group name for his sole use.
McGuinn, the only member to stay with the band from its formation in 1964 to its final breakup in 1973 after many personnel changes, is generally regarded as the most important shaper of the Byrds� signature harmonies and ringing 12-string guitar sound. Until recently, McGuinn had said he had no intention of resurrecting the Byrds.
A reunion of all five original Byrds would be a lucrative proposition. Judging from their comments, the less prominent Clark and Clarke are keen to tap that demand, while McGuinn said that using a Byrds reunion to reap a windfall �is not where I�m coming from.�
McGuinn�s recording career has been on hold through most of the �80s, but he continues to tour steadily as a solo act, and says his autobiography is due to be published later this year. Crosby has been busy since his comeback from drug addiction with a recently published autobiography, an album with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and an upcoming solo album. Hillman has built a solid country music following with his Desert Rose Band.
Organizers of a hospital benefit in San Jose have offered $500,000 for a single performance by the original Byrds lineup this August at a 30,000-seat college football stadium. Clark, Clarke and Hillman accepted, according to Kathy Goldwyn, one of the proposed event�s organizers, but Crosby and McGuinn did not respond. But, Hillman�s wife, Connie, said Tuesday that his OK was not given seriously because he doubted it was a realistic offer.
�When somebody says they�re going to do a benefit and pay you $500,000--Chris has been in the business long enough to know those dollars are way out of the stratosphere,� said Mrs. Hillman, who is one of Elton John�s managers.
Even if the offer is firm, said Siddons, Crosby�s manager, accepting it would tarnish the Byrds� legacy by turning their reunion into a pure money grab.
�The Byrds mattered,� he said. �I think playing a stadium date on your return after 15 years without a record is just the wrong thing to do. They have to rebuild a little bit of their legend first. It�s critical that we establish the quality and importance of the band before we think about the money. My hope is that this goes well enough so the Byrds will regroup and forgive each other. I know it is in the cards for that to happen.�
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POP MUSIC REVIEW : Byrds Turn On the Old Memory Machine
By ROBERT HILBURN
Jan. 6, 1989 12 AM PT

Times Pop Music Critic

Byrds watchers certainly got their memories� worth Wednesday night at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.
The brief, three-city Byrds mini-reunion tour--which concludes tonight at the sold-out Ventura Theatre in Ventura--was prompted more by legal reasons than sentimental ones.
Three of the original members--Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman--are doing the shows to establish their legal right to the group name, thus preventing anyone else (including other original members, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke) from calling themselves the Byrds.
Once they took the stage, however, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman were enthusiastic musicians, not legal strategists, and it was hard to imagine anyone who was ever touched by the Byrds� music not being moved.

In their first formal concert appearance together in 15 years, the threesome (backed by drummer Steve Duncan and guitarist John Jorgenson from Hillman�s Desert Rose Band) played with a spirit and desire that kept the evening from turning into merely a casual exercise in nostalgia.
The material ranged from endearing versions of some of the Byrds� most famous numbers--from Bob Dylan songs such as �Mr. Tambourine Man� and �My Back Pages� to such originals as �Mr. Spaceman� and �Eight Miles High.�
In between, McGuinn and Crosby--especially--reminisced good-naturedly about the old days, including how they happened to write or record some of the key numbers, Crosby admitting he hated �Mr. Tambourine Man� the first time he heard it.
Though the Byrds have often been saluted for their musical innovations (the wonderfully appealing, guitar-accented blend of country, folk and rock strains), the musicians also played a major role in the �60s in making rock �n� roll safe for serious themes.
For the most part, they leaned toward material that deserved to be called artful--though no one at the time took rock seriously enough to even think of applying that term to anything that appeared on a 45-rpm single.

Nearly three decades later, the songs--which reflect on personal and social concerns--take on an even more poignant and graceful ring for longtime Byrds fans, because they can be viewed in the wider context of changes in both the fans� lives and in the lives of the musicians themselves.
It�s easy to see now that the Byrds were pop tambourine men themselves. The guitars had a jingle-jangle flavor, and there was a sense of adventure in the songs and in the disarming harmonies that made the Byrds seem to be leading you on a journey as magical at times as the one offered by the Beatles.
But it was equally affecting Wednesday to hear the trio sing �Chimes of Freedom,� another Dylan song from the Byrds� first album:
Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an� worse
An� for every hung-up per s on in the whole wide universe
... we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Unlike the youthful optimism of �Tambourine Man,� this song is a salute to survival--a tune that seemed a fitting tribute to the way McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman have survived with their musical integrity and determination intact.

McGuinn was the primary force behind the Byrds, and he led the band with distinction until 1973, bringing in worthy new musicians (including Clarence White and Gram Parsons) to replace those who had left. After the Byrds, Hillman went on to be a valuable figure in several other teamings, including the Flying Burrito Brothers and, now, Desert Rose.
Crosby has probably enjoyed the most success (as part of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) and notoriety (the much publicized drug-related personal problems that landed him in a Texas prison a few years ago). He has rebounded in recent months with a new CSNY album, an acclaimed autobiography and a solo album that is due to be released at the end of the month.
For Gary Bagnall, 31, seeing them together again was a dream come true.

�The Byrds were just a generation ahead of me,� said the Costa Mesa animal importer before the concert. �I�ve always loved their music, but I never saw them live and I didn�t think they�d ever get together again. So, I couldn�t believe it when I saw the ad. I went straight to the phone to make reservations.�
Mark Cobb, 34, San Clemente, was especially eager to see Crosby, whom he sees as an inspiring survivor.
�I like the Byrds music, but Crosby is special. . . . It�s an inspiration to see how he has pulled himself out of all that.�
After the concert, the musicians seemed equally excited.
�It felt great,� said McGuinn, standing in the club�s upstairs dressing room. �We only had one day�s rehearsal and you never know how it�s going to be. You can�t assume it�s going to sound good just because it did years ago. But it felt right almost immediately.�
Added Crosby, �We came off the stage laughing and hugging each other. When we got together (for a 15-minute set last summer) at the Wiltern Theatre, it made me realize how much fun it is to sing with these guys.�

They haven�t thought about more than this week�s three shows, but Crosby and McGuinn seemed so enthused by the concert that they weren�t ruling out doing additional dates.
One additional appearance is certain.
Because the debut album was released 25 years ago, the Byrds are eligible to be inducted next year in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--and their election is a cinch.
�That�s another reason to get this name settled,� Hillman said. �I�d hate to see 29 guys stand up (when they call the Byrds name).�


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