Charlie Louvin dies at 83

Country singer Charlie Louvin passed away yesterday (January 26) at the age of 83.

A big influence on the country-era Byrds, he co-wrote The Christian Life with his brother Ira, a song The Byrds covered on their Sweetheart Of The Rodeo LP from 1968.

Gram Parsons (who brought the song to The Byrds) also covered the Louvins' Cash On The Barrelhead on his Grievous Angel LP.

KRLA Beat articles and YOU TUBE videos

Byrds fan Christian Bryan has assembled a terrific collection of all Byrds-related articles, pics and blurbs that were ever published in the KRLA BEAT magazine.

You can dowload them to your PC by clicking here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/8tb6zs

Christian also maintains a You Tube channel that is dedicated to all Byrds video clips that are available.

It's here : http://www.youtube.com/user/mcd220

Thank you Christian.

Starbyrd's new CD RETURN OF A STARBYRD is out

Starbyrd’s new CD « Return Of A Starbyrd » has now been released.

Byrds fans won’t be disappointed, as the recordings are filled with HPS’ Rickenbacker 12 string guitar familiar sound.

All details about how to purchase the CD are available by writing to Horst-Peter at Starbyrd@t-online.de

Extract from the Liner Notes:

What better way to begin a New Year than to celebrate the release of Starbyrd’s second CD titled Return Of A Starbyrd – another folk-rock tour de force centered around the talents of singer / songwriter Horst-Peter Schmidt supported by a couple of fine musicians. Fans of Starbyrd will recognize Schmidt’s trademark Rickenbacker 370RM 12-string play on many of the tracks, while some of the more introspective songs feature a lighter acoustic touch. All of the songs on this disc are original Schmidt tunes – enhancing his oeuvre and making him one of the most prolific songwriters in his genre of music (….). Put this disc in rotation with The Byrds, The Eagles and Crosby, Stills & Nash and you will quickly realize that Starbyrd has added a fresh veneer to the rich tapestry of classic pop/rock music (….).

Eric Sorensen, “Jangle On!” Columnist

As promised earlier, here are some comments made by Horst-Peter himself about the songs.

In Into The Night I tried to follow up to what the Byrds began in Notorious Byrd Brothers: sound effects, spacey harmonies etc...

Candlelight is my 25th-anniversary-celebration-song dedicated to my wife.

Cruising In The Midnight Sun is about our North Atlantic cruise last July. What I like most about the song is the three different guitar solos played of the Gretsch Falcon, Epiphone Les Paul and the 6-string Rick.

With This Song, Summer Of Love, Face Of The Clown and Fall From Grace (the latter inspired by the sound of the Byrds 5D album) have been in the vaults for years and finally materialized.

Big Wheel is about life in general and growing older.

Leave My Home was inspired by the David Crosby - Jackson Browne dispute about "Wooden Ships" (background: Crosby's utopian escape to some unknown paradise after a nuclear war. This song inspired Jackson Browne to write his For Everyman. )

Rock All Night is an authentic song about a friend of mine who did everything possible to play music in a hard rock band but finally failed.

Oil On My Skin (in my view the "most byrdsy song") about the Shell disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Home Sweet Home Cologne - well at last I have written a song about my hometown. I've been to so many places in the world but it always felt good to come back home. So this song is my homage to MY city.