In another part of the AUK jungle, I’ve been reading Chris Hillman’s autobiography, Time Between: My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother and Beyond, for an upcoming Paperback Riders article. And it gave me reason to think about the longevity of some of our favourite artists. This clip was filmed in 2017, when he was 72, and while he may sing within the limitations age has imposed on his voice, he is playing and singing with a vigour that artists half his age would be happy with.
Hillman started his musical life with the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers. That band has become legendary as the jumping-off point for several Eagles, Byrds, and Burrito Brothers. Bluegrass and folk were Chris Hillman’s start, and in true “every journey ends up where it started” mode, it is the music he has returned to later in life. Mandolin has always been his first instrument, and when he was invited to join The Byrds on bass guitar, he developed a melodic style which was clearly influenced by his mandolin playing. His bass lines can be very hard to imitate due mainly to his unique right-hand technique, which is derived from how he picks a mandolin.
This version of the Pete Seeger classic starts with the 12-string guitar riff that Roger McGuinn created for the Byrds transposed to mandolin. This leans into the folky origins of the setting of the words from the book of Ecclesiastes. The instrumental section follows the well-worn bluegrass tradition of the solo following the vocal melody. Overall, it is an acoustic setting of the Byrds arrangement rather than following some of the folkier versions like Judy Collins’.
In researching this piece, I uncovered two interesting facts about Turn! Turn! Turn!. In 1963, Marlene Dietrich recorded Für alles kommt die Zeit (Glaub, Glaub), a German translation, recorded with Burt Bacharach. Also, that Pete Seeger has donated 45% of his royalties to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, which describes itself as “a peace and human rights organisation dedicated to ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories and achieving a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians“. They use nonviolent direct action to try and prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and work to rebuild homes previously destroyed. While some of the language on their website is a little inflammatory, they seem to be doing something positive on the ground to improve life for people who need all the help they can get.
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