"Byrd often mused about what would happen to the land in the future. While some of the dividing line still feels like wilderness, it is crisscrossed today by bridges and roads, its forests felled and paved over for parking lots and subdivisions, its waters diverted or drained. Ausband's story, therefore, is a natural history of a changed region."--BOOK JACKET.

Since its release in 1971, Don McLean's song "American Pie" has become an indelible part of U.S. culture. It has sparked countless debates about the references within the lyrics; been celebrated as a chronicle of American life from the late 1950s through the early 1970s; and has become iconic itself as it has been remade, parodied, and referenced within numerous texts and forums. This volume offers a set of new essays that focus on the cultural and historical significance of the song. Representing a variety of perspectives and fields of study, the essays address such topics as historical and literary interpretations of the song's lyrics, its musical qualities, the commentary the song offers on rock and roll history, the continuing significance of the song, and the ways in which the song has been used by various writers and artists. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

The original Byrds reunion album re-presented with superb audio. In late 1972, the classic, original line-up of THE BYRDS - Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn and Michael Clarke - reunited to record their first album together since 1965. While each of the band members had continued to tour and record extensively, they had been talking about a possible Byrds reunion project for some time which became a reality when Asylum Records president David Geffen signed the band. The resultant album Byrds (1973) brought the band's mix of folk rock and country rock to a fresh audience who had already picked up on newer artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, the Eagles and Tom Waits. Musically The Byrds were in fine form with those trademark harmony vocals well to the fore on the likes of the breezy 'Full Circle', the acerbic 'Long Live the King', the anthemic rocker 'Born to Rock 'n Roll', the gloriously up-tempo 'Things will be Better' plus exceptional covers of Joni Mitchell's 'For Free' and Neil Young's 'Cowgirl in the Sand' and '(See the Sky) About to Rain'. Recorded at the famous Waller Heider Recording Studios in San Francisco, the state of the art studio facility on the West Coast at the time. The album was a US Top 20 hit and it remains an overlooked classic that continues to improve with age. "The band's direction is no-nonsense, straight-ahead music... The Byrds make it on the strength of the music alone" (NME, 1973). With extra two tracks from Gene Clark - 'She's the Kind of Girl' and 'One in a Hundred' - the connection being that these 1971 sessions feature the full Byrds complement of Clark, Hillman, Crosby, McGuinn and Clarke.

By the time Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke entered the studio to begin work on this album, they were basically falling apart at the seams. "Ladyfriend", a song written by Crosby, had just failed miserably as a chart single despite the fact that he lobbied hard to get it released. This - coupled with the fact that he made what the rest of the band considered an embarrassing political speech onstage during their set at the Monterey Pop Festival, and then sat in with rivals the Buffalo Springfield the following day - pushed McGuinn and Hillman in particular to the limits of their patience. Then, for the Notorious sessions, Crosby presented a song called "Triad", written about a threesome, and although McGuinn and Hillman reluctantly agreed to record it, they later decided to place a less controversial Goffin & King pop number called "Goin' Back" on the album instead. Crosby declared the song banal and refused to sing on it. A few too many studio flare-ups later, McGuinn and Hillman finally screeched up into the Hollywood Hills in their Jaguars and fired Crosby on the spot. Also brooding during this period was drummer Michael Clarke, who had always borne the brunt of the other band members' rage while recording. He was by far the least accomplished member of the band musically, and when they suggested bringing in a studio drummer to embellish some tracks (Jim Gordon, later of Derek & the Dominos fame), he finally declared he'd had enough and moved to Hawaii to get away from the music scene altogether. So, McGuinn and Hillman were left to cobble together an album with the help of producer Gary Usher (known for his work with Brian Wilson, the Millenium, Sagittarius and many others). The fact that it turned out to be one of the defining albums of the 60s psychedelic pop experience was either a sheer stroke of luck, or a testament to McGuinn and Hillman's determination to prove that they didn't need Crosby's help to construct their masterpiece.