Seeking: Downbeat review of Donald Byrd's "Black Byrd"

[Mark Stryker]

Gang -- I'm trying to help a friend who asked if I had the issue of Downbeat containing a review of Byrd's "Black Byrd," which was released in early 1973. Alas, my collection of the magazine is incomplete and in 1973 I'm missing 1/4, 4/12 ,4/26, 6/7 and 7/5. Review is probably in one of the April issues.

Anybody got that and who could take a photo and post?

Thanks.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Mark Stryker

[JSngry]

I should have  it in my closet. Can't gt to it right away, but will. Stay tuned.

[JSngry]

What I would like to find ids the print ad that was in National Lampoon, a cigar smoking, fedora wearing cartoon crow with the caption something like i got some new blues for you....something like that,

[Mark Stryker]

5 minutes ago, JSngry said:

What I would like to find ids the print ad that was in National Lampoon, a cigar smoking, fedora wearing cartoon crow with the caption something like i got some new blues for you....something like that,

Wow. Never seen that. 

[Ken Dryden]

Sadly, I had pitch all of my National Lampoons when I got married, though i kept the Encylopedia of Humor for the Ted Kennedy VW ad. That special issue was soaked by firefighters when we had an apartment fire on Super Bowl Sunday, 1985. Fortunately, the fire headed away from the living room, where my LPs were stored.

[JSngry]

On 5/26/2022 at 9:15 AM, Mark Stryker said:

Gang -- I'm trying to help a friend who asked if I had the issue of Downbeat containing a review of Byrd's "Black Byrd," which was released in early 1973. Alas, my collection of the magazine is incomplete and in 1973 I'm missing 1/4, 4/12 ,4/26, 6/7 and 7/5. Review is probably in one of the April issues.

Anybody got that and who could take a photo and post?

Thanks.

Just had a look through all 1973 issues, and guess what - they didn't review it at all.

[jazzcorner]

On 7/20/2022 at 1:14 AM, JSngry said:

Just had a look through all 1973 issues, and guess what - they didn't review it at all.

Depends on when the LP was issued Very often the review was then one year later. Could check my stock if you still need the rating

 

[ghost of miles]

This is an excerpt from a pretty old (2007) bibliographic index for Byrd that Jazzinstitut sent me when I was working on a Night Lights show about Byrd. Their indexes don’t claim to catch everything, but they scoop up a lot—especially when it comes to Downbeat—and no review for Black Byrd appears between Michael Bourne’s January 1971 review of Electric Byrd and Neil Tesser’s May 1974 review of Street Lady. There is a mid-1973 article about Byrd by Herb Nolan titled “Infinite Variations,” but no idea if it discusses Black Byrd or not.

Michael Bourne: Donald Byrd – "Electric Byrd" (Blue Note), in: Down Beat, 38/2 (21.Jan.1971), p. 24 (R)

 

Leonard Feather: Blindfold Test. Donald Byrd, in: Down Beat, 38/7 (1.Apr.1971), p. 26 (BT: Stan Kenton: "Granada"; Johnnie Cole: "Heavy Legs"; Time-Life Orchestra: "Things Ain't What They Used to Be"; Ornette Coleman: "The Circle With a Hole in the Middle"; Don Ellis: "Open Beauty") [digi.copy]

 

Bill Quinn: Donald Byrd. Campus Catalyst, in: Down Beat, 38/17 (14.Oct.1971), p. 19, 38 (F/I)

 

Malcolm Walker: Donald Byrd Discography, in: Discographical Forum, #30/31 (1972), p. 35- 38 (D); part 2, in: Discographical Forum, #32 (1972), p. 15-16 (D)

 

Donald Byrd & Leonard Goines: The Lorton Project. "Those detained in your institution cannot come to the University, therefore we would like to bring the University to them", in: Down Beat, 40/4 (1.Mar.1973), p. 13 ("I")

 

NN: Potpourri. Donald Byrd heads Archive of Black Music at Howard University, in: Down Beat, 40/1 (18.Jan.1973), p. 12 (N)

 

NN: potpourri, in: Down Beat, 40/10 (24.May 1973), p. 12 (N: new group with students, says free jazz is dead, to be replaced by fusion) [digi.copy]

 

Herb Nolan: Donald Byrd - Infinite Variations, in: Down Beat, 40/13 (19.Jul.1973), p. 18-19, 36 (F/I); response, by Dan Bittker: Chords and Discords. Important Articles, in: Down Beat, 40/14 (16.Aug.1973), p. 10 (letter)

 

Herb Nolan: Donald Byrd. "Infinite Variations", in: Down Beat, 40/13 (19.Jul.1973), p. 18-19, 36 (F/I) [digi.copy]

 

NN: Potpourri. Donald Byrd cooperates with Fantasy Records, in: Down Beat, 40/21 (20.Dec.1973), p. 44 (N)

 

NN: Potpourri. Donald Byrd's newest album for Blue Note, in: Down Beat, 41/1 (17.Jan.1974), p. 35 (N)

 

Neil Tesser: Donald Byrd - "Street Lady" (Blue Note), in: Down Beat, 41/10 (23.May 1974), p. 24, 26 (R)

 

B. Palmer: Black Byrd's Jazz Flies High, in: Rolling Stone, #184 (1975), p. 22

 

Neil Tesser: Donald Byrd. Blowin' Gold, in: Melody Maker, 1.Feb.1975, p. 39

 

Pete Welding: Donald Byrd - "Stepping Into Tomorrow" (Blue Note), in: Down Beat, 42/12 (19.Jun.1975), p. 24 (R)

 

[Daniel A]

The article is not a review, but a quite long interview with Byrd. However, the article states that the recent Black Byrd album is a "success". In general, Byrd doesn't appear to be that happy. This is maybe the most amusing section:

 

Driving to Dunhills he talks about African
music and why tribal music was played at
certain times of the day. Then he shifts to a
newspaper article he read once that claimed
that loud music, like rock, killed plants.
“That’s absurd. Do you know that some
people talk to their plants? The next thing
you'll hear about is loudspeakers in corn
fields because corn has ears.”

Edited July 3, 2023 by Daniel A

[cbianchi]

When this question first came up, I had looked for this review when I visited the local university library a few days later, but didn't find it. I thought maybe I missed it, but sounds like I didn't. That said, I did want to mention a useful resource if you're looking for Down Beat articles between July 1967 and July 1973: http://www.crj-online.org/v4/CRJ-DownBeatMorgenstern.php

[jazzcorner]

On 7/3/2023 at 5:47 PM, ghost of miles said:

This is an excerpt from a pretty old (2007) bibliographic index for Byrd that Jazzinstitut sent me when I was working on a Night Lights show about Byrd. Their indexes don’t claim to catch everything, but they scoop up a lot—especially when it comes to Downbeat—and no review for Black Byrd appears between Michael Bourne’s January 1971 review of Electric Byrd and Neil Tesser’s May 1974 review of Street Lady. There is a mid-1973 article about Byrd by Herb Nolan titled “Infinite Variations,” but no idea if it discusses Black Byrd or not.

Have looked up the 1974 rating for "Street lady".  Hopefully you can read the  2 added scans.

As it turns out  "Black Byrd" was not rated in DB and " Street Lady"  received  a 2 ** rating. Some references in the text were made to "Black Byrd"

  

Thats all I found.

Edited July 5, 2023 by jazzcorner

[Dub Modal]

Man that review skewers Byrd, his Mizell albums, Larry Mizell himself and a few others along with the American record buying public in just a few paragraphs. Seething misanthropy can be fun to read and this author laid it down thick.

[JSngry]

Thick, yes, but as somebody who has never come around to the Byrd/Mizell records, I can't say that I blame him. Especially in a time when that stuff was eating up precious minutes on the fade in-fade out all night FM jazz show that was ruining my high school sleep habits. 

[Mark Stryker]

Thanks to all who have picked up on this thread in the last week.

[rostasi]

Of course, Neil Tesser was entitled to his own opinion,
but I know that during those days, I didn’t know Mizell
from a Midas Muffler, but it still was fun music for me.

Edited July 6, 2023 by rostasi

[JSngry]

Not fun for me. Mechanical music that never went anywhere, not even in its own place. Not at all anything that engaged me in any way except by looking for a way out. Which of course never came except for the record being over or changing the dial.

No qualms with what they seemed to be trying to do, just with how they ended up doing it. 

Here's a Mizell that was not involved. 

Not that it would have mattered much 

[felser]

On 7/6/2023 at 12:46 PM, JSngry said:

Not fun for me. Mechanical music that never went anywhere, not even in its own place. Not at all anything that engaged me in any way except by looking for a way out. Which of course never came except for the record being over or changing the dial.

No qualms with what they seemed to be trying to do, just with how they ended up doing it. 

Here's a Mizell that was not involved. 

Not that it would have mattered much 

 Vinegar Bend !