Apocrypha Now!

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

"My question is, which came first, Roger McGuinn's 
be-Rickenbackered Byrds sound or The Beatles' 
"If I Needed Someone"?  Something to look up..."

No need for me to look that one up, Dave. There's a 
lovely little Documentary that came out 20 years ago
entitled "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today" concerning
Sgt Pepper and the cultural context from which that album
emereged. George Harrison states that "If I Needed 
Someone" was a knowing nod in the direction of the
Byrds, McGuinn's approach to the 12-string Rickenbacker,
having been derived from Roger's folk background. was a 
sound no one had heard, or even considered, before the Byrds,

Alas, "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today" is not now available
as a DVD. Might have a bit to do with having Abbie Hoffman,
Timothy Leary, San Francisco Diggers, Dutch Anarchists
and a Fug taking center stage in the latter half of the film. 

Roger's insertion of a little bit of Bach into a failed single
might seem like no great matter, but a year later Brian
Wilson came up with "God Only Knows", claiming to
be the first to insert knowingly religious themes into
the top 40. But Roger attempted to do so before Brian,
and continued to insert those sorts of themes into the 
Group's singles for some time afterwards, what with
"Jesus is Just Alright" and "I Am A Pilgrim", among
other less sucessful attempts.

The lyrics to "She Don't Care About Time", written
by the ultra-paranoid Gene Clark, strike me as
rather Pynchonian, in particular the phrase
"my white walled room out on the end of time".

Hallways and staircases everyday to climb
To go up to my white walled room out on the end of time
Where I can be with my love for she is all that is mine
And she'll always be there, my love don't care about time

I laugh with her, cry with her, hold her close she is mine
The way she tells me of her love and never is she trying
She don't have to be assured of many good things to find
And she'll always be there, my love don't care about time

Her eyes are dark and deep with love, her hair hangs long and fine
She walks with ease and all she sees is never wrong or right
And with her arms around me tight I see her all in my mind
And she'll always be there my love don't care about time