A Former Byrd Still Soars
Lee Zimmerman
Posted On September 5, 2017
Regardless of whatever Chris Hillman chooses to do — or not to do — going forward, he’s already clinched his stature as one of the major initiators of Americana, an iconic individual who foretold the merger of rock, folk, country and bluegrass throughout much of the mid ‘60s and beyond. His career took flight with the Byrds of course, but continued to reach new heights with the Flying Burrito Brothers, Souther Hillman and Furay, Manassas, the Desert Rose Band and the subsequent efforts made on his own and with others.
It’s fortuitous then that Bidin’ My Time, Hillman’s first new solo album in 12 years, sometimes seems like deja vu. Produced by Tom Petty, an unabashed Byrds fan himself, the album features an array of guests who have figured prominently in Hillman’s past — Byrds bandmates David Crosby and Roger McGuinn, Desert Rose Band members Herb Pedersen, John Jorgenson, and Jay Dee Maness, Petty himself along with Heartbreakers Mike Campbell, Steve Ferrone and Benmont Tench, among the many.
If Hillman was intent on revisiting familiar terrain, he clearly succeeded. Remakes of classic Byrd songs “Bells of Rhymney and “She Don’t Care About Time” show up along with the decidedly more obscure “New Old John Robertson,” reprised from 1968’s Notorious Byrds Brothers (recorded after the original band had splintered). Of special note, a heretofore unreleased McGuinn-Hillman composition “Here She Comes Again” surfaces for the first time. Two other classic covers — the Everly Brothers’ “Walk Right Back” and Petty’s “Wildflowers” also figure among the album’s highlights.
Yet for all the ringing guitars and soft padded harmonies, Bidin’ My Time isn’t all past perfect. Hillman’s own “Such Is the World That We Live In” finds him offering some political pontification about the loss of America’s leadership in the world, while some thoughts about cash concerns dominate the unlikely lament “When I Get a Little Money.” Nevertheless, having favored familiarity for the most part, it’s clear that even if Hillman isn’t wholly nodding to nostalgia, he’s acknowledging past precepts regardless.
