Turn! Turn! Turn! (album)

Turn! Turn! Turn!
Studio album by
the Byrds
ReleasedDecember 6, 1965 (1965-12-06)
RecordedJune 28 – November 1, 1965
StudioColumbia, Hollywood
GenreFolk rock
Length30:24
LabelColumbia
ProducerTerry Melcher
The Byrds chronology
Mr. Tambourine Man
(1965) 		Turn! Turn! Turn!
(1965) 		Fifth Dimension
(1966)
Singles from Turn! Turn! Turn!
  1. "Turn! Turn! Turn!"
    Released: October 1, 1965
  2. "Set You Free This Time"
    Released: January 10, 1966
  3. "It Won't Be Wrong"
    Released: February 18, 1966
Alternative cover
Cover of the 1977 Embassy Records reissue (CBS 31526)

Turn! Turn! Turn! is the second studio album by the American rock band the Byrds, released on December 6, 1965, by Columbia Records.[1] Like its predecessor, Mr. Tambourine Man, the album epitomized the folk rock genre and continued the band's successful mix of vocal harmony and jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar.[2] The album's lead single and title track, "Turn! Turn! Turn!", which was adapted by Pete Seeger from text in the Book of Ecclesiastes, had previously been arranged in a chamber-folk style by the Byrd's lead guitarist Jim McGuinn for folk singer Judy Collins' third album,[3] but the arrangement he used for the Byrds' recording of the song utilizes the same folk-rock style as the band's previous hit singles.[4]

The album peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and went to number 11 in the United Kingdom.[5][6] The "Turn! Turn! Turn!" single preceded the album by two months and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[7] Another single taken from the album, "Set You Free This Time", was less successful and failed to break into the top 50 in the U.S.[7]

On Turn! Turn! Turn!, McGuinn's contributions to songwriting increased and rhythm guitarist David Crosby received his first writing credit on a Byrds' album, but the band's prolific songwriter Gene Clark still contributed most of the original material.[8] The album included two Bob Dylan covers: "The Times They Are a-Changin'" and the then-unreleased song, "Lay Down Your Weary Tune".[8] It would be the last Byrds' album to feature the full participation of Gene Clark until the release of the original quintet's 1973 reunion album, Byrds.[9]

  1. ^ Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd ed.). Rogan House. pp. 541–546. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
  2. ^ "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  3. ^ Fricke, David. (1996). Turn! Turn! Turn! (1996 CD liner notes).
  4. ^ Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd ed.). Rogan House. pp. 123–128. ISBN 0-9529540-1-X.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel. (2002). Top Pop Albums 1955–2001. Record Research Inc. p. 121. ISBN 0-89820-147-0.
  6. ^ Brown, Tony. (2000). The Complete Book of the British Charts. Omnibus Press. p. 130. ISBN 0-7119-7670-8.
  7. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel. (2008). Top Pop Singles 1955–2006. Record Research Inc. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7.
  8. ^ a b Rogan, Johnny. (1996). Turn! Turn! Turn! (1996 CD liner notes).
  9. ^ "The Byrds Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-12-08.