The Gary Usher producer poll

I had no idea he produced those Byrds' albums. Is the question which of these albums is the best one or which has his most memorable production work?

Up to you. Going for "Notorious Byrd Brothers" myself. Which is both the Byrds album with the best music and the Byrds album with the best production. :)

Notorious & Present Tense are such amazingly produced albums, it's a pity he didn't do more albums

I believe he produced some tracks on the Gene Clark "With The Gosdin Brothers" LP. Voted for Notorious, myself.

Geir's got this one right. But is that really the only albums he produced?

he produced this album by the ship that i'd like to hear:

http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/59/bf/d9a9baed0457b6b8817bcc65a0f400c4.jpg

he also produced lots of albums like this:

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20060627/220002198784.jpg

this is a good album of his:

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20060907/290026999777.jpg

you should really have super stocks albums on this poll too!

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20060621/150000344898.jpg

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20040517/4013676965.jpg

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20070322/130093047707.jpg

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20060223/4839763524.jpg

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20060705/120005082509.jpg

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20070401/130096631682.jpg

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20060708/270005687351.jpg

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20050731/4753555881.jpg

oops, that ship album went away. anyway, early 70's folk-rock album on elektra that is supposed to be pretty good. with a big ship on the cover.

Notorious Byrd Brothers it is -- although I love his solo record Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt and the other Sagittarius-related stuff (though find Present Tense a bit twee). Blue Marble (which is more an Usher than a Boettcher production) is both underrated and awesome.

Sagittarius. I never was able to get into the Byrds (sold back my copy of Sweetheart of the Rodeo after listening to it twice)

NBB in a landslide.

younger than yesterday is nearly as good an album, i think. sometime i think it's even better. it's got "why" on it, and "have you seen her face" and "my back pages"!

Oh yeah, I shoulda voted for that.

I vote for Surfink! Or, might have if I'd been given the option, and if I'd heard it. How the hell do you find & photograph this stuff on such short notice, Scott?!

you might want to look at the URLs of the images, Myonga :)

popsike wants money from me now :(

i SHOULD support them, but, but, but, it's the internet!

dude, the money thing is kind of a scam! accounts only usable from one computer at a time!

i.e. the store has an account we pay for, but half the time we can't use it cuz someone at the OTHER store is using it, or someone at HOME is using it, or..

But is that really the only albums he produced?

He did so many different things. Like songwriting, arranging, vocal arrangements etc. At least if that article on Wikipedia is something to trust, those are the only one where he is the credited producer, but he contributed lots.

As for all those motor/surf albums, he contributed as a songwriter.

"As for all those motor/surf albums, he contributed as a songwriter."

he produced them too!

most of them anyway. or he was arranger/co-producer/writer/etc. they banged that stuff out really fast.

"The height of the hot rod fad climaxed during a one month period when Roger and I actually wrote, and I recorded, over 50 car songs. By that time, I had purchased a new 426 Plymouth Hemi Superstock. It's interesting that I never did own a 409 Chevy; by the time I had "saved my dimes," the 426 was considerably faster. I should add that I won many events at the San Fernando dragstrip with my 426 and a young, exuberant Dennis Wilson by my side.

It's funny to note that as a result of my sucess with the Beach Boys and other recording artists, I was able to buy a new sky blue Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Many of my close friends accused me of selling out!!

It was a great period for the "California Sound" and for my life as well. It was a time of simplicity, innocence, surfing, cars, and musical innovation. I can clearly recall many nights at the local drive-in with Brian and myself, a couple of girls, and a six-pack, singing songs like Sherry, Soldier Boy, Locomotion, and Palisades Park at the top of our lungs."

I guess part of the problem here is the definition of producer. But I guess if we use the same criteria as Eno (just being around, providing a lot of ideas etc.), then he produced a lot more.

credits on a lot of those records are sketchy. the record companies just wanted them churned out quick. but he had a big hand in a LOT of that stuff. he put sessions together, got musicians together, etc. conducted, arranged. some of that stuff sounds awesome! lots of experimentation with sound, cuz nobody really cared what they were doing. the labels were just cashing in on a fad. just the singles he worked on alone! so much stuff. unbelievable the amount of work these guys did.

there's a discography here, but it's not complete by any means:

http://www.garyusher.com/

I went with The Ark.

I actually don't really like the production on those Byrds albums anymore and have issues with them. (not that Gar didn't do a nice job, it's just too close to home on both ends, like having your two best friends become best friends or something like that).

The Sagittarius stuff sounds great too, was tough call. He did a lot of great stuff and deserves big respect.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I voted for NBB, like everyone else, but I would have voted for "The blue marble" if it was there. It's such a sweet yet spooky record. I do like "Present tense", but there's not enough spook about that one.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

All right, now that the suspense is over I can de-bookmark this.

I tried to order "The Blue Marble" the other day, but apparently it was out of print. Hopefully there will be a re-release with the original cover, not with that pointless Poptones design that was on the recently deleted edition.

Skot, did you ever hear that 'The Ship' album ? (has anybody ?)

any good?