Despite the supposed Beach Boys/Beatles American-British rivalry, I’ve always felt that the Byrds were a more apt American “rival” for the Beatles — their songwriting was more consistent than the Beach Boys (although when Brian Wilson got it right, he really got it right) and usually seemed more sophisticated. In any case, “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better,” from their 1965 debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man, is definitely one of the highest of their high points — great energy, guitars, and harmonies; a song I believe the Beatles would have been proud to call their own. The Byrds definitely arrived fully formed.

A side note about this video clip I’m also including: despite what I said about not using live clips yesterday, I’m including this one because although they’re “live,” it’s completely lip-synced to the original version, so that’s what you hear (albeit with pretty bad sound quality). Also, I get a kick out of those go-go dancers, particularly around 0:28…and Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby (still looking young and healthy) certainly seem a bit bemused by it all, although I might just be projecting…