Have You Seen Her Face
Encyclopedia
"Have You Seen Her Face" is a song by the American rock
band
The Byrds
, written by the group's bass player
Chris Hillman
and included on their 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday
. The song was released as the third single
to be taken from that album on May 22, 1967 and reached #74 on the Billboard Hot 100
. Although "Have You Seen Her Face" was issued as a single in most international markets, it was not released in the United Kingdom.
The song was written following a recording session for trumpet
player Hugh Masakela that Hillman had attended during 1966, a year that saw the bassist
blossoming as a songwriter. On The Byrds' previous album, Fifth Dimension
, Hillman's only songwriting contribution had been a shared writing credit for the instrumental
"Captain Soul". On Younger Than Yesterday, however, he is credited as the sole songwriter of four tracks, as well as the co-writer of "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
" with Jim McGuinn
.
"Have You Seen Her Face" has a strident structure and melody, greatly influenced by the British Invasion
groups of the mid-1960s and complimented by Hillman's melodic, Paul McCartney
-esque bass playing. The song also features a faux country and western
lead guitar
solo played by McGuinn on rhythm guitar
ist David Crosby
's Gretsch
Country Gentleman guitar
.
Despite its relatively poor showing on the U.S. charts, critical reaction to the song was positive, with Record World
describing it as a "Pretty contemporary love song" and Billboard
magazine commenting "the quartet has a strong commercial entry in this easy-beat folk-rocker with a compelling lyric." In recent years, Thomas Ward of the Allmusic website has described the song as "magnificent" and "one of The Byrds' great songs." Ward also noted that "the song distils the groups' many influences, from Indian music (in McGuinn’s wondrous guitar solo) to folk to rock and roll." Ward concluded his review by stating that "Have You Seen Her Face" was "one of the most outstanding songs of the period, by anyone."
The Byrds performed "Have You Seen Her Face" on the television program
s The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
and American Bandstand
, as well as featuring it in their performance at the Monterey Pop Festival
. The Byrds' performance of the song at Monterey is included on the 1992 The Monterey International Pop Festival CD
box set.
A remixed
and extended version of the song, lasting 2:40 and featuring a longer fade-out
than the original album and single version, was released on The Byrds box set in 1990. This extended version was later incorporated into the 1996 Columbia/Legacy
reissue of the Younger Than Yesterday album, replacing the original 2:25 version as the second track on the album.
"Have You Seen Her Face" was covered
by Southern Culture on the Skids
on their 2007 album, Countrypolitan Favorites and Marshall Crenshaw
also included a version of the song on his Live...My Truck Is My Home album. Additionally, a version of the song by the underground indie rock
band Sex Clark Five
was included as a bonus track on the 1996 reissue of their Strum and Drum! album.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, written by the group's bass player
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
and included on their 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday
Younger Than Yesterday
Younger Than Yesterday is the fourth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in February 1967 on Columbia Records . The album saw the band continuing to integrate elements of psychedelic rock into their music, a process they had begun on their previous LP...
. The song was released as the third single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
to be taken from that album on May 22, 1967 and reached #74 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Although "Have You Seen Her Face" was issued as a single in most international markets, it was not released in the United Kingdom.
The song was written following a recording session for trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
player Hugh Masakela that Hillman had attended during 1966, a year that saw the bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
blossoming as a songwriter. On The Byrds' previous album, Fifth Dimension
Fifth Dimension (album)
Fifth Dimension is the third album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in July 1966 on Columbia Records . Most of the album was recorded following the February 1966 departure of the band's principal songwriter Gene Clark...
, Hillman's only songwriting contribution had been a shared writing credit for the instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
"Captain Soul". On Younger Than Yesterday, however, he is credited as the sole songwriter of four tracks, as well as the co-writer of "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman and included on their 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday. The song was released as a single on January 9, 1967 and reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to...
" with Jim McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
.
"Have You Seen Her Face" has a strident structure and melody, greatly influenced by the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
groups of the mid-1960s and complimented by Hillman's melodic, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
-esque bass playing. The song also features a faux country and western
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
solo played by McGuinn on rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
ist David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
's Gretsch
Gretsch
The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...
Country Gentleman guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
.
Despite its relatively poor showing on the U.S. charts, critical reaction to the song was positive, with Record World
Record World
Record World magazine was one of the three main music industry trade publications in the United States, along with Billboard and Cash Box magazines. It was founded in 1946 under the name Music Vendor, but since 1964 changed it to Record World, under the ownership of Sid Parnes and Bob Austin, both...
describing it as a "Pretty contemporary love song" and Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine commenting "the quartet has a strong commercial entry in this easy-beat folk-rocker with a compelling lyric." In recent years, Thomas Ward of the Allmusic website has described the song as "magnificent" and "one of The Byrds' great songs." Ward also noted that "the song distils the groups' many influences, from Indian music (in McGuinn’s wondrous guitar solo) to folk to rock and roll." Ward concluded his review by stating that "Have You Seen Her Face" was "one of the most outstanding songs of the period, by anyone."
The Byrds performed "Have You Seen Her Face" on the television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
and American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
, as well as featuring it in their performance at the Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
. The Byrds' performance of the song at Monterey is included on the 1992 The Monterey International Pop Festival CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
box set.
A remixed
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
and extended version of the song, lasting 2:40 and featuring a longer fade-out
Fade (audio engineering)
In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theater lighting, in much the same way ....
than the original album and single version, was released on The Byrds box set in 1990. This extended version was later incorporated into the 1996 Columbia/Legacy
Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings is Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division. It was founded in 1990 by CBS Records under the leadership of Jerry Shulman, Richard Bauer, Gary Pacheco and Amy Herot to handle reissues of recordings from the vast catalogues of Columbia Records, Epic Records and associated...
reissue of the Younger Than Yesterday album, replacing the original 2:25 version as the second track on the album.
"Have You Seen Her Face" was covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Southern Culture on the Skids
Southern Culture on the Skids
Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band that was formed in 1983 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina...
on their 2007 album, Countrypolitan Favorites and Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...
also included a version of the song on his Live...My Truck Is My Home album. Additionally, a version of the song by the underground indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band Sex Clark Five
Sex Clark Five
Sex Clark Five is an underground indie rock band formed in the early 1980s in Huntsville, Alabama. Calling their inventive, sawed-off power pop songs "strum and drum" , SC5 released several albums that featured the jangly Rickenbacker guitar sound characteristic of Southern college rock bands of...
was included as a bonus track on the 1996 reissue of their Strum and Drum! album.