Blondie at So's Your Mother's in Des Moines, with The Byrds?

[onkster]

Forgive me if I somehow missed this before--but...Blondie was in The Byrds?

There's a new Facebook group on the fabled Des Moines, IA music venue called So's Your Mother's, that started in 1971, and lasted till maybe the 90s. Carl Perkins played there, and apparently a version of The Byrds. Here's what Clark Williams posted there today--revelatory to me:

"One night Gene Clark and Blondie Chaplin's version of the Byrds played there and showed up very very late. What was left of the crowd weren't happy.
They played a short while and told us they would, if I remember right, play a free show the next week.The Byrds showed up on time. When I saw Gene's facial expression while he sung, you could tell that he lived those songs.
Blondie Chaplin, a latter member of the Beach Boys sang a song that he co-wrote with the Beach Boys from the album "Holland"called "Sail on Sail on Sailor".
What a meld of style and music.
So's Your Mother, The Byrds and a bit of The Beach Boys."

Wish I could have been there for that!

[Pretty Funky]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NCXfO_cHdw

[LeeDempsey]

Yep, I saw "The Byrds" in Charleston, SC in 1985.  I believe the group was legally billed as "The Byrds Revisited" on the handbills and in print ads, but in a radio promo for upcoming concerts in Charleston they just called them "The Byrds."  The group included Gene Clark, Michael Clark, Blondie, Rick Roberts of Firefall, Skip Battyn, and one other (John York, I believe, although Rick Danko of The Band played some shows).  Before the show I introduced myself to Blondie and told him I was a fan of his days in the Beach Boys, and also a fan of The Flame.  He seemed surprised that anyone even knew who The Flame were.  I asked him if he was going to play any Beach Boys songs, and he said he would sing "Sail on Sailor."  I remember asking him if there was any chance of throwing "Funky Pretty" or "See the Light" into the set, and he laughed and said no, he was happy just to get his spotlight on "Sailor."  He played the same Les Paul Gold Top that can be seen in pictures from the Beach Boys In Concert album.

We talked again after the show.  I asked about The Flame's second album, and he confirmed that it was completely finished, but he didn't have a tape.  He told me that he didn't even own a copy of The Flame's first album; I was tempted to drive home and get mine and give it to him.  Very nice guy, and he seemed appreciative that someone knew his musical background.

Lee