The Byrds

Formed 1964 in Los Angeles, CA - Disbanded 1973

Although they did not attain the huge success of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys other than for a short time in the mid-'60s, time has judged the Byrds to be almost as influential as those groups. They were not solely responsible for devising folk-rock, but were certainly responsible for melding the innovative energy of the British pop invasion with the lyrical and musical elements of contemporary folk music. The jangling, 12-string guitar sound of leader Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker became one of the standart elements of rock. Often described in their early days as a hybrid of Dylan and the Beatles. The Byrds' innovations have echoed nearly as strongly through subsequent generations featuring jangling guitars and dense harmonics.

Although the Byrds had perfected their blend of folk and rock by the time their single, "Mr. Tambourine Man," topped the charts in mid-1965, it was something of a miracle that the group had managed to form in the first place. Not a single member of the original quintet had extensive experience on electric instruments. They were inspired by the success of the Beatles to mix folk and rock. McGuinn had already been playing Beatles songs acoustically in Los Angeles folk clubs when Clark approached him to form an act, according to subsequent recollections, in the Peter & Gordon style. David Crosby soon joined to make them a trio, and they made a primitive demo as the Jet Set that was nonetheless bursting with promise. With the help of session musicians, they released a single on Elektra as the Beefeaters that, while a flop, showed them getting quite close to the folk-rock sound that would electrify the pop scene in a few months.

The Beefeaters, soon renamed the Byrds, and became a quintet with the addition of drummer Michael Clarke and bluegrass mandolinist Chris Hillman, who , although he had never played the instrument before, was enlisted to play electric bass. The band were so lacking in equipment in their early stages that Clarke played on cardboard boxes during their first rehearsals, but they determined to master their instruments and become a full-fledged rock band (many demos from this period would later surface for official release). They managed to procure a demo of a new Dylan song, "Mr. Tambourine Man"; by eliminating some verses and adding instantly memorable 12-string guitar leads and Beatlesque harmonies, they came up with the first big folk-rock smash. For the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single, the band's vocals and McGuinn's easily recognisable Rickenbacker, were backed by session musicians, though the band themselves performed on their later recordings.

As the first long-haired American group to compete with the British Invasion bands visually as well as musically, the Byrds were soon anointed as the American counterpart to the Beatles by the press, legions of fans, and George Harrison himself. Their 1965 debut LP, Mr. Tambourine Man, was a fabulous album that mixed stellar interpretations of Dylan and Pete Seeger tunes with strong, more romantic and pop-based originals, usually written by Gene Clark in the band's early days. A few months later, their version of Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!" became another number one hit and instant classic, featuring more great chiming guitar lines and ethereal, interweaving harmonies. While their second LP (Turn! Turn! Turn!) wasn't as strong as their debut full-length, the band continued to move forward at a dizzying pace. In early 1966, the "Eight Miles High" single heralded the birth of psychedelia, with its druglike (intentionally or otherwise) lyrical imagery, rumbling bass line, and a frenzied McGuinn guitar solo that took its inspiration from John Coltrane and Indian music.

The Byrds suffered a major loss right after "Eight Miles High" with the departure of Gene Clark, their primary songwriter and, along with McGuinn, chief lead vocalist. The reason for his resignation, ironically, was fear of flying, although other pressures were at work as well. "Eight Miles High," amazingly, would be their last Top 20 single; many radio stations banned the record for its alleged drug references, halting its progress at number 14. This ended the Byrds' brief period as commercial challengers to the Beatles, but they regrouped and continued as a quartet. McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman assumed a much larger chunk of the songwriting responsibilities. The third album, Fifth Dimension, contained more groundbreaking folk-rock and psychedelia on tracks like "Fifth Dimension," "I See You," and "John Riley," although it (like several of their classic early albums) mixed sheer brilliance with tracks that were oddly half-baked or carelessly executed.

Younger Than Yesterday, (1967) which included the small hits "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" and "My Back Pages" (another Dylan cover), was another high point, Hillman and Crosby in particular taking their writing to a new level. In 1967, Crosby would assert a much more prominent role in the band, singing and writing some of his best material. He wasn't getting along so well with McGuinn and Hillman, though, and was jettisoned from the Byrds partway into the recording of The Notorious Byrd Brothers. Gene Clark, drafted into the band as a replacement, left after only a few weeks, and by the end of 1967, Michael Clarke was also gone. Remarkably, in the midst of this chaos (not to mention diminishing record sales), they continued to sound as good as ever on Notorious. This was another effort that mixed electronic experimentation and folk-rock mastery with aplomb, with hints of a growing interest in country music.

As McGuinn and Hillman rebuilt the group one more time in early 1968, McGuinn mused upon the exciting possibility of a double album that would play as nothing less than a history of contemporary music, evolving from traditional folk and country to jazz and electronic music. Toward this end, he hired Gram Parsons, he has since said, to play keyboards. Under Parsons' influence, however, the Byrds were soon going full blast into country music, with Parsons taking a large share of the guitar and vocal chores. In 1968, McGuinn, Hillman, Parsons, and drummer Kevin Kelly recorded Sweetheart of the Rodeo, which was probably the first album to be widely labeled as country-rock.

Opinions as to the merits of Rodeo remain sharply divided among Byrds fans. Some see it as a natural continuation of the group's innovations; other bewail the loss of the band's trademark crystalline guitar jangle, and the short-circuited potential of McGuinn's most ambitious experiments. However one feels, there's no doubt that it marked the end, or at least a drastic revamping, of the "classic" Byrds sound of the 1965-68 period (bookended by the Tambourine Man and Notorious albums). Parsons, the main catalyst for the metamorphosis, left the band after about six months, partially in objection to a 1968 Byrds tour of South Africa.

Chris Hillman left the Byrds by the end of 1968 to form the Flying Burrito Brothers with Parsons. Although McGuinn kept the Byrds going for about another five years with other musicians (most notably former country picker Clarence White), essentially the Byrds name was a front for Roger McGuinn and backing band. Opinions, again, remain sharply divided about the merits of latter-day Byrds albums. McGuinn was (and is) such an idiosyncratic and pleasurable talent that fans and critics are inclined to give him some slack; no one else plays the 12-string as well, he's a fine arranger, and his Lennon-meets-Dylan vocals are immediately distinctive. Yet aside from some good echoes of vintage Byrds like "Chestnut Mare," "Jesus Is Just Alright," and "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man," nothing from the post-1968 Byrds albums resonates with nearly the same effervescent quality and authority of their classic 1965-68 period.

The original quintet actually got back together for a one-off reunion album in 1973; though it made the Top 20, it was a classic example of the futility of a great band reuniting in an attempt to fan the dying flames of a once burning career.

The original Byrds continued to pursue solo careers and outside projects throughout the 1970s and 1980s. McGuinn, Clark, and Hillman had some success at the end of the 1970s with a contemporary variation on the Byrds' sound; in the 1980s Hillman enjoyed mainstream country success with the Desert Rose Band. The Byrds' legend was tarnished by squabbles over which members of the original lineup had the rights to use the Byrds name; for quite a while, drummer Michael Clarke even toured with a "Byrds" that featured no other original members. The Byrds were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991; Gene Clark died several months later after battling with drug problems, and Michael Clarke died in 1993, permanently ending the prospect of a further reunion of the original quintet.

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Order Your CD's
Helen Reddy - The Essentials
The Byrds - Turn Turn Turn
  1. Turn! Turn! Turn!(To Everything There Is A Season) - (mono)
  2. It Won't Be Wrong
  3. Set You Free This Time
  4. Lay Down Your Weary Tune
  5. He Was A Friend Of Mine
  6. The World Turns All Around Her
  7. Satisfied Mind
  8. If You're Gone
  9. The Times They Are A-Changin'
  10. Wait And See
  11. Oh! Susannah
  12. The Day Walk (Never Before)
  13. She Don't Care About Time - (original mono single version)
  14. The Times They Are A-Changin, - (previously unreleased, first version)
  15. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - (previously unreleased, version 1)
  16. She Don't Care About Time - (previously unreleased, version 1)
  17. The World Turns All Around Her- (previously unreleased, alternate mix)
  18. Stranger In A Strange Land - (previously unreleased, instrumental)

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