The Byrds

The Byrds

The Byrds in 1965
From left to right: David Crosby, Gene Clark, Michael Clarke, Chris Hillman, and Roger McGuinn
Background information
Origin Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres Rock, pop, folk rock, psychedelic rock, raga rock, country rock
Years active 1964–1973; 1988–1990
Labels Columbia, Asylum, Elektra
Associated acts The Jet Set, The Beefeaters, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Firefall, The Desert Rose Band
Website www.byrds.com
Past members
Roger McGuinn
Gene Clark
David Crosby
Chris Hillman
Michael Clarke
Kevin Kelley
Gram Parsons
Clarence White
Gene Parsons
John York
Skip Battin

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964.[1] The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (aka Jim McGuinn) remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973.[2] Although they only managed to attain the huge commercial success of contemporaries like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Rolling Stones for a short period of time (1965–66), The Byrds are today considered by critics to be one of the most influential bands of the 1960s.[1] Initially, they pioneered the musical genre of folk rock, melding the influence of The Beatles and other British Invasion bands with contemporary and traditional folk music.[3] As the 1960s progressed, the band were also influential in originating psychedelic rock, raga rock, and country rock.[1][4][5] In addition, the band's signature blend of clear harmony singing and McGuinn's jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar has continued to be influential on popular music up to the present day.[1][6] Among the band's most enduring songs are their cover versions of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!", along with the self-penned originals, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "Eight Miles High", "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star", and "Chestnut Mare".

The original five-piece line-up of The Byrds consisted of Jim McGuinn (lead guitar, vocals), Gene Clark (tambourine, vocals), David Crosby (rhythm guitar, vocals), Chris Hillman (bass guitar, vocals), and Michael Clarke (drums).[7] However, this version of the band was relatively short-lived and by early 1966, Clark had left due to problems associated with anxiety and his increasing isolation within the group.[8] The Byrds continued as a quartet until late 1967, when Crosby and Clarke also departed the band.[9] McGuinn and Hillman decided to recruit new members, including country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, but by late 1968, Hillman and Parsons had also exited the band.[1] McGuinn, who by this time had changed his name to Roger after a flirtation with the Subud religion,[2] elected to rebuild the band's membership and between 1968 and 1973, he helmed a new incarnation of The Byrds, featuring guitarist Clarence White among others.[1] McGuinn disbanded the then current line-up in early 1973, to make way for a reunion of the original quintet.[10] The Byrds' final album was released in March 1973, with the reunited group disbanding soon afterwards.[11]

Several ex-members of the band went on to have successful careers of their own, either as solo artists or as part of groups, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or The Desert Rose Band.[1] In the late 1980s, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke both began touring as The Byrds, prompting a legal challenge from McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman over the rights to the band's name.[12] As a result of this, McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman performed a series of reunion concerts as The Byrds between 1988 and 1990, and also recorded four new Byrds' songs.[13][14] On January 16, 1991, The Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an occasion that saw the five original members performing together for the last time.[15][16] McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman still remain active but Gene Clark died of a heart attack in 1991, and Michael Clarke died of liver failure in 1993.[17][18]

Contents

History

Formation (1964)

"McGuinn and I started picking together in The Troubadour bar which was called 'The Folk Den' at the time ... We went into the lobby and started picking on the stairway where the echo was good and David came walking up and just started singing away with us doing the harmony part ... We hadn't even approached him."
—Gene Clark recalling the moment that marked the genesis of The Byrds[19]

The nucleus of The Byrds formed in early 1964, when Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby came together as a trio.[20] All three musicians had a background rooted in folk music, with each one having worked as a folk singer on the acoustic coffeehouse circuit during the early 1960s.[1] In addition, they had all served time, independently of each other, as sidemen in various "collegiate folk" groups: McGuinn with The Limeliters and the Chad Mitchell Trio, Clark with The New Christy Minstrels, and Crosby with Les Baxter's Balladeers.[21][22][23] McGuinn had also spent time as a professional songwriter at the Brill Building in New York City, under the tutelage of Bobby Darin.[24] By early 1964, McGuinn had become enamored with the music of The Beatles, and had begun to intersperse his solo folk repertoire with acoustic versions of Beatles' songs.[20] While performing at The Troubadour folk club in Los Angeles, McGuinn was approached by fellow Beatles fan Gene Clark, and the pair soon formed a Peter and Gordon-style duo, playing Beatles' covers, Beatlesque renditions of traditional folk songs, and some self-penned material.[1][20][25] Soon after, David Crosby introduced himself to the duo at The Troubadour and began harmonizing with them on some of their songs.[19] Impressed by the blend of their voices, the three musicians formed a trio and named themselves The Jet Set, a moniker inspired by McGuinn's love of aeronautics.[19]

Crosby introduced McGuinn and Clark to his associate Jim Dickson, who had access to World Pacific Studios, where he had been recording demos of Crosby.[19] Dickson quickly took on management duties for the group, utilizing World Pacific to record the trio as they honed their craft and perfected their blend of Beatles pop and Bob Dylan-style folk.[26][27] It was during the rehearsals at World Pacific that the band's folk rock sound—a blend of their own Beatles-influenced material and their Beatlesque covers of contemporary folk songs—began to coalesce.[27] Initially, this blend arose organically from the band's own folk music roots and their desire to emulate The Beatles, but before long, the band began to actively attempt to bridge the gap between folk and rock.[19][28]

Drummer Michael Clarke was added to The Jet Set in mid-1964.[29] Clarke was recruited largely due to his good looks and Brian Jones-esque hairstyle, rather than for his musical experience, which was limited to having played congas in a semi-professional capacity in and around San Francisco and L.A.[30] Clarke did not even own his own drum kit and initially had to play on a makeshift setup consisting of cardboard boxes and a tambourine.[30] As rehearsals continued, Dickson arranged a one-off single deal for the group with Elektra Records' founder Jac Holzman.[8] The single, which coupled the band originals "Please Let Me Love You" and "Don't Be Long", featured McGuinn, Clark, and Crosby, augmented by session musicians Ray Pohlman on bass and Earl Palmer on drums.[8] In an attempt to cash in on the British Invasion craze that was dominating the American charts at the time, the band's name was changed for the single release to the suitably British sounding The Beefeaters.[8] "Please Let Me Love You" was issued by Elektra Records on October 7, 1964 but it failed to chart.[31]

In August 1964, Dickson managed to acquire an acetate disc of the then-unreleased Bob Dylan song "Mr. Tambourine Man", which he felt would make an effective cover for The Jet Set.[29][32] Although the band were initially unimpressed with the song, they began rehearsing it with a rock band arrangement, changing the time signature from 2/4 to a rockier 4/4 configuration in the process.[32][33] Soon after, inspired by The Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night, the band decided to equip themselves with similar instruments to their heroes: a Rickenbacker twelve-string for McGuinn, a Gretsch Tennessean for Clark (although Crosby commandeered it soon after), and a Ludwig drum kit for Clarke.[29][34] In October 1964, Dickson recruited mandolin player Chris Hillman as The Jet Set's bassist.[35] Hillman's background was more oriented towards country music than folk or rock, having been a member of the bluegrass groups the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, the Golden State Boys (aka The Hillmen), and concurrently with his recruitment into The Jet Set, The Green Grass Group.[20][36] Through connections that Dickson had with impresario Benny Shapiro, and with a helpful recommendation from jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, the group signed a recording contract with Columbia Records on November 10, 1964.[37] Two weeks later, on Thanksgiving 1964, The Jet Set decided to rename themselves The Byrds, a moniker that retained the theme of flight and also echoed the deliberate misspelling of "The Beatles".[37][38]

Folk rock (1965–1966)

On January 20, 1965, The Byrds entered Columbia Studios in Hollywood to record "Mr. Tambourine Man" for release as their debut single on Columbia.[31][39] Since the band had not yet completely gelled musically, McGuinn was the only Byrd to play on "Mr. Tambourine Man" and its Gene Clark penned B-side, "I Knew I'd Want You".[37] Rather than using band members, producer Terry Melcher instead hired The Wrecking Crew, a collection of top session musicians including Hal Blaine, Larry Knechtel, Jerry Cole, and Leon Russell, who (along with McGuinn on guitar) provided the instrumental backing track over which McGuinn, Crosby and Clark sang.[37][40] By the time that the sessions for their debut album began in March 1965, however, Melcher was satisfied that the band was competent enough to record its own musical backing.[40] However, the use of outside musicians on The Byrds' debut single has given rise to the persistent myth that all of the playing on their debut album was done by session musicians.[1]

While the band waited for "Mr. Tambourine Man" to be released, they began a residency at Ciro's Le Disc nightclub on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.[41] The band's regular appearances at Ciro's during March and April 1965 allowed them to hone their ensemble playing, perfect their aloof stage persona, and expand their repertoire.[41][42] In addition, it was during their residency at the nightclub that the band first began to accrue a dedicated following among L.A.'s youth culture and hip Hollywood fraternity, with scenesters like Kim Fowley, Peter Fonda, Arthur Lee, and Sonny & Cher regularly attending the band's performances.[43][44][45] On March 26, 1965, Bob Dylan made an impromtu visit to the club and joined The Byrds on stage for a rendition of Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me to Do".[41] The excitement generated by The Byrds at Ciro's quickly made them a must see fixture on L.A.'s nightclub scene and resulted in hordes of teenagers filling the sidewalks outside the club, desperate to get in and see the band perform.[41] A number of noted music historians and authors, including Richie Unterberger, Domenic Priore, and Peter Buckley, have suggested that the crowds of young hipsters that gathered at Ciro's to see The Byrds represented the first stirrings of the West Coast hippie counterculture.[7][42][46]

Columbia Records eventually released the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single on April 12, 1965.[31] The full, electric rock band treatment that The Byrds and Terry Melcher had given the song effectively created the template for the musical subgenre of folk rock.[47][48] McGuinn's melodic, jangling twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar playing—which was heavily compressed to produce an extremely bright and sustained tone—was immediately influential and has remained so to the present day.[39][49] The single also featured another major characteristic of the band's sound: their complex harmony singing, which usually featured McGuinn and Clark in unison, with Crosby providing the high harmony.[50][51] Additionally, the song's abstract lyrics took rock and pop songwriting to new heights; never before had such intellectual and literary wordplay been combined with rock instrumentation by a popular music group.[52]

Within three months "Mr. Tambourine Man" had become the first folk rock smash hit,[53] reaching #1 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart.[54][55] The single's success initiated the folk rock boom of 1965 and 1966, during which a slew of Byrds-influenced acts flooded the American and British charts.[52][56] The Mr. Tambourine Man album followed on June 21, 1965,[31] peaking at #6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and #7 on the UK Albums Chart.[55][57] The album mixed reworkings of folk songs, including Pete Seeger's musical adaptation of the Idris Davies' poem "The Bells of Rhymney", with a number of other Dylan covers and the band's own compositions, the majority of which were written by Gene Clark.[58][59] In particular, Clark's "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" has gone on to become a rock music standard,[60] with many critics considering it one of the band's and Clark's best songs.[61][62][63] The Mr. Tambourine Man album, like the single of the same name, was influential in popularizing folk rock[58] and served to establish the band as an internationally successful rock act, representing the first effective American challenge to the dominance of The Beatles and the British Invasion.[1][64]

The Byrds' next single was "All I Really Want To Do", another interpretation of a Dylan song.[65] Issued on June 14, 1965, while "Mr. Tambourine Man" was still climbing the U.S. charts, the single was rush-released by Columbia Records in an attempt to bury a rival cover version that Cher had released simultaneously on Imperial Records.[65][66] A chart battle ensued, but The Byrds' rendition of the song stalled at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100, while Cher's version reached #15.[66] The reverse was true in the UK, however, where The Byrds' version reached #4, while Cher's recording peaked at #9.[67]

For their third Columbia single, The Byrds initially intended to release a cover of Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (it was even premiered on the Californian radio station KRLA),[68] but instead they decided to record "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There is a Season)", a Pete Seeger composition with lyrics adapted almost entirely from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes.[69][70] The song was brought to the group by McGuinn, who had previously arranged it in a chamber-folk style while working on folksinger Judy Collins' 1963 album, Judy Collins 3.[70] The Byrds' cover of "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There is a Season)" was issued on October 29, 1965 and became the band's second U.S. #1 single, as well as the title track for their second album.[70] Released as the Vietnam War continued to escalate, the single's message of peace and tolerance struck a nerve with the American record buying public and represented the high-water mark of folk rock as a chart trend.[70][71]

The Byrds' second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, was released in December 1965,[72] and like their debut, it comprised a mixture of group originals, folk songs, and Bob Dylan covers, all characterized by the group's clear harmonies and McGuinn's distinctive guitar sound.[73] However, the album featured more of the band's own compositions than its predecessor, with Gene Clark in particular coming to the fore as a songwriter;[74] his songs from this period, including "The World Turns All Around Her", "She Don't Care About Time", and "Set You Free This Time", are widely regarded as among the best of the folk rock genre.[75][76] The latter song was even chosen for release as a single in January 1966, but its densely worded lyrics, melancholy melody, and ballad-like tempo contributed to it stalling at #63 on the Billboard chart and failing to reach the UK chart altogether.[77][78]

Psychedelia (1965–1967)

On December 22, 1965, The Byrds recorded a new, self-penned composition titled "Eight Miles High" at RCA Studios in Hollywood.[79] The song represented a creative leap forward for the band[80] and is often considered the first full-blown psychedelic rock recording by critics, although other contemporaneous acts, such as Donovan and The Yardbirds, were also exploring similar musical territory.[81][82][83] The song was also pivotal in transmuting folk rock into the new musical forms of psychedelia and raga rock.[84][85] However, Columbia Records refused to release the band's first version of the song because it had been recorded at another record company's studios.[86] As a result, the band were forced to re-record "Eight Miles High" at Columbia Studios in Los Angeles on January 24 and 25, 1966, and it was this re-recorded version that would be released as a single.[87][88]

The song is marked by McGuinn's groundbreaking lead guitar playing, which saw the guitarist attempting to emulate the free form jazz saxophone playing of John Coltrane, and in particular, the song "India" from his Impressions album.[84] "Eight Miles High" also exhibits the influence of the Indian classical music of Ravi Shankar in the droning quality of the song's vocal melody and in McGuinn's guitar playing.[89][90] The song's subtle use of Indian influences resulted in it being labeled as "raga rock" by the music press, but in fact, it was the single's B-side "Why" that drew more directly on Indian ragas.[84][89] Upon release, "Eight Miles High" was banned by many U.S. radio stations, following allegations made by the broadcasting trade journal the Gavin Report, that its lyrics advocated recreational drug use.[91] The band and their management strenuously denied these allegations, stating that the song's lyrics actually described an airplane flight to London and the band's subsequent concert tour of England.[91] The relatively modest chart success of "Eight Miles High" (#14 in the U.S. and #24 in the UK) has been largely attributed to the broadcasting ban, although the challenging and slightly uncommercial nature of the track is another possible reason for its failure to reach the Top 10.[84][91][92]

In February 1966, just prior to the release of "Eight Miles High", Gene Clark left the band.[93] His departure was partly due to his fear of flying, which made it impossible for him to keep up with The Byrds' itinerary, and partly due to his increasing isolation within the band.[94] Clark, who had witnessed a fatal airplane crash as a youth, had a panic attack on a plane bound for New York and as a result, he disembarked from the aircraft and refused to take the flight.[95] In effect, Clark's exit from the plane represented his exit from The Byrds, with McGuinn telling him, "If you can't fly, you can't be a Byrd."[94] However, it has become known in the years since the incident that there were other stress related factors at work, as well as resentment within the band that Gene's songwriting income had made him the wealthiest member of the group.[94][95] Clark was subsequently signed by Columbia as a solo artist and went on to produce a critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful body of work.[12]

The Byrds' third album, Fifth Dimension, was released in July 1966.[96] Much of the album's material continued to build on the band's new psychedelic sound, with McGuinn extending his exploration of jazz and raga styles on tracks such as "I See You" and the Crosby-penned "What's Happening?!?!".[97] The album's title track, "5D (Fifth Dimension)", was released as a single ahead of the album and was, like "Eight Miles High" before it, banned by a number of U.S. radio stations for supposedly featuring lyrics that advocated drug use.[77][98] The Fifth Dimension album received a mixed critical reception upon release[98] and was less commercially successful than its predecessors, peaking at #24 in the U.S. and #27 in the UK.[55][57]

The band returned to the studio between November 28 and December 8, 1966 to record their fourth album, Younger Than Yesterday.[99] The first song to be recorded was the McGuinn and Hillman penned "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star", a satirical and heavily sarcastic jibe at the manufactured nature of groups like The Monkees.[100][101] The song features the trumpet playing of South African musician Hugh Masekela and as such, marks the first appearance of brass on a Byrds' recording.[102] "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" was issued as a single in January 1967 and achieved modest chart success in America but failed to chart in the UK.[103] The song was also included as the opening track on Younger Than Yesterday.[104] Released in February 1967, the album was more varied than its predecessor and saw the band successfully mixing psychedelia with folk rock and country and western influences.[104] Although it received generally positive reviews upon its release, the album was largely overlooked by the record buying public at the time and consequently it peaked at #24 on the Billboard chart and #37 on the UK Albums Chart.[103][104] In addition to "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star", Younger Than Yesterday also includes the jazz-tinged Crosby ballad "Everybody's Been Burned", a cover of Dylan's "My Back Pages" (which was later released as a single), and a quartet of Chris Hillman-penned songs, which found the bassist emerging fully formed as an accomplished songwriter.[102][104] Two of Hillman's country-oriented compositions on the album, "Time Between" and "The Girl with No Name", can be seen as early indicators of the country rock direction that the band would pursue on later albums.[102]

Throughout the latter-half of 1967, The Byrds worked on completing their fifth album, The Notorious Byrd Brothers.[99] The album saw the band taking their psychedelic experimentation to its furthest extremes by mixing folk rock, country music, jazz, and psychedelia (often within a single song), while utilizing innovative studio-based production techniques such as phasing and flanging.[105][106][107] The album featured contributions from a number of noted session musicians, including bluegrass guitarist and future member of The Byrds, Clarence White.[108] White, who had also played on Younger Than Yesterday,[105] contributed country-influenced guitar to the tracks "Natural Harmony", "Wasn't Born to Follow" (which was later included on the Easy Rider soundtrack album), and "Change Is Now".[99][109] Upon release, the album was almost universally praised by music critics but it was only moderately successful commercially, particularly in the United States where it peaked at a disappointing #47.[110] However, the album's reputation has grown over the years and today it is widely regarded by critics and fans as one of The Byrds' best album releases.[106][111]

Line-up changes (1967–1968)

Throughout the latter half of 1967 there was increasing tension and acrimony between the members of the band, which eventually resulted in the departures of both Crosby and Clarke.[105][106] McGuinn and Hillman became increasingly irritated by what they saw as Crosby's overbearing egotism and his attempts to dictate the band's musical direction.[112][113] In addition, during The Byrds performance at the Monterey Pop Festival on June 17, 1967, Crosby gave lengthy in-between-song speeches on controversial subjects, including the JFK assassination and the benefits of giving LSD to "all the statesmen and politicians in the world", to the intense annoyance of the other band members.[114] He further irritated his bandmates by performing with rival group Buffalo Springfield at Monterey, filling in for ex-member Neil Young.[115] His reputation within the band deteriorated even more following the commercial failure of "Lady Friend", the first Byrds' single to feature a song penned solely by Crosby on the A-side, which stalled at #82 on the Billboard chart.[112][116]

Tensions within the band finally erupted in August 1967, during recording sessions for The Notorious Byrd Brothers album, when Michael Clarke quit the group over disputes with his bandmates and his dissatisfaction with the material that the songwriting members of the band were providing.[18][117][118] Session drummers Jim Gordon and Hal Blaine were brought in to replace Clarke temporarily.[18][117] Then, in September, Crosby refused to participate in the recording of the Goffin–King song "Goin' Back",[117] considering it to be inferior to his own "Triad", a controversial song about a ménage à trois that was in direct competition with "Goin' Back" for a place on the album.[106] Crosby felt that the band should rely on self-penned, original material for their albums, rather than cover material by other artists and writers.[119] He would eventually give "Triad" to the San Francisco band Jefferson Airplane, who included a recording of it on their 1968 album, Crown of Creation.[117][120] Tensions reached breaking point during October 1967, when McGuinn and Hillman drove to Crosby's home and fired him from the band, stating that they would be better off without him.[113] Crosby subsequently received a cash settlement, with which he bought a sailboat[113] and soon after, he began working with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash in the successful supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash.[23]

Following Crosby's departure from The Byrds, Gene Clark briefly rejoined the band, but left just three weeks later, after again refusing to board an aircraft while on tour.[121] There is some disagreement among biographers and band historians as to whether or not Clark actually participated in the recording sessions for The Notorious Byrd Brothers.[119] There is evidence to suggest that Clark did indeed contribute backing vocals to the songs "Goin' Back" and "Space Odyssey", although, if this is true, his contributions are not easily discernable and must have been buried very low in the mix by producer Gary Usher.[119][121] Michael Clarke also returned to the band briefly, towards the end of the album sessions, before being informed by McGuinn and Hillman that he was once again an ex-member of The Byrds.[108]

Now reduced to a duo, McGuinn and Hillman elected to hire new band members. Hillman's cousin Kevin Kelley was quickly recruited as the band's new drummer[122] and the trio embarked on an early 1968 college tour in support of The Notorious Byrd Brothers.[123] It soon became apparent, however, that recreating the band's studio recordings with a three-piece line-up wasn't going to be possible and so, McGuinn and Hillman, in a fateful decision for their future career direction, hired Gram Parsons as a keyboard player, although he quickly moved to guitar.[123][124] Although Parsons and Kelley were both considered full members of The Byrds, they actually received a salary from McGuinn and Hillman, and did not sign with Columbia Records when The Byrds' recording contract was renewed on February 29, 1968.[125] Following his induction into the band, Parsons began to assert his own musical agenda in which he intended to marry his love of country and western music with youth culture's passion for rock and in doing so, make country music fashionable for a young audience.[124][126] He found a kindred spirit in Hillman, who had played mandolin in a number of notable bluegrass bands before joining The Byrds.[124] In addition, Hillman had also previously persuaded The Byrds to incorporate subtle country influences into their music on his songs "Time Between" and "The Girl with No Name" from the Younger Than Yesterday album.[124] He and Parsons persuaded McGuinn to change direction and explore country music.[123]

Country rock (1968–1973)

Having already begun recording sessions for their next album at Columbia's Nashville studios, The Byrds played at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, on March 15, 1968.[127] The band was the first group of hippie "longhairs" ever to play at the venerable country music institution, a fact that caused controversy among the Nashville establishment at the time. The Byrds had all had their hair cut shorter than they normally wore it specifically for their appearance at the Grand Ole Opry but this did not appease their detractors.[127] Following this troubled concert appearance, the band continued to record their next album, their first in an entirely country style, with Parsons choosing and singing many of the songs. On July 8, however, just prior to a series of concerts in South Africa, Parsons quit the Byrds on the grounds that he did not want to perform in the racially segregated country.[127]

Although unsuccessful commercially (US #77), Sweetheart of the Rodeo is widely considered the first country-rock album by a major rock band, pre-dating Dylan's Nashville Skyline by over six months. As for the first country-rock album overall, that distinction is often reserved for Parsons's own Safe at Home, recorded with his group the International Submarine Band. Safe At Home was released in early 1968 by Lee Hazlewood's LHI Records, whose contract with Parsons created legal complications for Columbia Records and for Parsons himself.[19] Parsons would relinquish the International Submarine Band name and future royalties. Meanwhile The Byrds would replace or bury three of Parsons lead vocals on Sweetheart of the Rodeo: "You Don't Miss Your Water", "The Christian Life," and "One Hundred Years from Now." Of these vocals, Hillman would tell Richard Williams of Melody Maker that the group "discovered that [Parsons] was under contract to another label, from his old group the International Submarine Band, so we had to recut them...." Album producer Gary Usher, however, would insist that the alterations arose out of creative concerns, not legal ones. To his biographer Stephen J. McParland, Usher stated "I don't remember anybody from Columbia's legal department sending me a memo to the effect, 'Hey, take Gram's vocals off'. Yes, there were legal problems that had to be worked out, and they were worked out. Whoever sang lead on the album was there because that's how we wanted the sound."[128]

After Parsons' departure, McGuinn and Hillman hired guitarist Clarence White, who had played on a few tracks of every Byrds album since 1967's Younger Than Yesterday. The new lineup had only been together for a very short time when White persuaded McGuinn and Hillman to replace Kevin Kelley with Gene Parsons (no relation to Gram Parsons), who had played with White in Nashville West, another pioneering country-rock band. This new lineup played two shows together[129] in October before Hillman quit to join Gram Parsons in creating the Flying Burrito Brothers. McGuinn, now the only original Byrd left, hired bassist John York (who had been working in the Sir Douglas Quintet) to replace Hillman, and the resulting quartet recorded the Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde album and released it in February 1969 to poor U.S. sales and moderate UK success.

In July 1969 The Byrds were the headliner of the Schaefer Music Festival in New York City's Central Park, along with Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, B.B. King, The Beach Boys, Frank Zappa and Patti LaBelle. They appeared at the festival again in 1970 and 1971.

During October 1969 the band released the Ballad Of Easy Rider album. The single taken from the album was "Jesus Is Just Alright", which in a similar arrangement became a hit record for The Doobie Brothers four years later. During those recording sessions the group also recorded a version of Jackson Browne's "Mae Jean Goes to Hollywood", but it remained unreleased for some twenty years. The album's title track was composed by McGuinn (expanding on a verse couplet written by Bob Dylan) as the musical theme for the 1969 hippie movie Easy Rider, and both album and single sold well due to the movie's success. By the time the album was released, John York had left the band because his girlfriend objected to his going out on the road.[129] He was replaced by bassist Skip Battin, who had enjoyed some chart success during 1959 as half of the duo Skip & Flip.

In 1970 The Byrds released the double album (Untitled), which charted well in the UK and acceptably in the U.S. (Untitled) featured one disc of live recordings from early 1970 gigs at Queens College and the Felt Forum in New York,[130] and one of studio performances, including "Chestnut Mare", "All The Things" and "Just a Season". Notably, the live disc included a 16-minute version of "Eight Miles High", which comprised the whole of one side of the original LP release.

On June 23, 1971 the band released Byrdmaniax, which was a commercial and critical disappointment, largely due to inappropriate orchestration which was added by producer Terry Melcher to many tracks on the album without the band's approval. On May 13, 1971 the Byrds appeared at London's Royal Albert Hall, to critical acclaim. The full concert, including a number of encores, was issued in 2008 for the first time.

In November 1971 came the release of The Byrds' eleventh studio album, Farther Along. The title track of that album, sung by Clarence White with the rest of the group harmonizing, would became a prophetic epitaph for both White and Gram Parsons. In July 1973, White was killed by a motor vehicle while he was loading equipment after a gig in Palmdale, California. Soon afterwards, Gram Parsons died as a result of an overdose of morphine and alcohol, in the Joshua Tree Motel, also in California.

McGuinn toured with the Byrds through 1972, with L.A. session drummer John Guerin replacing Gene Parsons. Two official Byrds recordings exist with this lineup: live versions of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Roll Over Beethoven", recorded for the soundtrack to the movie Banjoman. The final recording sessions involving all four of the latter-day Columbia Byrds were for Skip Battin's 1972 album, Skip; Guerin was on drums. McGuinn appeared on only one track, "Captain Video" - evidently Battin's tribute to his erstwhile employer.

Skip Battin and John Guerin either quit or were dismissed after the February 10, 1973 show in Ithaca, New York, and were replaced by Chris Hillman and Joe Lala, respectively, for The Byrds' final two shows on February 23 (Burlington, Vermont) and 24 (Passaic, New Jersey).

Reunions (1972–1973; 1988–1990)

The five original Byrds all reunited briefly during late 1972 (while McGuinn was still on tour with the CBS version of the Byrds) to record a reunion album entitled Byrds. The album was released in March 1973, less than a month after the Columbia version of the Byrds played their final show. The album garnered mixed reviews, and a planned tour with the original five Byrds to support it never materialized. The quintet also performed together on "My New Woman," which appeared on Roger McGuinn's 1973 eponymous solo album.

During the late 1970s McGuinn, Clark and Hillman worked on and off as a trio (modelled on Crosby, Stills & Nash and, to a lesser extent, The Eagles), touring and recording two albums, and also scoring a Top 40 hit with "Don't You Write Her Off" in March 1979.[131] Some of the earlier and later live shows were advertised by unscrupulous promoters as Byrds reunions. By 1979, Clark had departed, leaving the two others to record an album as McGuinn-Hillman.

In the 1970s McGuinn had attempted to trademark the name "The Byrds" in order to prevent its misuse but his application had been turned down.[132] As a result of this, at least in part, there were disputes over which members owned the rights to the band name during the late 1980s. Clarke and Clark toured separately under The Byrds name at that time, and from 1989 through most of 1993 Michael Clarke toured occasionally as "The Byrds Featuring Michael Clarke" with former Byrd Skip Battin and newcomers Terry Jones Rogers and Jerry Sorn. To solidify their claim to the name and prevent any non-original members from using it, McGuinn, Hillman and Crosby staged a series of Byrds reunion concerts between 1988 and 1990, including a famous performance at a Roy Orbison tribute concert where they were joined by Bob Dylan for "Mr. Tambourine Man". These shows resulted in McGuinn, Hillman and Crosby recording four new studio tracks for the boxed set The Byrds in 1990. During that year, a legal action against Clarke and his booking agent failed, a judge ruling that Clarke's group had toured under the Byrds' name legally. Eventually, a settlement was reached, preventing any entity not including McGuinn, Hillman and Crosby from using the name "Byrds".

The Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. The original lineup of Gene Clark, Michael Clarke, David Crosby, Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn was honored at this induction. Gene Clark died later that year, and two years later Michael Clarke succumbed to liver disease caused by alcoholism. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Byrds #45 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[133]

Though both Hillman and Crosby have expressed an interest in working with McGuinn again on future Byrds projects, no such reunion has occurred and all three have successful individual careers.

Members

Original members

Subsequent members

Discography

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "Biography of The Byrds". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifqxqw5ldfe~T1. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Biography of Roger McGuinn". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aiftxqegldhe~T1. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
  3. ↑ "Folk-Rock Overview". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:417. Retrieved 2010-03-15. 
  4. ↑ "Psychedelic Rock Overview". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:380. Retrieved 2010-01-30. 
  5. ↑ Bellman, Jonathan. (1997). The Exotic In Western Music. Northeastern Publishing. p. 351. ISBN 1-555-53319-1. 
  6. ↑ Smith, Chris. (2009). 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 32–34. ISBN 0-195-37371-5. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Buckley, Peter. (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. pp. 155–156. ISBN 1-84353-105-4. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Einarson, John. (2005). Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds' Gene Clark. Backbeat Books. pp. 87–89. ISBN 0-87930-793-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZZUHknGVGx4C&printsec=frontcover. 
  9. ↑ Hjort, Christopher. (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965–1973). Jawbone Press. p. 117. ISBN 1-90600-215-0. 
  10. ↑ David, Fricke (2000). "Farther Along: The Byrds at Twilight" [CD booklet]. Album notes for Farther Along by The Byrds. Columbia/Legacy.
  11. ↑ "Byrds". ByrdWatcher: A Field Guide to the Byrds of Los Angeles. http://ebni.com/byrds/lpbr.html. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Biography of Gene Clark". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifqxqw5ldte~T1. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
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  108. ↑ 108.0 108.1 Rogan, Johnny (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd ed.). Rogan House. pp. 237–238. ISBN 0-95295-401-X. 
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  111. ↑ "The Byrds – The Notorious Byrd Brothers SACD review". Music Tap. http://www.musicdirect.com/shared/documents/assets/CMF/CMFSA2015/Review%20Notorious%20Byrd%20Bros%20SACD.pdf. Retrieved January 15, 2010. 
  112. ↑ 112.0 112.1 Rogan, Johnny (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd ed.). Rogan House. pp. 221–223. ISBN 0-95295-401-X. 
  113. ↑ 113.0 113.1 113.2 Rogan, Johnny (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd ed.). Rogan House. pp. 232–234. ISBN 0-95295-401-X. 
  114. ↑ Selvin, Joel. (1992). Monterey Pop. Chronicle Books. p. 54. ISBN 0-8118-0153-5. 
  115. ↑ Menck, Ric. (2007). The Notorious Byrd Brothers (33⅓ series). Continuum Books. p. 75. ISBN 0-8264-1717-5. 
  116. ↑ Hjort, Christopher (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973). Jawbone Press. p. 138. ISBN 1-90600-215-0. 
  117. ↑ 117.0 117.1 117.2 117.3 Hjort, Christopher (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973). Jawbone Press. pp. 143–146. ISBN 1-90600-215-0. 
  118. ↑ Rogan, Johnny (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd ed.). Rogan House. p. 228. ISBN 0-95295-401-X. 
  119. ↑ 119.0 119.1 119.2 Menck, Ric. (2007). The Notorious Byrd Brothers (33⅓ series). Continuum Books. pp. 80–82. ISBN 0-8264-1717-5. 
  120. ↑ "Crown of Creation album review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:a9foxq95ldje. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 
  121. ↑ 121.0 121.1 Einarson, John. (2005). Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of the Byrds' Gene Clark. Backbeat Books. pp. 126–127. ISBN 0-87930-793-5. 
  122. ↑ Fricke, David (1997). "A Trip to the Country" [CD booklet]. Album notes for Sweetheart of the Rodeo by The Byrds. Columbia/Legacy.
  123. ↑ 123.0 123.1 123.2 "Gram Parsons - The Byrds: 1968". ByrdWatcher: A Field Guide to the Byrds of Los Angeles. http://ebni.com/byrds/memgrp3.html. Retrieved 2010-07-20. 
  124. ↑ 124.0 124.1 124.2 124.3 "Sweetheart of the Rodeo". ByrdWatcher: A Field Guide to the Byrds of Los Angeles. http://ebni.com/byrds/lpsotr.html. Retrieved 2010-07-20. 
  125. ↑ Rogan, Johnny (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited (2nd ed.). Rogan House. pp. 253–254. ISBN 0-95295-401-X. 
  126. ↑ Brant, Marley (1990). Album notes for GP/Grievous Angel by Gram Parsons [CD booklet]. Reprise Records.
  127. ↑ 127.0 127.1 127.2 Fricke, David. (2003). Sweatheart of the Rodeo: Legacy Edition (2003 CD liner notes). 
  128. ↑ Hjort, Christopher. (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973). 
  129. ↑ 129.0 129.1 PRX » Pieces » The Byrds (part 2): Farther Along
  130. ↑ Fricke, David (2000). (Untitled)/(Unissued) (2000 CD liner notes)
  131. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Record Research Inc. p. 556. ISBN 0-89820-172-1. 
  132. ↑ Rogan, Johnny. (1998). The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited. Rogan House. p. 424. ISBN 0-95295-401-X. 
  133. ↑ "100 Greatest Artists of All Time - #45: The Byrds". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/;kw=%5B4764,15155,15441%5D. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 

External links

The Byrds
Roger McGuinn • Gene Clark • David Crosby • Chris Hillman • Michael Clarke •
Kevin Kelley • Gram Parsons • Clarence White • Gene Parsons • John York • Skip Battin
Studio albums
Mr. Tambourine Man · Turn! Turn! Turn! · Fifth Dimension · Younger Than Yesterday · The Notorious Byrd Brothers · Sweetheart of the Rodeo · Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde · Ballad of Easy Rider · (Untitled) · Byrdmaniax · Farther Along · Byrds
Live albums
(Untitled) · Live at the Fillmore - February 1969 · Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971
Compilations
The Byrds' Greatest Hits · Preflyte · The Best of The Byrds: Greatest Hits, Volume II · History of The Byrds · The Byrds Play Dylan · The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1 · The Original Singles: 1967–1969, Volume 2 · Never Before · In the Beginning · 20 Essential Tracks from the Byrds Box Set (1965-1990) · The Very Best of The Byrds · The Preflyte Sessions · The Essential Byrds
Box sets
The Byrds · There Is a Season
Tribute albums
Time Between – A Tribute to The Byrds
Notable songs
"You Showed Me" · "Mr. Tambourine Man" · "All I Really Want to Do" · "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" · "The Bells of Rhymney" · "Turn! Turn! Turn!" · "Set You Free This Time" · "It Won't Be Wrong" · "He Was a Friend of Mine" · "Eight Miles High" · "Why" · "5D (Fifth Dimension)" · "Mr. Spaceman" · "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" · "My Back Pages" · "Have You Seen Her Face" · "Lady Friend" · "Triad" · "Goin' Back" · "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" · "Hickory Wind" · "Lay Lady Lay" · "Ballad of Easy Rider" · "Jesus Is Just Alright" · "Chestnut Mare" · "Full Circle"
Associated people
Jimmi Seiter • John Guerin • Jacques Levy • Terry Melcher • Gary Usher • Derek Taylor • Johnny Rogan
See also: Discography