This can be regarded as the final nail in the coffin for The Byrds’ original run. Hillman had left the group in late 1968 and to join Parsons in The Flying Burrito Brothers. The band would then work with different musicians, and 1968 saw the dawn of what is now known as the ‘ Gram Parsons Era‘, an interesting and overlooked chapter.Īfter this explicitly country-rock oriented period, the band would then hire guitarist Clarence White, before eventually splitting up in 1973 owing to comments such as this from the media, which described them as “a boring dead group”. Why such a change of fortunes you may ask?

Crosby and Clarke were kicked out, leaving just McGuinn and Hillman as the last men standing. Owing to drug use and David Crosby’s overbearing egotism, the end of the band’s original iteration was nigh. As well as branching into country and western, their 1967 record The Notorious Byrd Brothers, saw the band use pioneering studio techniques such as phasing and flanging, which again, helped to mark them out as one of the era’s most important bands, even if many did not properly heed this at the time.Īs with any massive band, tension and acrimony soon arose. The track was a satirical and heavily sarcastic jibe at the manufactured nature of groups like The Monkees, marking The Byrds out to be so much more than the constant Bob Dylan cover band they are often regarded as.Įverpresent on the ’60s music scene, they became increasingly experimental as the decade wore on. In December 1966, they released their jazz-inspired fourth album, Younger Than Yesterday, which included the McGuinn and Hillman penned ‘So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’. Told by McGuinn, “If you can’t fly, you can’t be a Byrd”, Clark would then embark on a celebrated solo career, but that is a story for a different day.Ĭertainly definable as a band of the ’60s, The Byrds would carry on their prolific run. Gene Clark departed the band citing a fear of flying, a deeply embedded fear he’d had since witnessing a fatal aeroplane crash as a child. Starting off as a folk-rock band, given the ascendancy of the counterculture and drugs such as LSD and marijuana, by 1965, only a year after forming, the band would become psychedelic heroes. This is the lineup that would send The Byrds to the superstardom they enjoyed back in the ’60s. Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman all took pioneering strides. At the time of the band’s formation in 1964, they were not plucked from surrounding successful bands, rather, it is a reflection of the huge figures of rock they would all become. The truth is, only retrospectively, can the band be hailed as a supergroup. The Byrds - Sheet Music - SheetMusicPlus.No discussion of the band would be complete without touching on the brilliance of their original lineup.The Byrds - Rare vinyl, CDs, & more.Please note that these are referral or affiliate links from which may receive, at no additional cost to you, a commission if you should make any purchases through them. MERCHANDISEĭisclosure: The following links will take you to various online merchants outside of that sell recordings and other merchandise for the performing artist featured on this page. The band's numerous honors and accolades included being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Tambourine Man' (1965), the ecclesiastical 'Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)' (1965), and the glorious 'Eight Miles High' (1966).ĭavid Crosby left in 1967 to form Crosby, Stills & Nash, and The Byrds had many other personnel changes up through their split in 1973. The Byrds best known songs include such era-defining classics as the soaring 'Mr. Their signature sound came from their close group harmonies and pioneering use of jangly 12-string guitars, and they were also among the first to incorporate elements of psychedelia, raga rock, and country rock as their style evolved. Formed in 1964, the original lineup consisted of Roger McGuinn (lead guitar, vocals), Gene Clark (tambourine, vocals), Michael Clarke (drums), David Crosby (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Chris Hillman (bass guitar, vocals). The Byrds were a highly acclaimed and influential folk rock band that became famous during the mid 1960s.

Songs by the byrds