The Byrds ( ) were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes; frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) was the sole consistent member. For a short time in the mid-1960s, the Byrds were among the most popular groups in the world, with critics considering them to be among the most influential rock acts of their era. The band's signature sound of "angelic harmonies" and McGuinn's jangly 12-string Rickenbacker guitar sound was "absorbed into the vocabulary of rock" and has continued to be influential.

Initially, the Byrds pioneered the musical genre of folk rock as a popular format in 1965 by melding the influence of the Beatles and other British Invasion bands with contemporary and traditional folk music on their first and second albums and the hit singles "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Mr. Tambourine Man". As the 1960s progressed, the band was influential in originating psychedelic rock and raga rock, with their song "Eight Miles High" (1966) and the albums Fifth Dimension (1966), Younger Than Yesterday (1967), and The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968). The band also helped pioneer country rock,

The band's original five-piece lineup consisted of McGuinn (lead guitar, vocals), Gene Clark (tambourine, vocals), David Crosby (rhythm guitar, vocals), Michael Clarke (drums), and Chris Hillman (bass guitar, vocals). In early 1966, Clark left due to anxiety and his increasing isolation within the group. The Byrds continued as a quartet until late 1967, when Crosby and Clarke departed. McGuinn and Hillman recruited new members, including country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, but by late 1968, Hillman and Parsons had also left the band. The Byrds released their final album in March 1973, with the reunited group disbanding later that year.

Several members of the Byrds went on to successful careers as solo artists or as members of such groups as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Flying Burrito Brothers, McGuinn, Clark & Hillman, and the Desert Rose Band. Gene Clark died of a heart attack later that year, while Michael Clarke died of liver failure in 1993. Crosby died in 2023. McGuinn and Hillman remain musically active.

History

Formation (1964)

The nucleus of the Byrds formed in early 1964, when Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby came together as a trio. 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. McGuinn had also spent time as a professional songwriter at the Brill Building in New York City, under the tutelage of Bobby Darin. 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. Soon after, David Crosby introduced himself to the duo at The Troubadour and began harmonizing with them on some of their songs. Dickson began utilizing World Pacific Studios to record the trio as they honed their craft and perfected their blend of Beatles pop and Bob Dylan-style folk. It was during the rehearsals at World Pacific that the band's folk rock sound—an amalgam of their own Beatles-influenced material, their folk music roots and their Beatlesque covers of contemporary folk songs—began to coalesce. Demo recordings made by the Jet Set at World Pacific Studios were later collected on the compilation albums Preflyte, In the Beginning, The Preflyte Sessions, and Preflyte Plus.

Drummer Michael Clarke joined the Jet Set in mid-1964. 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. 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.

290px|thumb|left|A [[Rickenbacker 360/12|Rickenbacker 360 12-string guitar similar to the one used by Jim McGuinn in 1964 and 1965. By 1966, McGuinn had transitioned to playing the three pickup 370/12 model.]]

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. Although the band was initially unimpressed with the song, they began rehearsing it with a rock band arrangement, changing the time signature from 2/4 time| to a rockier 4/4 time| configuration in the process. In an attempt to bolster the group's confidence in the song, Dickson invited Dylan himself to World Pacific to hear the band perform "Mr. Tambourine Man". In October 1964, Dickson recruited mandolin player Chris Hillman as the Jet Set's bassist. 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 Hillmen (also known as the Golden State Boys), and, concurrently with his recruitment into the Jet Set, the Green Grass Group.

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. Two weeks later, during a Thanksgiving dinner at Tickner's house, the Jet Set decided to rename themselves as the Byrds, a moniker that retained the theme of flight and also echoed the deliberate misspelling of the Beatles.

left|thumb|Promotional photo of the Byrds in early 1965, L to R: Chris Hillman, Gene Clark, Jim (later Roger) McGuinn, Michael Clarke, David Crosby

Folk rock (1965)

On January 20, 1965, the Byrds entered Columbia Studios in Hollywood to record "Mr. Tambourine Man" for release as their debut single on Columbia. Since the band had not yet completely gelled musically, McGuinn was the only Byrd to play on "Mr. Tambourine Man" and its Clark-penned B-side, "I Knew I'd Want You". By the time the sessions for their debut album began in March 1965, Melcher was satisfied that the band was competent enough to record its own musical backing. The band's regular appearances at Ciro's in March and April allowed them to hone their ensemble playing, perfect their aloof stage persona, and expand their repertoire. 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, Jack Nicholson, Arthur Lee, and Sonny & Cher regularly attending the band's performances. On March26, the author of the band's forthcoming debut single, Bob Dylan, made an impromptu visit to the club and joined the Byrds on stage for a rendition of Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me to Do".

thumb|upright=1.5|[[Bob Dylan joins the Byrds onstage at Ciro's, March 26, 1965]]

Columbia Records eventually released the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single on April 12, 1965. McGuinn's melodic, jangling 12-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. The single also featured another major characteristic of the band's sound: their clear harmony singing, which usually featured McGuinn and Clark in unison, with Crosby providing the high harmony. Richie Unterberger has stated that 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.

Within three months "Mr. Tambourine Man" had become the first folk rock smash hit, reaching number 1 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart. The single's success initiated the folk rock boom of 1965 and 1966, during which a number of Byrds-influenced acts had hits on the American and British charts.

The Mr. Tambourine Man album followed on June 21, 1965, 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 Clark. Upon release, the Mr. Tambourine Man album, like the single of the same name, was influential in popularizing folk rock Despite the success of "Mr. Tambourine Man", the Byrds were reluctant to release another Dylan-penned single, feeling that it was too formulaic, but Columbia Records were insistent, believing that another Dylan cover would result in an instant hit for the group. Issued on June 14, 1965, while "Mr. Tambourine Man" was still climbing the U.S. charts, the single was rush-released by Columbia in an attempt to bury a rival cover version that Cher had released simultaneously on Imperial Records. A chart battle ensued, but the Byrds' rendition stalled at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, while Cher's version reached number 15.

Author John Einarson has written that during this period of their career, the Byrds enjoyed tremendous popularity among teenage pop fans, with their music receiving widespread airplay on Top 40 radio and their faces adorning countless teen magazines. With all five members sporting Beatlesque moptop haircuts, Crosby dressed in a striking green suede cape, and McGuinn wearing a pair of distinctive rectangular "granny glasses", the band exuded California cool, while also looking suitably non-conformist. In particular, McGuinn's distinctive rectangular spectacles became popular among members of the burgeoning hippie counterculture in the United States.

Although McGuinn was widely regarded as the Byrds' bandleader by this point, the band actually had multiple frontmen, with McGuinn, Clark, and later Crosby and Hillman all singing lead vocals in roughly equal measures across the group's repertoire. Despite the dizzying array of personnel changes that the group underwent in later years, this lack of a dedicated lead singer remained a stylistic trait of the Byrds' music throughout the majority of the band's existence.

A further distinctive aspect of the Byrds' image was their unsmiling air of detachment, both on stage and in front of the camera. The contemporary music press was extremely critical of the Byrds' abilities as a live act during the mid-1960s, with the reception from the British media during the band's August 1965 tour of England being particularly scathing.

This 1965 English tour was largely orchestrated by the group's publicist Derek Taylor, in an attempt to capitalize on the number 1 chart success of the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single. A number of authors, including Ian MacDonald, Richie Unterberger, and Bud Scoppa, have commented on the Byrds influence on the Beatles' late 1965 album Rubber Soul, most notably on the songs "Nowhere Man" and "If I Needed Someone", the latter of which utilizes a guitar riff similar to that in the Byrds' cover of "The Bells of Rhymney".

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 California radio station KRLA), 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. Music critic William Ruhlmann has written that the song's lyrical message of peace and tolerance struck a nerve with the American record buying public as the Vietnam War continued to escalate. and while it received a mostly positive reception, critical consensus deemed it to be inferior to the band's debut. Irrespective of the critics' opinions, the album was a commercial success, peaking at number 17 on the U.S. charts and number 11 in the UK. Like their debut, the album 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. The album featured more of the band's own compositions than its predecessor, with Clark in particular coming to the fore as a songwriter. His songs from this period, including "She Don't Care About Time", "The World Turns All Around Her", and "Set You Free This Time", are widely regarded by critics as among the best of the folk rock genre. 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 number 63 on the Billboard chart and failing to reach the UK chart altogether.

While the Byrds outwardly seemed to be riding the crest of a wave during the latter half of 1965, the recording sessions for their second album had not been without tension. One source of conflict was the power struggle that had begun to develop between producer Melcher and the band's manager, Jim Dickson, with the latter harboring aspirations to produce the band himself, causing him to be overly critical of the former's work. Within a month of Turn! Turn! Turn! being released, Dickson and the Byrds approached Columbia Records and requested that Melcher be replaced, despite the fact that he had successfully steered the band through the recording of two number 1 singles and two hit albums. Columbia Records refused to release this version because it had been recorded at another record company's facility. As a result, the band was forced to re-record the song at Columbia Studios in Los Angeles on January 24 and 25, 1966. This re-recorded version was released as a single and included on the group's third album. The song represented a creative leap forward for the band 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. It was also pivotal in transmuting folk rock into the new musical forms of psychedelia and raga rock.

"Eight Miles High" 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, Coltrane's playing on the song "India" from his Impressions album. 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. 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.

In February 1966, just prior to the release of "Eight Miles High", Gene Clark left the band. 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. 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 and refused to take the flight. 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." He died on May 24, 1991, at the age of 46, from heart failure brought on by a bleeding stomach ulcer, although years of alcohol abuse and heavy cigarette smoking were also contributing factors.

The Byrds' third album, Fifth Dimension, was released in July 1966. 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?!?!". The album's front cover artwork featured the first appearance of the Byrds' colorful, psychedelic mosaic logo, variations of which would subsequently appear on a number of the band's compilation albums, as well as on their 1967 release, Younger Than Yesterday.

The Fifth Dimension album received a mixed critical reception upon release Despite this, the band were considered forefathers of the emerging rock underground, with many of the new L.A. and San Francisco groups of the day, including Love, Jefferson Airplane, and Buffalo Springfield, publicly naming the Byrds as a primary influence.

230px|thumb|left|The Byrds' psychedelic mosaic logo

The band returned to the studio between November 28 and December 8, 1966, to record their fourth album, Younger Than Yesterday. With Allen Stanton having recently departed Columbia Records to work for A&M, the band chose to bring in producer Gary Usher to help guide them through the album sessions. Usher, who had a wealth of production experience and a love of innovative studio experimentation, would prove invaluable to the Byrds as they entered their most creatively adventurous phase. The first song to be recorded for the album 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. 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. "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" was issued as a single in January 1967 and peaked at number 29 in America but failed to chart in the UK. Despite this relatively poor chart showing, "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" has become one of the Byrds' best-known songs in the years since its initial release, inspiring cover versions by the likes of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the Patti Smith Group among others.

thumb|The Byrds in New York City, 1967

Released on February 6, 1967, the Byrds' fourth album, Younger Than Yesterday, was more varied than its predecessor and saw the band successfully mixing psychedelia with folk rock and country and western influences. Although it received generally positive reviews upon its release, the album was, to a degree, overlooked by the record-buying public and consequently peaked at number 24 on the Billboard chart and number 37 on the UK Albums Chart.

By mid-1967, McGuinn had changed his first name from Jim to Roger as a result of his interest in the Indonesian religion Subud, into which he had been initiated in January 1965. The adoption of a new name was common among followers of the religion and served to signify a spiritual rebirth for the participant. Shortly after McGuinn's name change, the band entered the studio to record the Crosby-penned, non-album single "Lady Friend", which was released on July 13, 1967. The Byrds' biographer Johnny Rogan has described "Lady Friend" as "a work of great maturity" and "the loudest, fastest and rockiest Byrds' single to date". was bitterly disappointed by the single's lack of success and blamed Gary Usher's mixing of the song as a factor in its commercial failure. Sanctioned by Columbia Records in the wake of the Top 10 success of Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, the album was a critical and commercial triumph, peaking at number six on the Billboard Top LPs chart and giving the band their highest-charting album in America since their 1965 debut, Mr. Tambourine Man.

Prior to the release of The Byrds' Greatest Hits, the band decided to dispense with the services of their co-managers Jim Dickson and Eddie Tickner. Despite this lack of commercial success, the Byrds' rendition of "Goin' Back" featured a band performance that author Ric Menck has described as "a beautiful recording", while music critic Richie Unterberger has called it "a magnificent and melodic cover... that should have been a big hit". The song found the Byrds successfully blending their signature harmonies and chiming 12-string guitar playing with the sound of the pedal steel guitar for the first time, foreshadowing their extensive use of the instrument on their next album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

Released in January 1968, The Notorious Byrd Brothers 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 using innovative studio production techniques such as phasing and flanging. The album featured contributions from a number of noted session musicians, including bluegrass guitarist and future Byrd, Clarence White. White, who had also played on Younger Than Yesterday, The album's reputation has grown over the years and has become widely regarded by critics and fans as one of the Byrds' best albums.

Lineup changes (1967–1968)

While the band worked on The Notorious Byrd Brothers album throughout late 1967, there was increasing tension and acrimony among the members of the group, which eventually resulted in the dismissals of Crosby and Clarke. 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. He further irritated his bandmates by performing with rival group Buffalo Springfield at Monterey, filling in for ex-member Neil Young. 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 its A-side. Session drummers Jim Gordon and Hal Blaine were brought in to replace Clarke temporarily in the studio, although he continued to honor his live concert commitments with the group. 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.

When tensions reached a breaking point during October 1967, McGuinn and Hillman drove to Crosby's home and fired him, stating that they would be better off without him. In the years after his exit from the Byrds, Crosby enjoyed an influential and commercially successful career as a part of Crosby, Stills & Nash (sometimes augmented by Neil Young), Crosby & Nash, CPR, and as a solo artist. There is some disagreement among biographers and band historians as to whether Clark actually participated in the recording sessions for The Notorious Byrd Brothers, but there is evidence to suggest that he sang backing vocals on the songs "Goin' Back" and "Space Odyssey". It soon became apparent that recreating the band's studio recordings with a three-piece lineup 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. 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.

Country rock (1968–1973)

Gram Parsons era

thumb|The Byrds in 1968, L to R: Gram Parsons, Kevin Kelley, Hillman, McGuinn

Following his induction into the band, Gram 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. He found a kindred spirit in Hillman, who had played mandolin in a number of notable bluegrass bands before joining the Byrds. Thus, McGuinn was persuaded to change direction and abandon his original concept for the group's next album, which had been to record a history of 20th century American popular music, and instead explore country rock. Being the first group of hippie "longhairs" ever to play at the venerable country music institution, the band was met with heckling, booing, and mocking calls of "tweet, tweet" from the conservative Opry audience. Parsons and McGuinn would later write the pointedly sarcastic song "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man" about Emery and their appearance on his show.

Following their stay in Nashville, the band returned to Los Angeles and throughout April and May 1968, they worked on completing their new country-oriented album. When McGuinn refused, Parsons next began to push for a higher salary, while also demanding that the group be billed as "Gram Parsons and the Byrds" on their forthcoming album. Album producer Gary Usher would later put a different slant on the events surrounding the removal of Parsons' vocals by telling his biographer Stephen J. McParland that the alterations to the album arose out of creative concerns, not legal ones; Usher and the band were both worried that Parsons' contributions were dominating the record so his vocals were excised in an attempt to increase McGuinn and Hillman's presence on the album.

With their new album now completed, the Byrds flew to England for an appearance at a charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall on July 7, 1968. Following the concert, just prior to a tour of South Africa, Parsons quit the Byrds on the grounds that he did not want to perform in a racially segregated country (apartheid did not end in South Africa until 1994). Parsons stayed at Richards' house in West Sussex immediately after leaving the Byrds, and the pair developed a close friendship over the next few years. He died on September 19, 1973, at the age of 26, following an accidental overdose of morphine and alcohol in his room at the Joshua Tree Inn.

With Parsons gone from the band and their tour of South Africa due to begin in two days time, the Byrds were forced to draft in their roadie Carlos Bernal as a substitute rhythm guitar player. The under-rehearsed band gave ramshackle performances to audiences that were largely unimpressed with their lack of professionalism and their antagonistic, anti-apartheid stance. McGuinn attempted to counter this criticism by asserting that the tour of South Africa had, in some small way, been an attempt to challenge the country's political status quo and protest against apartheid. Although it was not the first country rock album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo was the first album widely labeled as country rock to be released by an internationally successful rock act, pre-dating Dylan's Nashville Skyline by over six months.

The stylistic shift away from psychedelia towards country rock that Sweetheart of the Rodeo represented alienated much of the Byrds' countercultural audience, while at the same time eliciting hostility from the ultra-conservative Nashville country music establishment. Today, it is considered a seminal and highly influential album, serving as a blueprint for the entire 1970s country rock movement, the outlaw country scene, and the alternative country genre of the 1990s and early 21st century. White, who had contributed countrified guitar playing to every Byrds' album since 1967's Younger Than Yesterday, was brought in at Hillman's suggestion as someone who could handle the band's older rock repertoire and their newer country-oriented material.

The McGuinn–Hillman–White–Parsons lineup was together for less than a month before Hillman quit to join Gram Parsons in forming the Flying Burrito Brothers. and was also frustrated by business manager Larry Spector's mishandling of the group's finances. York had previously been a member of the Sir Douglas Quintet and had also worked as a session musician with Johnny Rivers and the Mamas & the Papas. In October 1968, the new lineup entered Columbia Studios in Hollywood to begin recording the Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde album with producer Bob Johnston. The sessions saw the band juxtaposing their new country rock sound with more psychedelic-oriented material, giving the resulting album a stylistic split personality that was alluded to in its title. In the wake of the recent changes in band personnel, McGuinn decided that it would be too confusing for fans of the group to hear the unfamiliar voices of White, Parsons and York coming forward at this stage, and so they were relegated to backing vocals on the album. As a result, Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde is unique in the Byrds' back catalog as McGuinn sings lead on every track.

The album was released on March 5, 1969, A number of tracks on Dr Byrds & Mr. Hyde, including the instrumental "Nashville West" and the traditional song "Old Blue", featured the sound of the Parsons and White designed StringBender (also known as the B-Bender), an invention that allowed White to duplicate the sound of a pedal steel guitar on his Fender Telecaster. The distinctive sound of the StringBender became characteristic of the Byrds' music during White's tenure.

Following the release of Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde the band issued a version of Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" as a single in May 1969, which failed to reverse the group's commercial fortunes in the U.S., reaching number 132. Although he was happy to accept the band's invitation, Melcher insisted that he also manage the group to avoid a repeat of the conflict he had experienced in 1965 with Jim Dickson.

Prior to the release of the Byrds' next studio album, however, the band's former producer Gary Usher managed to acquire a number of demo recordings from Dickson, dating from the group's 1964 rehearsal sessions at World Pacific Studios. These recordings were subsequently issued as the Preflyte album on Usher's own Together Records imprint in July 1969.

Between June and August 1969, the Byrds worked with Melcher to complete the Ballad of Easy Rider album. Musically, the album represented a consolidation and streamlining of the band's country rock sound, and mostly consisted of cover versions and traditional material, along with three self-penned originals. The first single to be released from the album was the title track, issued in October 1969 in America and reaching number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Composed primarily by McGuinn, with some input from Bob Dylan (although not credited), "Ballad of Easy Rider" was written as the theme tune for the 1969 counterculture film Easy Rider. The Byrds' recording of the song does not appear in the film and an acoustic version credited to McGuinn alone was used instead. The Byrds' song "Wasn't Born to Follow" from The Notorious Byrd Brothers album was featured in the film and also included on the Easy Rider soundtrack album in August 1969. A second single taken from the album, "Jesus Is Just Alright", was released in December 1969, but it only managed to reach number 97. Despite this lack of commercial success, the Doobie Brothers' later hit version of "Jesus Is Just Alright" features an arrangement that was heavily influenced by the Byrds' recording.

275px|thumb|left|The Byrds in 1970, L to R: McGuinn, Skip Battin, Clarence White, Gene Parsons; the most stable and longest-lived of any Byrds lineup.

Just prior to the release of Ballad of Easy Rider, the Byrds underwent yet another change in personnel when bassist John York was asked to leave the band in September 1969. York had become disenchanted with his role in the Byrds and had voiced his reluctance to perform material that had been written and recorded by the group before he had joined. The rest of the band had begun to doubt his commitment and so, a consensus was reached among the other three members that York should be fired. Battin's recruitment marked the last personnel change to the group for almost three years and as a result, the McGuinn-White-Parsons-Battin lineup became the most stable and longest-lived of any configuration of the Byrds.

The latter-day, post-Sweetheart of the Rodeo version of the band, featuring McGuinn and White's dual lead guitar work, toured relentlessly between 1969 and 1972 and was regarded by critics and audiences as much more accomplished in concert than any previous configuration of the Byrds had been. As a result of this, it was decided in early 1970 that the time was right for the group to issue a live album. It was also felt that the band had a sufficient backlog of new compositions to warrant the recording of a new studio album. At around this same time, former business manager Eddie Tickner also returned to the group's employ as a replacement for Larry Spector, who had quit the management business and relocated to Big Sur.

The two-record (Untitled) album was released by the Byrds on September 14, 1970, to positive reviews and strong sales, with many critics and fans regarding the album as a return to form for the band. Peaking at number 40 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and number 11 in the UK, The live half of (Untitled) included both new material and new renditions of previous hit singles, including "Mr. Tambourine Man", "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" and a 16-minute version of "Eight Miles High", which comprised the whole of one side of the original LP release. Band biographer Johnny Rogan has suggested that the inclusion of these newly recorded live versions of older songs served to forge a spiritual and musical link between the Byrds' current lineup and the original mid-1960s incarnation of the band. Among the Gene Tryp songs included on (Untitled) was "Chestnut Mare", which had originally been written for a scene in which the musical's eponymous hero attempts to catch and tame a wild horse. Despite this low chart placing, the song went on to become a staple of FM radio programming in America during the 1970s. "Chestnut Mare" did much better in the UK, when it was released as a single on January 1, 1971, reaching number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and giving the Byrds their first UK Top 20 hit since their cover of Bob Dylan's "All I Really Want to Do" had peaked at number 4 in September 1965. The grueling pace of the band's touring schedule at the time meant that they were not fully prepared for the sessions and much of the material they recorded was under-developed. Following completion of the album recording sessions, the Byrds once again headed out on tour, leaving Melcher and engineer Chris Hinshaw to finish mixing the album in their absence. Controversially, Melcher and Hinshaw elected to bring in arranger Paul Polena to assist in the overdubbing of strings, horns, and a gospel choir onto many of the songs, allegedly without the band's consent. Drummer Gene Parsons recalled in a 1997 interview that when the band heard Melcher's additions they campaigned to have the album remixed and the orchestration removed, but Columbia Records refused, citing budget restrictions, and so the record was duly pressed up and released.

In May 1971, just prior to the release of the Byrdmaniax album, the Byrds undertook a sell-out tour of England and Europe, which included a performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London that was released for the first time in 2008 as Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971. The British and European press were unanimous in their praise of the Byrds' live performances during the tour,

In retaliation against Clarke's trademark application, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman submitted their own counter-claim to gain ownership of the band's name. In the wake of this ruling, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman dropped their lawsuit, but to demonstrate that they had not wholly surrendered the Byrds name to Clarke, the three musicians appeared under the banner of the Original Byrds at a Roy Orbison tribute concert on February 24, 1990, where they were joined on-stage by Bob Dylan for a rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man". Later that year, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman entered Treasure Isle Recorders in Nashville to record four new Byrds tracks for inclusion on the forthcoming The Byrds box set. Performing under the banner of the Byrds Celebration, the tribute group toured extensively throughout the remainder of the 1990s, although Parsons was replaced by session drummer Vince Barranco in 1995 and Battin was forced to retire due to ill-health in 1997. Crosby and Hillman were booked to appear at the event separately, but McGuinn, who was not listed on the bill, made a surprise appearance and joined his two former partners on stage. and bassist Skip Battin, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, died at his home in 2003. Ownership of the Byrds' name had reverted to Clarke's estate upon his death in 1993 and Crosby's purchase served to effectively bring the convoluted battle for control of the group's name to an end.

To date, the Fred Walecki tribute concert appearance in 2000 was the last performance by the Byrds. However, Hillman and Crosby both expressed an interest in working with McGuinn again on Byrds projects, but the lead guitarist and head Byrd remained adamant that he was not interested in another full reunion. Though not billed as the Byrds, the duo, together with backing band Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, played some earlier Byrds' material before performing all of the songs from the album and telling stories about its creation. An album of live recordings from the 50th Anniversary concerts was released for Record Store Day 2024.

On January 18, 2023, David Crosby died in his sleep at age 81, following years of health issues. His death left McGuinn and Hillman as the two remaining original members.

Legacy

Since the band's 1960s heyday, the influence of the Byrds on successive generations of rock and pop musicians has grown steadily, with acts such as the Eagles, Big Star, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, R.E.M., the Bangles, the Smiths, and innumerable alternative rock bands of the post-punk era all exhibiting signs of their influence. Musician and author Peter Lavezzoli described the Byrds in 2007 as "one of the few bands to exert a decisive influence on the Beatles", while also noting that they helped to persuade Bob Dylan to begin recording with electric instrumentation. Lavezzoli concluded that "like it or not, terms like 'folk rock', 'raga rock' and 'country rock' were coined for a reason: the Byrds did it first, and then kept moving, never staying in the 'raga' or 'country' mode for very long. This is precisely what made the Byrds such a rewarding band to follow from one record to the next". In The Great Rock Discography, music researcher Martin C. Strong describes the Byrds' cover of "Mr. Tambourine Man" as "a timeless slice of hypnotic, bittersweet pop" and a record that "did nothing less than change the course of pop/rock history". Author and musician Bob Stanley, writing in his 2013 book Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop, has called the Byrds' music "a phenomenon, a drone, genuinely hair-raising and totally American".

Music historian Domenic Priore attempted to sum up the band's influence in his book Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in 60s Hollywood, by stating: "Few of The Byrds' contemporaries can claim to have made such a subversive impact on popular culture. The band had a much larger, more positive impact on the world at large than any Billboard chart position or album sales or concert attendance figure could possibly measure."

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the Byrds at number 45 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2006, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

Members

Original members

  • Roger McGuinn – lead guitar, banjo, Moog synthesizer, vocals (1964–1973, 1989–1991, 2000)
  • David Crosby – rhythm guitar, vocals (1964–1967, 1972–1973, 1989–1991, 2000; died 2023)
  • Chris Hillman – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, mandolin, vocals (1964–1968, 1972–1973, 1989–1991, 2000)
  • Gene Clark – tambourine, rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals (1964–1966, 1967, 1972–1973, 1991; died 1991)
  • Michael Clarke – drums (1964–1967, 1972–1973, 1991; died 1993)

Subsequent members

  • Kevin Kelley – drums (1968; died 2002)
  • Gram Parsons – rhythm guitar, piano, organ, vocals (1968; died 1973)
  • Clarence White – lead guitar, mandolin, vocals (1968–1973; died 1973)
  • Gene Parsons – drums, banjo, harmonica, pedal steel guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals (1968–1972)
  • John York – bass guitar, vocals (1968–1969)
  • Skip Battin – bass guitar, piano, vocals (1969–1973; died 2003)

Membership timeline (1964–1973)<!--Please discuss on the talk page before changing this timeline.-->

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Discography

  • Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)
  • Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965)
  • Fifth Dimension (1966)
  • Younger Than Yesterday (1967)
  • The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)
  • Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)
  • Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde (1969)
  • Ballad of Easy Rider (1969)
  • (Untitled) (1970)
  • Byrdmaniax (1971)
  • Farther Along (1971)
  • Byrds (1973)

Notes

References

Further reading

  • Rogan, Johnny, Byrds: Requiem for the Timeless, Volume 1, Rogan House, 2011, .
  • Hjort, Christopher, So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965–1973), Jawbone Press, 2008, .
  • Menck, Ric, The Notorious Byrd Brothers (33⅓ series), Continuum Books, 2007, .
  • Einarson, John, Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of the Byrds' Gene Clark, Backbeat Books, 2005, .
  • Unterberger, Richie, Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock Revolution, Backbeat Books, 2002, .
  • Unterberger, Richie, Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock, Backbeat Books, 2003, .
  • Rogan, Johnny, The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited, Rogan House, 1998, .
  • Scoppa, Bud, The Byrds, Scholastic Book Services, 1971.
  • The Byrds' Fan Site
  • Roger McGuinn's Official Byrds Homepage
  • The Byrds biography at Rollingstone.com