∙ The Byrds were inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and the band was later included on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. ∙ Following numerous personnel changes, the group’s original lineup reunited in 1972 to record one final, self-titled LP, which surfaced the following year as the members went their separate ways. ∙ Gram Parsons was drafted into the band in 1968 and featured heavily on that year’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo, one of the very first country-rock albums. ∙ South African jazz artist Hugh Masekela played trumpet on their 1967 single “So You Want to Be a Rock ’n’ Roll Star,” which went on to be covered years later by Patti Smith and Tom Petty. ∙ The 1966 single “Eight Miles High” ushered in the band’s psychedelic era, best exemplified by that year’s LP Fifth Dimension and 1967’s Younger Than Yesterday. Tambourine Man,” and then with “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season).” 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965-first with their debut, a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. folk scene, the group formed as The Jet Set in 1964, later changing their name to The Byrds as a tribute to the misspelled moniker of The Beatles. I thought, “Yeah, I’m gonna butcher it, musically, because lyrically I believe in it so much.” When I was in Dinosaur Jr, J was always bad-mouthing The Byrds: “They’re the worst, they’re so wimpy.Folk rock, psychedelic rock, country rock-The Byrds helped pioneer them all in the ’60s and forever changed the face of popular music. Given the dozens of Byrds collections on the market, this is hardly the best or most inclusive anthology of their work the expanded CD version of 1967's The Byrds' Greatest Hits is still arguably the.

They were just coming out of this period at the Beatlesque pop end of things and were incorporating this undercurrent of jazz into the music. The 60s: The Byrds is a budget-priced ten-song collection that features several of the Byrds' best-remembered songs in their original recordings. It’s impossible to describe that loose sound the early Byrds had. The original is so incredible musically, you can’t imitate it. Every single word in the song meant something to me, so I thought it was ideal. Then, when we got back together again, I was working on a record and recorded it for that. It had a very calming effect for me, just playing it. There was this huge upheaval and I was writing all these songs on my own, and I started playing that song because it was so important to she and I.

We split up for a while and she became engaged to somebody else. He Was A Friend Of Mine by The Byrds (1965) The Byrds - He Was A Friend Of Mine (Audio) Watch on Roger McGuinn rewrote a much older song to be this track about JFK who he considered a friend because he was such a breath of fresh air in the US presidency that everyone felt like they just knew him. “Everybody’s Been Burned” is one of those songs that made my cry, which I can’t say about many songs. LOU BARLOW, Dinosaur Jr/Sebadoh: I’d always known about The Byrds, but when my wife and I met they became the soundtrack for our young love. US chart: 29Ĭrosby’s jazz-scented rumination on a failed love affair actually dated from his early days on the LA folk circuit, before finally making it onto The Byrds’ fourth album in electrified form. You can hear what their influences are – but at the same time it’s something completely new.įrom Younger Than Yesterday (February 1967)ī-side of “So You Want To Be A Rock’n’Roll Star”, January 1967. Listen to what Crosby and Clark are doing and it’s so beautiful. Earlier today I was listening to Preflyte, which is the album of demos, and even on there the harmonies are amazing. Yes, the 12-string is incredible, but the harmonies are out of this world. The Byrds Songs List: All Old & New AllMusic All Songs The Byrds Follow Artist + Influential L.A. The whole sound of The Byrds is what made them special. I think it’s only about three chords, but it’s always been a favourite of mine.

It’s a scorching solo, totally out there. That version is raga-rock at his best, with McGuinn’s guitar sounding like pure “White Light/White Heat”. I love the version that’s on the B-side of “Eight Miles High”. US chart: 14ĭriven by Crosby’s growing fascination with the music of Ravi Shankar, and propelled by McGuinn’s sitar-like drone, this is a landmark of psychedelic raga-rock.īOBBY GILLESPIE: There are three different versions of this song. B-side of “Eight Miles High”, March 1966. From Younger Than Yesterday (February 1967).

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