The Byrds, 1964-1967

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts!  I'm Jumpin' John, and today’s episode will concentrate on the four critical years of one of the premier folk rock bands in the mid 1960’s:  The Byrds!  

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Transcript

Well, hi there, time traveler!  You have just landed on Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John, and today’s episode will concentrate on the four critical years of one of the premier folk rock bands in the mid 1960’s:  The Byrds!  In addition to leading the way with electrified folk rock, I would argue that The Byrds also produced one of the first psychedelic songs!

In early 1964 Jim McGuinn was performing his solo act at the Troubadour folk club in Los Angeles.  His repertoire included acoustic versions of the Beatles' songs.  McGuinn was approached by fellow Beatles fan Gene Clark (spelled C-L-A-R-K).  They began performing together as a duo, playing Beatles covers, folk songs, and some self-penned material.  Soon after, David Crosby introduced himself to the duo and began harmonizing with them on some of their songs.  The three musicians formed a trio and named themselves the Jet Set, a name inspired by McGuinn's love of aeronautics. 

All three musicians had previous experience in folk groups.  McGuinn had been with the Limeliters and the Chad Mitchell Trio, Clark had been with the New Christy Minstrels, and Crosby had been with Les Baxter's Balladeers.  McGuinn had also spent time as a professional songwriter at the Brill Building in New York City, under the tutelage of Bobby Darin.  Be sure to check out Rock and Roll Flashback podcast episode #25 to hear more about the Brill Building and podcast episode #121 to hear more about Bobby Darin’s diverse career.

Crosby introduced McGuinn and Clark to his associate Jim Dickson.  Dickson took on management duties for the group, while his business partner, Eddie Tickner, became the group's accountant and handled finances.  Dickson began utilizing World Pacific Studios in Hollywood to record the trio.  It was there during the rehearsals that the band's folk rock sound began to coalesce.  Drummer Michael Clarke (spelled C-L-A-R-K-E) was added to the Jet Set in mid-1964, primarily for his good looks and not for his drumming skills.  In fact, 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.  The band recorded a single, consisting of two of the band's original songs:  "Please Let Me Love You"  backed with "Don't Be Long".  The recordings featured McGuinn, Clark, and Crosby, plus L.A. session musicians Ray Pohlman on bass and Earl Palmer on drums.  The band's name was briefly changed to the Beefeaters for the singles release.  "Please Let Me Love You" was then issued by Elektra Records on October 7th, 1964, but it failed to chart. 

Inspired by the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night, the band decided to equip themselves with similar instruments.  They purchased a Rickenbacker twelve-string guitar for McGuinn, a Ludwig drum kit for drummer Michael Clarke, and a Gretsch Tennessean guitar for Gene Clark.  Later Crosby would play the Gretsch, with Gene Clark switching to tambourine.  In October 1964, Dickson recruited mandolin player Chris Hillman as the Jet Set's bassist.  So the band's original five-piece lineup became Jim McGuinn (lead guitar, vocals), Gene Clark (tambourine, vocals), David Crosby (rhythm guitar, vocals), Chris Hillman (bass guitar, vocals), and Michael Clarke (drums).  

The group signed a recording contract with Columbia Records on November 10th, 1964.  Two weeks later the Jet Set decided to rename themselves as The Byrds (spelled B-Y-R-D-S).  The new band name kept the theme of flight and also echoed the deliberate misspelling of the Beatles.  On January 20th, 1965, the Byrds entered Columbia Studios in Hollywood to record Bob Dylan's song "Mr. Tambourine Man" with producer Terry Melcher.  To hear more about Terry Melcher please check out Rock and Roll Flashback podcast episode #51.  

McGuinn, Crosby, and Clark sang on the both sides of the recorded single.  However, since the band had not yet completely gelled musically, McGuinn was the only Byrd to play an instrument on "Mr. Tambourine Man" and on the B-side, "I Knew I'd Want You".  Rather than using band members for the instrumental backing track, producer Terry Melcher hired a collection of top L.A. session musicians, known today as the Wrecking Crew.  To hear more about the Wrecking Crew, please check out Rock and Roll Flashback podcast episodes numbers 19 through 22.

The recording of "Mr. Tambourine Man" featured two characteristics that would continue to represent The Byrds' sound.  One characteristic was McGuinn's heavily compressed sustain sounds that he coaxed from his 12-string Rickenbacker guitar.  McGuinn's folk background of playing banjo finger picking styles enabled him to produce the distinctive "jingle-jangle", ringing arpeggios from his guitar.  The other characteristic was the band's clear harmony singing, which usually featured McGuinn and Clark in unison, with Crosby providing the high harmony.  

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.  The band's regular appearances at Ciro's during March and April 1965 allowed them to perfect their musicianship, their repertoire, and their aloof stage persona.  It was at Ciro's that the band first began to attract a dedicated following among L.A.'s youth culture and hip Hollywood celebrities.  Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Arthur Lee, and Sonny & Cher regularly attended the band's performances.  The Byrds were quickly becoming a must-see fixture on L.A.'s nightclub scene.  This resulted in hordes of teenagers filling the sidewalks outside the club, desperate to see the band perform.   

Columbia Records released the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single on April 12th, 1965.  Within three months "Mr. Tambourine Man" had become the first folk rock hit, reaching #1 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart.  Over the years both Bob Dylan’s and The Byrds' versions of “Mr. Tambourine Man” have appeared on various greatest-songs-of-all-time lists.  Both versions appear on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2004, 2010, and 2021 lists of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  The Byrds' version was listed at #79 initially, before dropping to #230 in 2021, while Dylan’s version was first ranked #106 and later #164 in 2021.  Each version has been honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, and in 1999 National Public Radio listed The Byrds' version as one of the 300 most important American records of the 20th century.

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 term "folk rock" was itself coined by the American music press to describe the band's sound in June 1965, at roughly the same time as "Mr. Tambourine Man" peaked at #1 in the U.S.  By the time the sessions for their debut album began in March 1965, Producer Melcher was satisfied that the band was competent enough to record its own musical backing.  The Byrds' next single was another Dylan song called "All I Really Want to Do".  The B-side was "I'd Feel a Whole Lot Better".  Issued on June 14th, 1965, the single stalled at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100, but reached #4 in the UK.  Meanwhile, the Mr. Tambourine Man album, released on June 21st, 1965, peaked at #6 on the Billboard Albums chart and #7 on the UK Albums Chart.  The album was a mix of folk songs, Bob Dylan covers, and the band's own compositions, the majority of which were written by Gene Clark.  The album would later be ranked #287 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All time.

The Mr. Tambourine Man LP established the band as an internationally successful rock act.  It represented the first effective American challenge to the dominance of the Beatles and the British Invasion.  During this period of their career, The Byrds enjoyed tremendous popularity among teenage pop fans.  Their music received widespread airplay on Top 40 radio and their faces adorned countless teen magazines.  They became known for their moptop haircuts, their unconventional casual attire (which included Crosby wearing a cape), and McGuinn's distinctive, rectangular "granny glasses".  Another aspect of the Byrds' image was their unsmiling air of aloof detachment, both on stage and in front of the camera.  

In an attempt to capitalize on the #1 chart success of the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single, the group's publicist, Derek Taylor, set up an August 1965 tour of England.  The tour was overhyped from the start, with the band being touted as "America's answer to the Beatles".  That label proved impossible for The Byrds to live up to.  Their British concert performances were underwhelming, with poor sound, ragged musicianship, and the band's notoriously lackluster stage presence.  British audiences and the British press were not impressed with The Byrds.  However, the tour did enable the band to meet and socialize with a number of top English groups, including the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.  The Beatles would publicly acknowledge The Byrds as creative competitors and named them as their favorite American group.  Another significant development from the tour was Gene Clark finding inspirational lyrics for a future song.  That song's lyrics would end up being about the group's flight to London that August and the subsequent British tour.  

The Byrds' third Columbia single was a Pete Seeger composition called "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)".  The single was issued on October 1st, 1965 and became the band's second U.S. #1 single.  In Canada, it reached #3 and peaked at #26 on the UK Singles Chart.  Then The Byrds' second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, was released in December 1965.  The album was a commercial success, peaking at #17 on the U.S. charts and #11 in the UK.  The LP established The Byrds as one of rock music's most important creative forces.  Like their debut, the second album comprised a mixture of group originals, folk songs, and Bob Dylan covers.  All songs were 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 Gene Clark in particular coming to the fore as a songwriter.  However, the recording sessions for their second album had been tense.  A power struggle had begun to develop between producer Terry Melcher and the band's manager, Jim Dickson.  Within a month of the Turn! Turn! Turn! LP being released, Dickson and The Byrds approached Columbia Records and requested that Melcher be replaced.  Columbia assigned their West Coast head of A&R, Allen Stanton, to the band. 

Back in Rock and Roll Flashback podcast episode #34, I had briefly mentioned an early psychedelic song by The Byrds.  Based upon those previously mentioned lyrics that Gene Clark had written during the British tour, on December 22nd, 1965 The Byrds recorded a new song at RCA Studios in Hollywood.  The composition was entitled "Eight Miles High", with songwriting credits given to Clark, McGuinn, and Crosby.  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 24th and 25th, 1966.  "Eight Miles High" represented a musical departure for The Byrds.  While the verses were still carried by the harmonies of Clark, McGuinn and Crosby, the psychedelic intro and breakdown showed McGuinn's groundbreaking lead guitar playing.  McGuinn has said that he was greatly influenced by the music of John Coltrane and Ravi Shankar.  In "Eight Miles High" McGuinn successfully merged saxophonist John Coltrane's free-jazz atonalities, while hinting at the droning of a sitar.  With all due respect to Donovan, the Yardbirds, the Beatles, and others, I would argue that the Byrds' single "Eight Miles High" was one of the first psychedelic rock songs.  At the very least, it was very influential in the future development of psychedelic rock.

In February 1966, just prior to the release of "Eight Miles High", Gene Clark left the band, due to problems associated with anxiety and his increasing isolation within the group.  Much of The Byrds' third album, Fifth Dimension, continued to build on the band's new psychedelic sound.  McGuinn explored jazz and raga styles on tracks such as "I See You" and the Crosby-penned "What's Happening?!?!".  The album also saw Hillman emerge as the band's third vocalist, in order to fill the hole in the group's harmonies that Clark's departure had left. The album title track, "5D (Fifth Dimension)" was issued ahead of the album as a single on June 13th, 1966. "5D" reached #44 on the Billboard Hot 100, but failed to chart in the UK.  "5D" was  banned by a number of U.S. radio stations for supposedly featuring lyrics that advocated drug use.  The Fifth Dimension album, released on July 18th, 1966, peaked at #24 in the U.S. and #27 in the UK.  

The Columbia recorded version of "Eight Miles High" was released as the second single from the LP on March 14th, 1966.   The B-side of the single was the McGuinn and Crosby-penned song "Why".  Unfortunately, in April 1966 Bill Gavin’s highly regarded Record Report to DJ's came out with a very negative review of the song.  The Report said [and I quote] "We have dropped "Eight Miles High" from our recommended playlist.  In our opinion, this record implies encouragement and/or approval of the use of marijuana or LSD" [end quote].  Despite the band members denials of drug-related lyrics, the single was banned in Houston, Baltimore, and Washington, DC.  As a result, "Eight Miles High" only reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #24 on the UK Singles Chart.  "Eight Miles High" thus became The Byrds' third and final U.S. Top 20 hit.  In 1999, "Eight Miles High" would be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at #151 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  In March 2005, Q magazine placed the song at #50 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.  On September 6th, 1966 "Mr. Spaceman" was the third single released from the album.  It reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100, but failed to chart in the UK.

For the band's fourth album, Younger Than Yesterday, the band chose to bring in producer Gary Usher to help guide them through the album sessions.  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".  The song features the trumpet playing of South African musician Hugh Masekela.  "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" was issued as a single in January 1967 and peaked at #29 in the US, but failed to chart in the UK.  Released on February 6th, 1967, the Younger Than Yesterday LP was more varied than its predecessor and saw the band successfully mixing psychedelia with folk rock and country and western influences.  It peaked at #24 on the Billboard chart and #37 on the UK Albums Chart.  "My Back Pages" was released as a single later in 1967 and would be their last top 40 hit, peaking at #30 in the US.  

By mid-1967, McGuinn had changed his first name from Jim to Roger as a result of his interest in the Indonesian religion Subud.  Shortly after McGuinn's name change, the band entered the studio to record the single called "Lady Friend".   The Crosby-penned single was released on July 13th, 1967.  "Lady Friend" stalled at #82 on the Billboard chart, much to Crosby's disappointment.

The band's first compilation album, The Byrds' Greatest Hits, was released on August 7th, 1967.  The Greatest Hits LP peaked at #6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, giving the band their highest-charting album in America since their 1965 debut, Mr. Tambourine Man.  Within a year, the compilation was certified gold by the RIAA.  It eventually went platinum on November 21st, 1986, and is today the biggest-selling album in the Byrds' discography. 

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.  At Crosby's recommendation, Larry Spector was brought in to handle The Byrds' business affairs, with the group electing to manage themselves to a large extent.  Between June and December 1967, The Byrds worked on completing their fifth album, The Notorious Byrd Brothers.  However, there was increasing tension and acrimony among the members of the group, which eventually resulted in the dismissals of Clarke and Crosby.  Michael Clarke quit the album sessions over disputes with his bandmates.   Then, in September Crosby refused to participate in the recording of the single "Goin' Back".  In October 1967, McGuinn and Hillman fired Crosby.  Crosby subsequently received a cash settlement, with which he bought a sailboat.  Soon after, he began working with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash in the successful supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash.  Following Crosby's departure, Gene Clark briefly rejoined the band, but left just three weeks later, after refusing to board an aircraft while on tour.  Michael Clarke also returned to the recording studio briefly, towards the end of the album sessions, before being informed by McGuinn and Hillman that they were dismissing him from the band.  The single "Goin' Back" was released in October 1967 and peaked at #89 on the Billboard chart.  Released in January 1968, The Notorious Byrd Brothers s LP was only moderately successful commercially, peaking at #47 in the US. 

McGuinn and Hillman decided to recruit new members, including country rock pioneer Gram Parsons.  With the 1968 album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, the band would play a pioneering role in the development of the country rock genre.  However, by late 1968 Hillman and Parsons had also exited the band.  McGuinn elected to rebuild the band's membership.  Between 1968 and 1973, he headed up a new incarnation of The Byrds that featured guitarist Clarence White, among others.  McGuinn disbanded that version of the band to make way for a reunion of the original quintet.  The five original members of The Byrds reunited briefly during late 1972.  The reunion took place in early October 1972, beginning with a rehearsal at McGuinn's house, where the group began selecting suitable material for a new album.  The five original Byrds recorded the reunion album from October 16th until November 15th, 1972.  The LP, titled simply Byrds, was released on March 7th, 1973, to mixed reviews.  The album managed to climb to #20 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and #31 in the UK, but a planned tour in support of the album failed to materialize.  

Several former members of The Byrds went on to successful careers of their own, either 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.  On January 16th, 1991, the five original members of the Byrds put aside their differences to appear together in New York City for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  The ceremony only honored the original line-up of Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke.  The induction ceremony would be the last time that the five original members would perform together.  Gene Clark died of a heart attack later that year, while Michael Clarke died of liver failure in 1993. David Crosby died in 2023.

Since the band's 1960s heyday, the influence of The Byrds on successive generations of rock and pop musicians has grown steadily.  Acts such as the Eagles, 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.  In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Byrds at #45 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.  In 2006, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.  

Thank you for traveling back in time with me on another edition of Rock and Roll Flashback!  In this episode I reviewed the four peak years, from 1964 through 1967, of the influential folk-rock band called The Byrds.  I'm Jumpin' John McDermott, and until next time...Rock On!