History Music / TheByrds

The Byrds were an American band active from 1964 to 1973, who were the {{Trope Maker}}s for the genre of [[FolkMusic Folk Rock]] (alongside Music/SimonAndGarfunkel), although they experimented with different genres throughout their career such as PsychedelicRock and CountryMusic. The band was formed initially as a duo comprised of Jim (later Roger) [=McGuinn=] and Gene Clark as guitarists and singers. Third guitarist Music/DavidCrosby soon joined up, followed by drummer Michael Clarke (recruited partly because of his resemblance to [[Music/BrianJones Brian Jones]]) and bassist Chris Hillman shortly afterward. Thus, the "classic" Byrds line-up was born. Thanks to their manager Jim Dickson's connections, they got signed to Creator/ColumbiaRecords.

Clark left the band in 1966 due to his fear of flying (though internal tensions caused by the other band members' resentment of the royalties he made from being the band's primary songwriter aided his decision), reducing the line-up to [=McGuinn=], Crosby, Hillman and Clarke. The new line-up recorded the famous, bitter satire of the music industry "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star", allegedly after being irritated by the success of Music/TheMonkees, and a new album, ''Younger Than Yesterday'', which showcased continued experimentation with psychedelia, straight folk-rock, Indian influences and country (largely contributed by Hillman), though the loss of their primary songwriter was somewhat reflected in the uneven and disjointed, genre-hopping quality of the material.

However, intra-band relations deteriorated, in particular between [=McGuinn=], Hillman and Crosby. The former two regarded the latter as an overbearing egotist and JerkAss, a perception not reduced at all by his [[AuthorFilibuster rambling, lengthy and incoherent speeches]] during the band's appearance at the Film/MontereyPop Festival and his guest appearance playing with Music/BuffaloSpringfield (filling in for an absent Music/NeilYoung), which made [=McGuinn=] and Hillman regard him as disloyal. The internal turmoil somehow didn't find its way into ''The Notorious Byrd Brothers'', which contained ethereal songs created through a fusion of psychedelic rock, folk-rock, country and jazz, with electronic influences also appearing through the adoption of the Moog synthesizer and some of the sci-fi lyrics. The album also showed the band's worsening [[RevolvingDoorBand tendency towards line-up changes]], as Clarke -- upset with his low pay, the material he was working on and periodic arguments with his bandmates -- left during recording in August 1967 (though he returned briefly towards the end of the album sessions before once again being let go by [=McGuinn=] and Hillman). Meanwhile, Crosby was ejected by [=McGuinn=] and Hillman in October 1967 (the two having actually driven to his house on the occasion to fire him) and replaced for three weeks by a returning Gene Clark (who was sacked again afterwards). After being fired, Crosby went on to form the {{Supergroup}} [[Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung Crosby, Stills and Nash]], which Music/NeilYoung later joined.

[=McGuinn=] and Hillman recruited drummer Kevin Kelley (Who was Hillman's cousin) and set out on a college tour in support of the album as a trio, which highlighted the difficulty of reproducing their studio material as a three-piece and led them to seek out a new member. [=McGuinn=] had been planning their next album as a historical overview of 20th century American popular music, so Gram Parsons was brought into the band initially as a keyboardist, but soon moved to guitar. Parsons, a devotee of country music, found common ground with Hillman and managed to persuade [=McGuinn=] that their next album should be an country album instead of his original ConceptAlbum idea, arguing that the stylistic change would broaden the group's audience after the internal turmoil had caused it to decline. This predictably attracted TheyChangedItNowItSucks from Byrds fans and hatred from the Nashville establishment once ''Sweetheart of the Rodeo'' was released. The album, however, has since been VindicatedByHistory as the TropeCodifier, if not the TropeMaker, of Country Rock, and would also exert a major influence on AlternativeCountry. Parsons himself didn't last long, quitting the Byrds in the summer of 1968 in protest against a plan to tour UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica (then in the midst of UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra) before the album was released, and going on to continue the country-rock direction of ''Sweetheart of the Rodeo'' through a commercially unsuccessful but influential solo career and as part of The Flying Burrito Brothers, dying of a heroin overdose in 1973. The subsequent South African tour turned out to be disastrous, as the band hired one of their roadies, Carlos Bernal, as a rhythm guitar player on extremely short notice, found themselves being forced to play to segregated audiences despite having demanded that promoters not allow audience segregation, and turning in badly rehearsed, ramshackle performances marked by antagonism both between themselves and towards the apartheid regime, leaving in a cloud of bad publicity and death threats and being lambasted by the press in the UK and USA for playing in South Africa.

Even with only one original member remaining, The Byrds trudged on as [=McGuinn=] brought in bassist John York to replace Hillman, and chose to sing lead vocals on all the songs on the next album ''Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde'', believing that fans would be too confused hearing the unfamiliar voices of the new members, who were restricted to backing vocals. ''Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde'', whose title reflected the material's split between the country-rock direction the band continued to pursue and newer songs which harked back to the PsychedelicRock of 1966–67, earned some good reviews but became their lowest selling album in the USA, limping to #153 on the ''Billboard'' charts (being actually out-charted by ''Preflyte'', a compilation of 1964 demo recordings compiled by the band's former producer Gary Usher) while paradoxically attracting rave reviews and becoming a great seller in the UK. The next album, ''Ballad of Easy Rider'' followed quickly the same year, began to repair the band's position as they consolidated their country-rock style and attracted attention due to the title track being used as the theme song for ''Film/EasyRider''. Another line-up change occurred prior to the album's release, with York being sacked as the other members doubted his commitment to the band and Skip Battin hired as his replacement.

The [=McGuinn=]-White-Battin-Parsons line-up counter-intuitively became The Byrds' longest-lasting and most stable line-up, and toured relentlessly for three years to rave reviews. The band thus decided to release a live album, but had also accumulated enough songs to record a new studio album, leading producer Terry Melcher to suggest a double album. Named ''(Untitled)'' thanks to a mistake by one of the employees at Columbia Records, the album was released in 1970 and considered the band's return to form, with the live renditions of their previous hits (among them a 16-minute version of "Eight Miles High") helping reconnect the band to their past audience while the entirely self-penned studio material was noticeably improved in quality compared to the more uneven records the band's internal turmoil had resulted in. Accordingly, ''(Untitled)'' garnered great reviews and resurrected the band's popularity and commercial success, peaking at #40 in the USA and #11 in the UK, and their live performances in the period also earned positive notices. However, the band's gruelling tour schedule left them exhausted and under-equipped for material as they sporadically recorded their follow-up, ''Byrdmaniax'' in-between touring. Once the sessions were completed, the band went back on tour, and ExecutiveMeddling ensued as the material was overdubbed with strings, horns and a gospel choir without the band's knowledge or consent. Upon release, ''Byrdmaniax'' was received as well as a turd in a punchbowl and irreversibly undermined the second wind of popularity the group had been riding. In response, The Byrds quickly recorded a self-produced album, ''Farther Along'', to counteract the criticisms directed at ''Byrdmaniax'', but the pace of the recording further affected the available material and meant that the album failed to either restore the band's reputation or their flagging audience.

Since then, there had been three separate reunions. The first was from 1989 to 1990 with [=McGuinn=], Crosby and Hillman. However, Michael Clarke had gained full legal ownership of "The Byrds" name, and sued the 3 when they toured as The Byrds. In 1991, the original five Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (with the rest of the former members such as Gram Parsons and Clarence White snubbed). The event was timely, as this would mark the last time the original five would re-unite. Gene Clark, who was visibly ill at the reunion, died a few months later of a bleeding ulcer caused by his alcoholism. Then at the end of 1993, Michael Clarke succumbed to liver failure, again as a result of decades of alcoholism. There would be one final one-off reunion in 2000, this time with [=McGuinn=], Crosby and Hillman. Since then, they have gone their separate ways, with Crosby gaining the rights of "The Byrds" name in 2002, Kevin Kelley dying of natural causes in 2002, and Skip Battin dying from Alzheimer's disease in 2003.

* FeudEpisode: The band's history is basically one of these after another. It's even continued to the present day, when David Crosby blocked Roger [=McGuinn=] on Twitter. Apparently the two still haven't managed to work out their differences.

* GenreRoulette: Over the course of their career, they dabbled in folk, psychedelia, jazz, country, electronica and more.
** Even ''Sweetheart of the Rodeo'', commonly seen as their "country album", actually contains a mashup of styles. Songs like "You're Still On My Mind" and "Life In Prison" are essentially straight country, but "Pretty Boy Floyd" borders on bluegrass and "I Am A Pilgrim" is the sort of old-time music that could easily fit onto the sountrack album for ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou.'' "One Hundred Years From Now" and "Nothing Was Delivered," meanwhile, are country-rock--with emphasis on the "rock."

* IntentionalMessMaking: Both Roger [=McGuinn=] and Chris Hillman have suggested that David Crosby had grown disinterested in the band by the summer of 1967, and was actively trying to get himself fired so that he could work with other musicians. Crosby has always denied this, and still seems to be [[TheResenter quite hurt]] by his dismissal despite his later success with Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung.

* JerkAss: David Crosby has become almost as famous for his bridge burning as he is for music.

* {{Motifs}}: Airplane travel, space travel and dogs all get recurring mentions in their lyrics.

* TheNapoleon: David Crosby was the shortest member of the classic line-up, but he was also--by a substantial margin--the most extroverted, egotistical and emotionally volatile. This contrasted particularly sharply with the icier temperament of Roger [=McGuinn=].

* SignificantWardrobeShift: At the start of their career, the members of the band looked very similar to one another, as they dressed in jackets, turtlenecks and dark jeans, and wore their hair in Beatles-esque moptops. In most of the promotional shoots the guys did in 1965, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke in particular look almost like they could be brothers. By 1967, however, they became more easy to distinguish: specifically, Crosby started wearing colorful and hippie-ish clothes (including array of distinctive hats), stopped cutting his hair, and grew his now-iconic walrus mustache; [=McGuinn=]'s fashion became, conversely, more conservative and he grew a folksinger-esque goatee; and Hillman stopped combing down his natural curls.

* '''Music/DavidCrosby''' – lead vocals, guitar, bass (1964–67, 1972–73, 1989–91, 2000)

* Skip Battin – bass, vocals (1969–1973, died 2003)
* '''Gene Clark''' – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, tambourine (1964–1966, 1967, 1972–1973, 1991, died 1991)
* Michael Clarke – drums, congas, percussion (1964–1967, 1972–1973, 1991, died 1993)
* '''Music/DavidCrosby''' – lead vocals, guitar, bass (1964–1967, 1972–1973, 1989-1991, 2000)
* Chris Hillman – lead vocals, bass, guitar, mandolin (1964–1968, 1972–1973, 1989-1991, 2000)
* Kevin Kelley – drums (1968, died 2002)
* '''Jim "Roger" [=McGuinn=]''' – lead vocals, guitar, synthesizer, banjo (1964–1973, 1989-1991, 2000)
* Gene Parsons – drums, harmonica, banjo, vocals (1968–1972)
* Gram Parsons – lead vocals, guitar, piano, organ (1968, died 1973)
* Clarence White – guitar, mandolin, lead vocals (1968–1973, died 1973)
* John York – bass, lead vocals (1968–1969)

* RearrangeTheSong: Their early hits were Bob Dylan songs and folk tunes rearranged in a Beatles-esque style with straight rock time signatures and electric guitars. Prior to the Byrds, [=McGuin=] had worked as a professional musical arranger for artists such as Judy Collins.

* SignificantWardrobeShift: At the start of their career, the members of the band looked very similar to one another, as they dressed in jackets, turtlenecks and dark jeans, and wore their hair in Beatles-esque moptops. By 1967, however, they became more easy to distinguish: specifically, Crosby started wearing colorful and hippie-ish clothes, stopped cutting his hair and grew his now-iconic mustache; [=McGuinn=]'s fashion became, conversely, more conservative and he grew a folksinger-esque goatee; and Hillman stopped combing down his natural curls.

** Harold Eugene Clark went by the diminutive of his middle name.

** Roger [=McGuinn=] was born James Joseph [=McGuinn=], and went by Jim professionally until the summer of 1967 when he switched to Roger. [=McGuinn=]'s legal name is actually still James--he just changed his middle name from Joseph to Roger.

* StudioChatter: Before the stereo version of "Lady Friend" on the 1991 box set.

%%* FriendlyPlayfulDolphin: "Dolphin's Smile".

** Roger [=McGuinn=] was born James Joseph McGuinn, and went by Jim until the summer of 1967 when he switched to Roger. [=McGuinn=]'s legal name is actually still James--he just changed his middle name from Joseph to Roger.

* StageNames: Michael Clarke's real name was Michael Dick. The new surname was inspired by Dick Clark.

* FilkSong:
** "Space Odyssey" is based on Creator/ArthurCClarke's "The Sentinel", rather than ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', since it was recorded a year or so before the film was released.
** "Film/CitizenKane" isn't an example, other than the mention of Xanadu alongside Kane's name in the chorus. But it does mash-up a lot of imagery of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood in a comical way, with [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]] to Creator/GretaGarbo, Creator/JohnBarrymore, ''Series/TheCiscoKid'', [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louella_Parsons Louella Parsons]], Creator/ErrolFlynn, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_Valentino Rudolph Valentino]], Creator/FattyArbuckle and ''[[Film/Frankenstein1931 Frankenstein]]''.
* FolkRock: Their early albums.
* FriendlyPlayfulDolphin: "Dolphin's Smile".

* CoolOldGuy: David Crosby is, for better or for worse, still letting his freak flag fly all over Twitter, even managing to get involved in a memorable feud with Music/PhoebeBridgers in 2021. Roger [=McGuinn=], meanwhile, has an engagingly nerdy presence on both Twitter and Youtube.

* BaldnessAngst: Look at any photo of the band taken in 1967 and it's a virtual guarantee that Crosby will be wearing a hat, likely due to the fact that his hairline was very visibly receding (which meant that the mop-top he'd worn in the band's early years was no longer feasible).

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The earliest version of the band had Clark on rhythm guitar and Crosby as the non-instrumentalist. Depending on who is telling the story, either Clark willingly gave up the instrument or Crosby bullied him out of it by undermining his confidence. At the end of the day, however, most fans feel that the instrumental re-structuring was an improvement, as Crosby was the stronger guitarist while Clark made a more visually striking frontman.

* IntentionalMessMaking: Both Roger [=McGuinn=] and Chris Hillman have suggested that David Crosby was actively trying to get himself fired from the band in the late summer of 1967. Crosby has always denied this, and still seems to be [[TheResenter quite hurt]] by his dismissal despite his later success with Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung.

* {{Corpsing}}: David Crosby can clearly be heard trying to keep himself from laughing as he sings the line "I don't know how it's supposed to be" in the second verse of "What's Happening?" from the album ''Fifth Dimension''.

* ShoutOut:
** Ian [=McLagan=] of the Music/SmallFaces claimed that the line "in places, small faces unbound" was a tribute to his band from David Crosby, who was responsible for this section of the lyrics.

* SignificantWardrobeShift: At the start of their career, the members of the band looked very similar to one another, as they dressed in jackets, turtlenecks and dark jeans, and wore their hair in Beatles-esque moptops. By 1967, however, they became more easy to distinguish: specifically, Crosby began wearing hippie-inspired clothing, stopped cutting his hair and grew his iconic mustache; [=McGuinn=]'s fashion became, conversely, more conservative and he grew a folksinger-esque goatee; and Hillman stopped combing down his naturally curly hair.

** [=McGuinn=] - "Mr. Spaceman," "My Back Pages" and "Wasn't Born to Follow"

** Hillman - "Time Between," "The Girl With No Name" and "Natural Harmony"

However, intra-band relations deteriorated, in particular between [=McGuinn=], Hillman and Crosby. The former two regarded the latter as an overbearing egotist and JerkAss, a perception not reduced at all by his [[AuthorFilibuster rambling, lengthy and incoherent speeches]] during the band's appearance at the Film/MontereyPop Festival and his guest appearance playing with Music/BuffaloSpringfield (filling in for an absent Music/NeilYoung), which made [=McGuinn=] and Hillman regard him as disloyal. The internal turmoil somehow didn't find its way into ''The Notorious Byrd Brothers'', which contained ethereal songs created through a fusion of psychedelic rock, folk-rock, country and jazz, with electronic influences also appearing through the adoption of the Moog synthesizer and some of the sci-fi lyrics. The album also showed the band's worsening [[RevolvingDoorBand tendency towards line-up changes]], as Crosby was ejected by [=McGuinn=] and Hillman in October 1967 (the two having actually driven to his house on the occasion to fire him), replaced for three weeks by a returning Clark, who was sacked again afterwards, and Clarke also left during recording in August 1967, upset with his low pay, the material he was working on and periodic arguments with his band-mates, though he also returned briefly towards the end of the album sessions before once again being let go by [=McGuinn=] and Hillman. After being fired, Crosby went on to form the {{Supergroup}} [[Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung Crosby, Stills And Nash]], which Music/NeilYoung later joined.

Even with only one original member remaining, The Byrds trudged on as [=McGuinn=] brought in bassist John York to replace Hillman, and chose to sing lead vocals on all the songs on the next album ''Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde'', believing that fans would be too confused hearing the unfamiliar voices of the new members, who were restricted to backing vocals. ''Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde'', whose title reflected the material's split between the country-rock direction the band continued to pursue and newer songs which harked back to the PsychedelicRock of 1966-1967, garnered some good reviews but became their lowest selling album in the USA, limping to #153 on the ''Billboard'' charts (being actually out-charted by ''Preflyte'', a compilation of 1964 demo recordings compiled by the band's former producer Gary Usher) while paradoxically attracting rave reviews and becoming a great seller in the UK. The next album, ''Ballad Of Easy Rider'' followed quickly the same year, began to repair the band's position as they consolidated their country-rock style and attracted attention due to the title track being used as the theme song for ''Film/EasyRider''. Another line-up change occurred prior to the album's release, with York being sacked as the other members doubted his commitment to the band and Skip Battin hired as his replacement.

The single was followed by two albums, ''Music/MrTambourineMan'' and ''Turn! Turn! Turn'', which relied heavily on {{cover|Version}}s of other songs, generally by Music/BobDylan or traditional folk songs, with original songs mostly contributed by Gene Clark. The latter album yielded another hit single with a cover of Pete Seeger's title tune, and also offered an EarlyBirdCameo for the Byrds' future musical direction, as Hillman, whose musical background was more bluegrass/country than the others' folk, convinced the band to cover "Satisfied Mind". However, the band got bored with folk-rock and began to experiment with PsychedelicRock on ''Fifth Dimension'', which provided another hit with the creepy "Eight Miles High".

The single was followed by two albums, ''Music/MrTambourineMan'' and ''Turn! Turn! Turn'', which relied heavily on {{cover|Version}}s of other songs, generally by Music/BobDylan or traditional folk songs, with original songs mostly contributed by Gene Clark. The latter album also had an EarlyBirdCameo for their future musical direction, as Hillman, whose musical background was more bluegrass/country than the others' folk, convinced the band to cover "Satisfied Mind". However, the band got bored with folk-rock and began to experiment with PsychedelicRock on ''Fifth Dimension'', which provided another hit with the creepy "Eight Miles High".