Byrds

Perhaps the Byrds didn't invent folk-rock, or psychedelic rock, or country-rock, although they were the first to put them on the charts, but surely they linked the era of vocal ensembles (Everly Brothers, Beach Boys, Beatles) with that of the rock bands (Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead).

"Byrds" is actually the name of three different bands: the band that linked Dylan with the Merseybeat, the band that initiated spatial-psychedelic rock, and the band that dove into country-rock. The band was a breeding ground of musical genres, practically one for every era.

Each one of these three phases has been characterized by the leader who wrote their material and embodied their inspiration: the duo Clark-McGuinn in the beginning, David Crosby in the mid-period and McGuinn in the end. The Byrds contained three strong artistic personalities: the sweet and introverted Gene Clark, the dreamy and ethereal David Crosby, the practical and professional Roger McGuinn. All three would eventually establish solo careers that would seem the natural continuation of their respective phases with the Byrds.

In the 90s the Byrds, along with Velvet Underground, were deemed the most influential musicians of the new generation of alternative rock. Roger (or Jim) McGuinn and David Crosby, who met in Los Angeles in 1960, had mastered the art of post-Dylan folk singing in the Village, and had relocated to California to spread the gospel. In Los Angeles they encountered the sparkling harmonies of the bluegrass of the prairies and the crystal clear vocal harmonies of the Merseybeat that was sweeping about after the Beatles tour. The bluegrass heritage was particularly strong in Chris Hillman, a San Diego mandolin player (former leader of the bluegrass band Hillmen) recruited to play bass. The Merseybeat was Gene Clark's passion. Clark, a Kansas City native, was an ex-member of the New Christy Minstrels. Michael Clarke sat at the drums until 1967.

In the beginning, however, the Byrds modestly presented themselves as paying homage to the great tradition of folk singing, in particular to he who was becoming a national myth: Bob Dylan. The brilliant idea of the Byrds was to arrange Dylan's songs as if they were catchy Merseybeat or surf hits, that is employing multi-part vocal harmonies, in the style of the Beach Boys, playing electric guitars as they did in Great Britain, and accelerating the tempo to render it allegro. The Byrds' sound fired up three electric guitars, led by McGuinn's 12 string Rickenbacker. The vocal parts were managed by four high voices lead by Clark, although the most celebrated was McGuinn, more nasal and therefore closer to Dylan's inflection. Except for the drums, all other instrumental parts were dispatched to seasoned session men.

Having worked a couple of years for Judy Collins, McGuinn had some experience in the production of folk music, which he applied to Dylan's music.

The Byrds burst on the scene of rock music in the summer of 1965 with their ethereal and catchy version of Mr. Tambourine Man, completely transformed by a tornado of guitar jingle-jangle.(Producer Terry Melcher shares the credit for this one.) That humble cover marked the coming of a new genre: folk rock, combining Dylan's lyric genius and the Beatles' melodic acumen. Note that this was de facto a McGuinn solo because the producer, Terry Melcher, preferred to hire seasoned sessionmen (Hal Blaine on drums, Leon Russell on electric piano, and Larry Knechtel on bass) to accompany McGuinn, the only member of the band who was allowed to play an instrument.

The original material, mostly written by Clark, seemed less exciting only because it wasn't signed by Dylan, but in reality it was quite innovative. Feel A Whole Lot Better not only doubled the intensity of the jingle-jangle, but it projected it onto an acrobatic rock and roll beat that sounded both fiery and frenetic.

Among the greatest hits are also the cover Turn Turn Turn (music written by Pete Seeger, lyrics from the Old Testament) sung in appropriately biblical tone, and It Won't Be Wrong.

Within a year of their debut, two albums were released, both somewhat diminished by the fact that they were essentially anthologies of covers. To the first one, Mr Tambourine Man (CBS, 1965), goes the merit of having set the standard for clean and elegant production. The album includes (along with four songs written by Dylan) a couple of classics: the tender confession I Knew I'd Want You and joyful declaration All I Want To Do. In both songs the creative exuberance of the delivery is married to Dylan's no nonsense approach. Ringing guitars and interlinked vocals provide a breathtaking balancing act.

With their music, their call to clean and noble feelings, and their belief in the benevolence of drugs, the Byrds started a small revolution; they anticipated what in a matter of months would be become the San Francisco hippie movement.

Their follow-up album Turn Turn Turn, however, was less exciting than the first.

Stimulated by acid rock - a genre they helped create, in 1966 the Byrds began a process of renewal. In contrast with the linearity of their first hits, the band gave into fragile harmonies and crafty melodies such as Set You Free This Time. The new musical horizon was steeped in Hinduism and LSD: Eight Miles High (with McGuinn's best solo, inspired by John Coltrane) and Why were the manifestoes of the day. Unfortunately the change created friction within the group and Gene Clark decided to part during the recording of Fifth Dimension (CBS, 1966).

Detailing imaginary travels, the lyrics of the new album crossed the barrier of mere entertainment, venturing far into the unknown. Renouncing the easy results of the "jingle-jangle," the instruments took undaunted liberties with both harmony and rhythm. The structure of their songs became ever more independent. An instrumental blues (Captain Soul), a stirring country (Fifth Dimension) and a sweeping bluegrass (Spaceman), marked the end of the hit season and the beginning of David Crosby's lead. The 45s from this album (Eight Miles High, Fifth Dimension and Mr. Spaceman) generated a scandal. Their generation was seduced by the revelations of space-rock and raga-rock, both a product of the fervid mind of the new leader at work.

Crosby is the sole inspiration behind the fourth album. Younger Than Yesterday (CBS, 1967) allows ample space for Latin jazz harmonies (the cynical So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star, about the wheeling and dealing of the music business), sweeping visions (CTA 102, a bluegrass tribute to a quasar, full of electronic distortions and inspired by Karlheinz Stockhausen), and oriental flavored psychedelia (the raga-rock Mind Gardens). This record is the Byrd's most compelling and most meaningful artistic contribution to the music of their time. The band that introduced itself as the creative alternative to Dylan's intellectualism parted ways with the tradition of the Village master to start a new genre that reshuffled folk, blues, jazz, oriental music and vocal dissonance into mini abstract symphonies. McGuinn on guitar and Hillman on bass drew harmonic pictures ever more complex, while Crosby's ballads (such as Everybody's Been Burned and It Happens Each Day) aimed toward and reached true sophistication. Even the obligatory Dylan cover, Younger Than Yesterday, is somehow transformed into a small masterpiece, as the herald of the San Francisco Bay concepts.

Conflict arose again, this time between Crosby and McGuinn, who resented the turn towards drugs and mysticism. In the end the scale was tipped in favor of McGuinn, and Crosby left the band, replaced by a musician of the Nashville school, Gram Parsons. With the ambigous Notorious Byrd Brothers (Columbia, June 1968), the Byrds lay an imaginary bridge between Nashville country and psychedelic rock, tradition and revolution. Old John Robertson goes hand in hand with Tribal Gathering, an evocation of love-ins. Although less innovative than the previous album, Notorious Byrd Brothers is full of dreamy songs such as Draft Morning and Dolphin's Smile, eccentrically arranged, employing sound effects, baroque strings, rhythm and blues horns. Songs such as Natural Harmony and Space Odyssey were basically electronic music. Moog Raga and Change Is Now further explored the relationship between raga and rock. The instrumental Universal Mind Decoder continued the space journey of CTA 102. Wasn't Born To Follow (written by Goffin and King) remains a pearl of their repertoire. The album flows like a lavish, sumptuous song cycle, closer to the vein of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds than to Nashville's country music.
Bob Dylan had just released John Wesley Harding (December 1967), which put a symbolic end to the psychedelic era, and the Byrds, once again, followed in the steps of the master.

The record that sanctioned the birth of country rock, and in a sense its manifesto, is Sweetheart Of The Rodeo (Columbia, August 1968). The lineup in this album revealed itself to be temporary, since Hillman and Parson (the author of the best pieces Hickory Wind and One Hundred Years >From Now), left McGuinn to continue solo in the new genre.

McGuinn reconstituted the band with other Nashville vets such as drummer Gene Parsons, guitarist Clarence White (former leader of the bluegrass band Kentucky Colonels) and the bass player Skip Battin, and from that moment on maintained himself on the "beaten" path of country-rock, moving the sound closer, but in a pleasant way, to easy listening.

Ballad Of The Easy Rider (Columbia, 1969), strengthened by the celebrated title song, and also by Gunga Din and Jesus Is Just Alright, was their last relevant album. Dr. Byrds And Mr Hyde (Columbia, 1969) doesn't contain anything meaningful. Lover Of The Bayou and Chestnut Mare are two pearls off the double album Untitled (1970), half live and half studio. Byrdmaniax (1971) and Farther Along (1972) are the last two albums.

McGuinn tried in vain to get back on his feet by putting together the original lineup for a nostalgic record, The Byrds (Asylum, 1973), a compilation of beautiful songs (such as Full Circle), that never found a following. Afterwards he officially disbanded the Byrds and embarked on a solo venture.

Hillman and Parsons formed the Flying Burrito Bros.

Another sort of reunion was marked by the unimpressive album McGuinn Clark Hillman (Capitol, 1979).

Oddly enough, in the 1990s drummer Michael Clark took possession of the Byrds trademark to play the clubs with a band that in reality had only one original member of the Byrds. Naturally the other Byrds excommunicated him.

The Byrds (1990) is a four record box set that retraces their career.

Gene Clark died in 1991. Michael Clarke died in 1993.