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The Byrds
No, not the feathered kind.
I have been watching a great documentary movie on the band called The Byrds: Under Review. It has interviews with drummer Gene Parsons and bassist John York, as well as a brief segment with David Crosby.
What a great group that is vastly underappreciated today. They had to coin the terms "folk rock" and "country rock" and later "space rock" for their music since it didn't fit into a single category. Most of their original members came from a bluegrass background--Roger McGuinn played banjo with the Chad Mitchell trio, Gene Clark played guitar with the New Christy Minstrels and Chris Hillman played mandolin with the Hillmen. Together with David Crosby on guitar and vocals and Michael Clark on drums they formed the first Byrds band in 1964.
A couple of factoids:
Groups directly formed by former Byrds members: McGuinn, Clark and Hillman; Crosby, Stills and Nash; the Flying Burrito Brothers.
Major influences on: the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, REM, Emmylou Harris (first sang with former Byrd Gram Parsons), Leo Kottke, many others. Their album Sweetheart of the Rodeo almost single-handedly started the country rock movement. They boosted the record sales of Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger dramatically by recording their songs. They recorded a famous soundtrack for the film Easy Rider.
First major record--Mr. Tambourine Man--Crosby didn't want to record song; McGuinn was only Byrd to play on record, backing instrumentals were provided by session musicians ("The Wrecking Crew"). They were originally pretty inept in live performance but became one of the great rock touring acts by 1969.
Later drummer Gene Parsons was a machinist who along with guitarist Clarence White invented the B-bender which enabled the Telecaster to sound like a steel guitar--patented and licensed to Fender, still in production today. Jimi Hendrix was one of the many musicians who would watch White to pick up ideas for playing. White and McGuinn are both regarded as extremely influential in the development of rock guitar playing.
Many former members have died before their time, unfortunately: Gene Clark (age 47, died of heart attack after decades of drug and alcohol abuse); Michael Clarke (age 47, liver failure from alcoholism); Gram Parsons (age 27, drug overdose); Clarence White (age 29, struck by drunk driver while loading band equipment); Skip Battin (age 69, Alzheimer's); John Guerin (age 64, complications of influenza); Kevin Kelley (age 57, cause unknown).
Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, David Crosby and John York are still actively performing today as solo acts, Crosby of course with CSNY. Gene Parsons manages his B-bender business.
I have been watching a great documentary movie on the band called The Byrds: Under Review. It has interviews with drummer Gene Parsons and bassist John York, as well as a brief segment with David Crosby.
What a great group that is vastly underappreciated today. They had to coin the terms "folk rock" and "country rock" and later "space rock" for their music since it didn't fit into a single category. Most of their original members came from a bluegrass background--Roger McGuinn played banjo with the Chad Mitchell trio, Gene Clark played guitar with the New Christy Minstrels and Chris Hillman played mandolin with the Hillmen. Together with David Crosby on guitar and vocals and Michael Clark on drums they formed the first Byrds band in 1964.
A couple of factoids:
Groups directly formed by former Byrds members: McGuinn, Clark and Hillman; Crosby, Stills and Nash; the Flying Burrito Brothers.
Major influences on: the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, REM, Emmylou Harris (first sang with former Byrd Gram Parsons), Leo Kottke, many others. Their album Sweetheart of the Rodeo almost single-handedly started the country rock movement. They boosted the record sales of Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger dramatically by recording their songs. They recorded a famous soundtrack for the film Easy Rider.
First major record--Mr. Tambourine Man--Crosby didn't want to record song; McGuinn was only Byrd to play on record, backing instrumentals were provided by session musicians ("The Wrecking Crew"). They were originally pretty inept in live performance but became one of the great rock touring acts by 1969.
Later drummer Gene Parsons was a machinist who along with guitarist Clarence White invented the B-bender which enabled the Telecaster to sound like a steel guitar--patented and licensed to Fender, still in production today. Jimi Hendrix was one of the many musicians who would watch White to pick up ideas for playing. White and McGuinn are both regarded as extremely influential in the development of rock guitar playing.
Many former members have died before their time, unfortunately: Gene Clark (age 47, died of heart attack after decades of drug and alcohol abuse); Michael Clarke (age 47, liver failure from alcoholism); Gram Parsons (age 27, drug overdose); Clarence White (age 29, struck by drunk driver while loading band equipment); Skip Battin (age 69, Alzheimer's); John Guerin (age 64, complications of influenza); Kevin Kelley (age 57, cause unknown).
Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, David Crosby and John York are still actively performing today as solo acts, Crosby of course with CSNY. Gene Parsons manages his B-bender business.
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