![]() ![]() ![]() And the talent! Between McGuinn (who was calling himself Jim then) and David Crosby and Gram Parsons and Gene Clark and Chris Hillman and Clarence White-all of whom passed through The Byrds at one point of another-they had enough great musicians to fill a whole wall in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Īnd the problem with The Byrds is figuring out which album to review, because between the innovative folk rock of their first LPs, the psychedelia of their later LPs, the cosmic country of Sweetheart of the Radio, and the powerful but not so easy to categorize later albums such as The Notorious Byrd Brothers (which inexplicably features three of The Byrds and Mr. Between the band’s extraordinary harmonies to McGuinn’s guitar tuned to the key of LSD it was hard to go wrong. Stylistically they traveled a weird but not unique road from their early days as the Jet Set, from folk rock to psychedelia to pure country to a combination of all of the above, while establishing themselves as the world’s best Dylan interpreters-so that with every new album you didn’t know what you were going to get, but you knew it would be interesting. ![]() So here I am, typing this in between playing chess with Sam Cooke and drinking brandy with Richard Manuel, and basically all I want to say is that The Byrds were a great band, a very great band. No, the song that always gets him is ‘Wasn’t Born to Follow’ or, if he’s been partaking of the magic mushrooms that are everywhere up here, ‘Eight Miles High.’ Says it can turn the most twisted trip into a Holiday Inn of the Mind.” So I said, “Roger, sir, what are you doing here?” and he replied, “God likes my music so much he’s given me a hall pass to come and go as I please.” So I asked him what the Lord’s favorite Byrds songs are and he said, “Well, you’d think it would be ‘The Christian Life’ but he actually doesn’t like that one very much. Which took me back a bit, as McGuinn is still very much alive. Spaceman," and "So You Want to Be a Rock N' Roll Star." Yes, some great songs were left behind on the albums, but important cuts like "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better," "The Bells of Rhymney," and "Chimes of Freedom" are added, making this pretty close to a definitive single-disc summary of the Byrds' prime.So I died and went to Heaven (naturally) and who should I see as I step off that divine airline but The Byrds’ Roger McGuinn. Tambourine Man" to 1967's "My Back Pages" - are included: "All I Really Want to Do," "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)," "Eight Miles High," "5D (Fifth Dimension)," "Mr. Apart from the minor hits "It Won't Be Wrong," "Set You Free This Time," and "Have You Seen Her Face," all of the group's hit singles - from 1965's "Mr. The Byrds' Greatest Hits does an excellent job of chronicling the peak years of their popularity before they went country-rock on 1968's Sweetheart of the Rodeo. As they were recording a series of fine records, they turned out a number of classic singles that unquestionably defined their era. Without question, the Byrds were one of the great bands of the '60s and one of the few American bands of their time to continually turn out inventive, compelling albums. ![]()
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