#The byrds members free#

And let us not underestimate the enduring influence of the numerous Byrd-incarnations. The Byrds' story is packed with enough highs and lows, drama and transformation to warrant an expensive biopic. While the original members flocked together for a passable reunion album in 1973, their groundbreaking days were history. Though he managed a hit with Chestnut Mare and recorded the soundtrack to Easy Rider, the real Byrds magic was gone. Before long Roger McGuinn would be the only remaining original member. With Gram's departure went the final inspiration. While supporting the Rolling Stones in Britain, Parson went AWOL. Just as they had reached this artistic pinnacle, things once again began to disintegrate. For me, it's the most consistently brilliant record of their long career. That a band could move so gracefully from full-blow acid-rock to this refined country-hybrid is astonishing. The resulting album Sweetheart of the Rodeo has a freshness of approach that has not dated. Originally intended as a piano player, Parsons viewed the band as the ideal vehicle for his own 'Cosmic American Music'. When David Crosby walked out and Hillman introduced Gram Parsons, the Byrds' sound was transformed. While Notorious Byrd Brothers is not untainted by the mania for overproduction that followed in the wake of Sgt Pepper's, it succeeds in combining psychedelic pop, country, moog electronic and symphonic gestures into a comprehensible and compelling whole. The sublime Wasn't Born to Follow reminds me of Turn! Turn! Turn! in how concentrated and effective a song it is. Goin' Back recalls many of Brian Wilson's most moving songs in its evocation of childhood simplicity and joy. Perhaps reacting to the ominous events that punctuated the latter years of the 60s, Notorious Byrd Brothers portrayed escape into an innocent, idyllic world. His involvement, which lasted for three albums, saw the Byrds making increasingly experimental and diverse records. The Byrds then brought in Gary Usher, noted for surf music and his work with the Beach Boys.

#The byrds members free#

Technically, it outlined how rock musicians might respond to the seemingly boundless innovations of free jazz. While the album Fifth Dimension is not without doses of twee pop (Mr Spaceman), listening to it today you can still hear the musical landscape of the time crumbling to reveal new vistas of experimentation and fresh thematic possibilities. A new song, Eight Miles High (originally conceived by Gene Clark and Brian Jones) preceded Beatles-psychedelia and raga rock by months. The four remaining Byrds took a Stalinist approach to his departure, removing the songwriter from publicity shots. Gene Clark was then ousted because he did not want to tour. It is hard to imagine a song more instantly engaging than Turn! Turn! Turn! It always rings like a bell through any background noise and conveys its sentiment intact. It seems to state, 'This is as far as you can refine a pop song', and 'I can do this standing on my head'. Whenever I hear the title track it always sounds almost perversely economical, somehow too perfect. Their second album, Turn! Turn! Turn! continued to fine-tune the pop sensibility. Where was the love? The Byrds didn't know and they didn't give a (Byrd) shit. Instead they played abrasively loud and then cut without offering any endearing soundbites for the kids. At that mop-headed time when Beatles adoration was at its height, they refused to enact cute stage banter.

With Mr Tambourine Man at the top of the charts, the Byrds winged their way to Britain. They would go on to meld genres with seeming ease and create witty, challenging records at the drop of a hat. There should be no doubt that they started as a boy band, assembled and directed by manager Jim Dickson to cash in on the folk craze.But in vivid contrast to the asinine louts that make up today's boy bands, these lads were ambitious musicians with ideas.