The Byrds

From 2nd-Impressions 05/02/2021 23:30

Favourite song: Mr. Tambourine Man

Just getting round to them - having only known them for their Tambourine Man version (which I really liked) - seem to have landed well with Younger Than Yesterday and Notorious Byrd Brothers. Got Sweetheart of the Rodeo which shows their drift into Country - perhaps this explains why they ended up less revered, when those earlier albums had placed them as contemporaries to the Beatles?

I can listen to a lot of Byrds music. That says it all. One of the few bands I never tire of. Especially good from 65-68. A pity they are not rated higher or appreciated better. One of the icons of the late 60's.

Loved the 1964-1967 Byrds.
After that they were painful country mess.
No Ric no Byrds.

From O.T. 07/29/2017 10:14

When I was young during the 60s revival of the 80s The Byrds were the joker in the pack. Beatles, Beach Boys, Velvet Underground? no: The Byrds. Strange that they seem to have vanished in some kind of obscurity in the last decades.

Over their history the band members have included a Shoebill, a Glossy Ibis, an Egyptian Vulture and an Azore Magpie

An underrated gem of the mid 60s, who perhaps are the single most important band in driving the folk revival and transferring that into rock music.

From Mother Nature's Son 11/09/2013 15:37

Really glad I finally took the time to check out this band after endless comparisons between them and Rubber Soul-era Beatles. Really nice band to just drift along with.

The origin of the Byrds can be traced back to 1964 Los Angeles. Early success came through covers of Dylan songs in a style which was to become their trademark – essentially folk music played up-tempo with superb harmonies and the lush sound of Mcguinn’s 12 string Rickenbecker to the fore.

Essentially merging the lyrical beauty of Dylan and the musical inventiveness and harmonies of the Beatles the Byrds were highly instrumental in the creation of both Folk and Country rock. Such was their influence that the Beatles (particularly Harrison) repaid the compliment by copying the Byrds sound on certain tracks. (If I Needed Someone from Rubber Soul being the most obvious example).

Whilst the importance of the Byrds albums measured by critical acclaim or chart success is not high their influence is immeasurable. The artistic tensions that resulted in a continually changing line-up also fired great innovation and brilliant music that in retrospect puts the Byrds in the same class as the Beatles, Stones, Dylan and Hendrix. Their influence on folk, country, rock were critical to the generation of all of these sub- genres and should not be underestimated.

From sulmagnificent 05/26/2013 17:23

This really depresses me, a shame that this band has become under appreciated, especially after all they have done for rock music. They influenced Bob Dylan and the Beatles just as much as they influenced them....