24 Facts About The Byrds

1.

The Byrds were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964.

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2.

The Byrds continued as a quartet until late 1967, when Crosby and Clarke departed.

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3.

McGuinn elected to rebuild the band's membership; between 1968 and 1973, he helmed a new incarnation of the Byrds that featured guitarist Clarence White, among others.

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4.

In 1991, the Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an occasion that saw the five original members performing together for the last time.

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5.

Nucleus of the Byrds formed in early 1964, when Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby came together as a trio.

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6.

The single's success initiated the folk rock boom of 1965 and 1966, during which a number of The Byrds-influenced acts had hits on the American and British charts.

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7.

Author John Einarson has written that during this period of their career, the Byrds enjoyed tremendous popularity among teenage pop fans, with their music receiving widespread airplay on Top 40 radio and their faces adorning countless teen magazines.

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8.

The Byrds's departure was partly due to his fear of flying, which made it impossible for him to keep up with the Byrds' itinerary, and partly due to his increasing isolation within the band.

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9.

The song found the Byrds successfully blending their signature harmonies and chiming 12-string guitar playing with the sound of the pedal steel guitar for the first time, foreshadowing their extensive use of the instrument on their next album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

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10.

The Byrds emerged from jail free of his drug habit and remains musically active up to the present day.

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11.

The Byrds found a kindred spirit in Hillman, who had played mandolin in a number of notable bluegrass bands before joining the Byrds.

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12.

The Byrds was taking over the band, so we couldn't really let that happen.

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13.

The Byrds left South Africa amid a storm of bad publicity and death threats, while the liberal press in the U S and the UK attacked the band for undertaking the tour and questioned their political integrity.

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14.

Between June and August 1969, the Byrds worked with Melcher to complete the Ballad of Easy Rider album.

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15.

The Byrds' song "Wasn't Born to Follow" from The Notorious Byrd Brothers album was featured in the film and included on the Easy Rider soundtrack album in August 1969.

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16.

Just prior to the release of Ballad of Easy Rider, the Byrds underwent yet another change in personnel when bassist John York was asked to leave the band in September 1969.

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17.

York had become disenchanted with his role in the Byrds and had voiced his reluctance to perform material that had been written and recorded by the group before he had joined.

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18.

The Byrds returned to the recording studio with Melcher sporadically between October 1970 and early March 1971, in order to complete the follow-up to, which would be released in June 1971 as Byrdmaniax.

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19.

In May 1971, just prior to the release of the Byrdmaniax album, the Byrds undertook a sell-out tour of England and Europe, which included a performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London that was released for the first time in 2008 as Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971.

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20.

The Byrds moved quickly to record a self-produced follow-up to Byrdmaniax, in an attempt to stem the criticism that the album was receiving in the music press and as a reaction to their own dislike of Melcher's overproduction.

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21.

Musically, the album found the Byrds beginning to move away from their country rock sound—although at least half the album still bore a strong country influence—and instead, embrace a style indebted to 1950s rock 'n' roll music.

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22.

Five original members of the Byrds reunited briefly during late 1972, while McGuinn was still undertaking selected concerts with the touring version of the group.

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23.

Negative critical reception that The Byrds received in the music press resulted in the band losing faith in the idea of an ongoing series of reunions.

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24.

Author Johnny Rogan has stated that most die-hard fans of the Byrds were mortified by the existence of this ersatz version of the group, while Byrds expert Tim Connors has commented that "no chapter in the history of the Byrds caused as much consternation and controversy among fans".

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