Circumstances Surrounding The Byrds' Breakup
Circumstances Surrounding The Byrds' Breakup
Would someone familiar with The Byrds history explain the circumstances that lead to the breakup of The Byrds.
Life, as with music, often requires one to let go of the melody and listen to the rhythm
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anonymous
The nitty-gritty details of the demise of the last line-up?
To me, the Byrds were no longer the Byrds after Gene and David left. Don't get me wrong, Roger and Chris continued to assemble interesting collections of players and one could argue that Roger alone WAS the Byrds - but not quite.
There are tracks on BACK FROM RIO which sound Byrd-like only because we have come to identify Roger's voice and the twelve string RIC as "Byrd-like".
Geez - Tom Petty's AMERICAN GIRL sounds Byrd-like - enough so that I've seen interviews with McGuinn where he claims he thought it was an unreleased out-take of one of his when he first heard it.
So, you have the general disintegration of the original band due to "natural causes" and a continuing set of reincarnated line-ups which sounded to some degree Byrd-like.
I forget what the last studio album was which was called THE BYRDS but I'm pretty sure there wasn't a "hit" on it.
The band had run its course and was over - time had changed and they were (had been) all over the map in terms of dealing with mainstream pop/rock, raga/rock, country/rock, pseudo-country rock, etc...
But then you knew that...
...and I'm thinkin' there may be people who visit here who may have a more informed insight (my ramblings are just the delusional, uninformed opinions of a guys who listened to their recorded output)
To me, the Byrds were no longer the Byrds after Gene and David left. Don't get me wrong, Roger and Chris continued to assemble interesting collections of players and one could argue that Roger alone WAS the Byrds - but not quite.
There are tracks on BACK FROM RIO which sound Byrd-like only because we have come to identify Roger's voice and the twelve string RIC as "Byrd-like".
Geez - Tom Petty's AMERICAN GIRL sounds Byrd-like - enough so that I've seen interviews with McGuinn where he claims he thought it was an unreleased out-take of one of his when he first heard it.
So, you have the general disintegration of the original band due to "natural causes" and a continuing set of reincarnated line-ups which sounded to some degree Byrd-like.
I forget what the last studio album was which was called THE BYRDS but I'm pretty sure there wasn't a "hit" on it.
The band had run its course and was over - time had changed and they were (had been) all over the map in terms of dealing with mainstream pop/rock, raga/rock, country/rock, pseudo-country rock, etc...
But then you knew that...
...and I'm thinkin' there may be people who visit here who may have a more informed insight (my ramblings are just the delusional, uninformed opinions of a guys who listened to their recorded output)
grsnovi,
I'd say that you put it in a nutshell pretty well.They did what they did, we got what we got ,
we love or hate whichever Byrd[or sets of Byrds]
and all of them gave us a bunch of great music, in a lot of styles.My personal favorite band of all time.I Could ramble on even more than you did, but there's no point.Good post.
I'd say that you put it in a nutshell pretty well.They did what they did, we got what we got ,
we love or hate whichever Byrd[or sets of Byrds]
and all of them gave us a bunch of great music, in a lot of styles.My personal favorite band of all time.I Could ramble on even more than you did, but there's no point.Good post.
grsnovi....I agree pretty much with your assessment of the Byrds' demise. Johnny Rogan's
Timeless Flight, one of the great Rock biographies, goes into heartbreaking (if you're a Byrds fanatic such as I ) detail of the events leading up to the breakup of The Byrds. I recommend it to all Byrds of a feather. A marvelous quality the Byrds possessed was that their various incarnations were able to influence
musicians through the years in a major way. The early years with David and Gene left their mark on everyone from The Beatles to Tom Petty and REM.
The later groups, with Gram Parsons and of course, Clarence White are, in my estimation , the acorn from which the mighty oak of alt. country blossomed. I think Gram Parsons is even
considered the patron saint of the alternative
country "movement". So.....even though the Byrds ceased to be the hit making mop tops after David and Gene's departures,they , as a unit, continued to be as highly influential as ever.
Timeless Flight, one of the great Rock biographies, goes into heartbreaking (if you're a Byrds fanatic such as I ) detail of the events leading up to the breakup of The Byrds. I recommend it to all Byrds of a feather. A marvelous quality the Byrds possessed was that their various incarnations were able to influence
musicians through the years in a major way. The early years with David and Gene left their mark on everyone from The Beatles to Tom Petty and REM.
The later groups, with Gram Parsons and of course, Clarence White are, in my estimation , the acorn from which the mighty oak of alt. country blossomed. I think Gram Parsons is even
considered the patron saint of the alternative
country "movement". So.....even though the Byrds ceased to be the hit making mop tops after David and Gene's departures,they , as a unit, continued to be as highly influential as ever.
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whitfordstholmes
I would just like to add that I agree with grsnovi's statement that The Byrds ceased to be "The Byrds", classic model, without Gene and
David. I do believe,however, that in the great pantheon of Rock history only Roger's name can be uttered in the same breath with Lennon, McCartney, Dylan, Jagger, Richards, Brian Wilson, and so on.....Gene and David may have both been better songwriters but Roger was , I believe, a true visionary. The Byrds' "style" was, is, and shall forever be his "style".
David. I do believe,however, that in the great pantheon of Rock history only Roger's name can be uttered in the same breath with Lennon, McCartney, Dylan, Jagger, Richards, Brian Wilson, and so on.....Gene and David may have both been better songwriters but Roger was , I believe, a true visionary. The Byrds' "style" was, is, and shall forever be his "style".
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anonymous
OK, how every line-up could be "less than classic"... I'm putting together a twenty minute set of "Byrds" material. Probably half of it is early stuff and half late stuff. The later stuff, while interesting is NOT "typical" twelve string to the front "classic" Byrds.
Don't get me wrong - I'll listen to Clarence play all day - but there is a difference between the songs of the early line-up vs the (few) songs of the later line-ups that people (in general) recognize.
As I mentioned in my earlier post - listen to BACK FROM RIO, there are a few Byrd-like tracks there - but not quite... Roger of and by himself did NOT define the Bryds.
Of course, take Chris and Gram and go in another direction and while you had two Byrds - the early Burritos didn't sound Byrd-like at all ( one might argue that Gram never really was a Byrd...)
G
Don't get me wrong - I'll listen to Clarence play all day - but there is a difference between the songs of the early line-up vs the (few) songs of the later line-ups that people (in general) recognize.
As I mentioned in my earlier post - listen to BACK FROM RIO, there are a few Byrd-like tracks there - but not quite... Roger of and by himself did NOT define the Bryds.
Of course, take Chris and Gram and go in another direction and while you had two Byrds - the early Burritos didn't sound Byrd-like at all ( one might argue that Gram never really was a Byrd...)
G
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anonymous
I don't know that I'd go THAT far...
As I mentioned, I've seen interviews with McGuinn where he's commenting on the TP song: AMERICAN GIRL and Roger thought it was "one of his" which had never gotten released...
AG sounds "Byrd-like" and RM had nothing to do with it.
There are quite a few Byrd songs which do NOT have a characteristic Byrds sound.
Roger didn't write many of the songs which have become identified with the Byrds "sound" although I suspect he was the primary arranger of them.
Once the drift started to country, I think that Gram and later Clarence had a huge influence on what was recorded and how it sounded.
If you listen to later tracks (post SWEETHEART) you'll note that there isn't much 12 string in the mix and that Clarence's guitar work is more prevalent.
The harmonies of the later line-up don't compare to the early harmonies with Gene, Roger, David (and Chris who didn't start really singing a lot until AFTER Gene and David left).
Although I have not listened to it, I understand that Roger released a CD of more traditional tunes a few years ago - I suspect they don't sound very Byrd-like.
As I mentioned, I've seen interviews with McGuinn where he's commenting on the TP song: AMERICAN GIRL and Roger thought it was "one of his" which had never gotten released...
AG sounds "Byrd-like" and RM had nothing to do with it.
There are quite a few Byrd songs which do NOT have a characteristic Byrds sound.
Roger didn't write many of the songs which have become identified with the Byrds "sound" although I suspect he was the primary arranger of them.
Once the drift started to country, I think that Gram and later Clarence had a huge influence on what was recorded and how it sounded.
If you listen to later tracks (post SWEETHEART) you'll note that there isn't much 12 string in the mix and that Clarence's guitar work is more prevalent.
The harmonies of the later line-up don't compare to the early harmonies with Gene, Roger, David (and Chris who didn't start really singing a lot until AFTER Gene and David left).
Although I have not listened to it, I understand that Roger released a CD of more traditional tunes a few years ago - I suspect they don't sound very Byrd-like.
It is fair to say that more learned people (knoledgable Byrds fans) can identify with all aspects and phases of their existance (music, lineups, instruments, events etc...) but for most people, (and I consider myself in this batch)-- when they hear Byrds music, they think of the bench marks such as 'Mr. Tambourine Man' and 'Turn Turn Turn' which contain THE quitessential sound of 60's music, the Rickenbacker 12-string. This is why most people think of it as 'The Byrds Sound' with Roger McGuinn at the helm, simply because this period in their history is the most widely known. It certainly would not have been the same without Roger or the 370/12.......all in all, a huge association from a historical standpoint and a turning point in the sound of groups worldwide.