Beyond the fringe: the Byrds. (l-r) Chris Hillman, Dave Crosby, Mike Clark, Jim McGuinn and Gene Clark.
The Byrds are one of the most shamefully neglected groups of all time. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, these behemoths are on heavy rotation in the magazine cover stakes. We never seem to tire of discussing what makes Dylan great. While many would acknowledge a love of the Byrds, tributes and discussion seem comparatively thin on the ground. Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke, Gene Clark, David Crosby: if there was any rock justice, at least three of these names would have the same stature as John Lennon and Brian Wilson.
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. They would go on to meld genres with seeming ease and create witty, challenging records at the drop of a hat. With Mr Tambourine Man at the top of the charts, the Byrds winged their way to Britain. At that mop-headed time when Beatles adoration was at its height, they refused to enact cute stage banter. Instead they played abrasively loud and then cut without offering any endearing soundbites for the kids. They were derided as obnoxious upstarts. Where was the love? The Byrds didn't know and they didn't give a (Byrd) shit. They were nonchalance personified.
Their second album, Turn! Turn! Turn! continued to fine-tune the pop sensibility. Whenever I hear the title track it always sounds almost perversely economical, somehow too perfect. It seems to state, "This is as far as you can refine a pop song", and "I can do this standing on my head". 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.
Gene Clark was then ousted because he did not want to tour. The four remaining Byrds took a Stalinist approach to his departure, removing the songwriter from publicity shots. A new song, Eight Miles High (originally conceived by Gene Clark and Brian Jones) preceded Beatles-psychedelia and raga rock by months. 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. Technically, it outlined how rock musicians might respond to the seemingly boundless innovations of free jazz.
The Byrds then brought in Gary Usher, noted for surf music and his work with the Beach Boys. His involvement, which lasted for three albums, saw the Byrds making increasingly experimental and diverse records. Perhaps reacting to the ominous events that punctuated the latter years of the 60s, Notorious Byrd Brothers portrayed escape into an innocent, idyllic world. Goin' Back recalls many of Brian Wilson's most moving songs in its evocation of childhood simplicity and joy. The sublime Wasn't Born to Follow reminds me of Turn! Turn! Turn! in how concentrated and effective a song it is. 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.
When David Crosby walked out and Hillman introduced Gram Parsons, the Byrds' sound was transformed. Originally intended as a piano player, Parsons viewed the band as the ideal vehicle for his own 'Cosmic American Music'. The resulting album Sweetheart of the Rodeo has a freshness of approach that has not dated. That a band could move so gracefully from full-blow acid-rock to this refined country-hybrid is astonishing. For me, it's the most consistently brilliant record of their long career.
Just as they had reached this artistic pinnacle, things once again began to disintegrate. While supporting the Rolling Stones in Britain, Parson went AWOL. With Gram's departure went the final inspiration. Before long Roger McGuinn would be the only remaining original member. Though he managed a hit with Chestnut Mare and recorded the soundtrack to Easy Rider, the real Byrds magic was gone. While the original members flocked together for a passable reunion album in 1973, their groundbreaking days were history.
The Byrds' story is packed with enough highs and lows, drama and transformation to warrant an expensive biopic. And let us not underestimate the enduring influence of the numerous Byrd-incarnations. Their early jingle-jangle sounds provided the impetus for REM, Primal Scream, Stone Roses and the Smiths. What would the Velvet Underground have sounded like if not for the hard and heavy textures of Fifth Dimension? And as for Sweetheart of the Rodeo, its musical repercussions are too great to assess here. Listen to it for yourself and draw the many dots. It's time the Byrds' achievements were fully recognised.
