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Byrds
The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole consistent member. Although their time as one of the most popular groups in the world only lasted for a short period in the mid-1960s, the Byrds are today considered by critics to be among the most influential rock acts of their era. Their signature blend of clear Vocal harmony, harmony singing and McGuinn's Jangle pop, jangly Twelve-string guitar, 12-string Rickenbacker Electric guitar, guitar was "absorbed into the vocabulary of rock" and has continued to be influential. Initially, the Byrds pioneered the musical genre of folk rock as a popular format in 1965, by melding the influence of the Beatles and other British Invasion bands with contemporary and traditional folk music on their Mr. Tambourine Man (album), first and Turn! Tu ...
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Gene Clark
Harold Eugene Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds' principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966, writing most of the band's best-known originals from this period, including "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "She Don't Care About Time", "Eight Miles High" and "Set You Free This Time". Although he did not achieve commercial success as a solo artist, Clark was in the vanguard of popular music during much of his career, prefiguring developments in such disparate subgenres as psychedelic rock, baroque pop, newgrass, country rock, and alternative country. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the Byrds. Biography Life Clark was born in Tipton, Missouri, the third of 13 children in a family of Irish, German, and American Indian heritage. His family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where as a boy he began learning to play the guitar and ...
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Clarence White
Clarence White (born Clarence Joseph LeBlanc; June 7, 1944 – July 15, 1973) was an American bluegrass and country guitarist and singer. He is best known as a member of the bluegrass ensemble the Kentucky Colonels and the rock band the Byrds, as well as for being a pioneer of the musical genre of country rock during the late 1960s. White also worked extensively as a session musician, appearing on recordings by the Everly Brothers, Joe Cocker, Ricky Nelson, Pat Boone, the Monkees, Randy Newman, Gene Clark, Linda Ronstadt, Arlo Guthrie, and Jackson Browne among others. Together with frequent collaborator Gene Parsons, he invented the B-Bender, a guitar accessory that enables a player to mechanically bend the B-string up a whole tone and emulate the sound of a pedal steel guitar. White was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame in 2016. Early years Clarence Joseph LeBlanc was born on June 7, 1944 in Lewiston, Maine. The LeBlanc family, who late ...
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McGuinn, Clark & Hillman
McGuinn, Clark & Hillman were an American rock supergroup consisting of Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, and Chris Hillman, who were all former members of the band the Byrds. The supergroup formed in 1977 and was partly modeled after Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and, to a lesser extent, the Eagles. They were reasonably successful commercially in the United States, with their debut album reaching number 39 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tapes chart and the single "Don't You Write Her Off" reaching number 33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Clark left the band in late 1979, due to his increasing drug abuse and deteriorating mental state, and therefore only participated in the recording of two albums with the group. A third album was released in late 1980 and credited to McGuinn & Hillman alone, after which the duo split up in early 1981. Background The Byrds had formed in 1964, with lead guitarist Roger McGuinn, bassist Chris Hillman, and principal songwriter Gene Clark all being foundi ...
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Michael Clarke (musician)
Michael Clarke (born Michael James Dick; June 3, 1946 – December 19, 1993) was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the 1960s rock group the Byrds from 1964 to 1967. He died in 1993, at age 47, from liver failure, a direct result of more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption. Biography Early years Clarke was born in Spokane, Washington. His father was a pipefitter and his mother was an amateur musician. Clarke left home when he was 17 years old and hitchhiked to California to become a musician. In legend, Clarke was said to have been discovered by Byrds' founder David Crosby while playing bongos on a beach. In fact he was discovered by singer-songwriter Ivan Ulz, in North Beach, San Francisco, and was introduced to other group members by Ulz. The Byrds Clarke was not an accomplished musician prior to joining the Byrds but he did have previous experience of drumming in his younger years before joining the group. He had played the drums before but ...
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Folk Rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers such as Bob Dylan and the Byrds—several of whose members had earlier played in folk ensembles—attempted to blend the sounds of rock with their pre-existing folk repertoire, adopting the use of electric instrumentation and drums in a way previously discouraged in the U.S. folk community. The term "folk rock" was initially used in the U.S. music press in June 1965 to describe the Byrds' music. The commercial success of the Byrds' cover version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and their debut album of the same name, along with Dylan's own recordings with rock instrumentation—on the albums ''Bringing It All Back Home'' (1965), ''Highway 61 Revisited'' (1965), and '' Blonde on Blonde'' (1966)—encouraged other folk acts, such as Simon & Ga ...
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David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got their first number-one hit in April 1965 with a cover of " Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan. Crosby appeared on the Byrds' first five albums and produced the original lineup's 1973 reunion album. In 1967 he joined Buffalo Springfield on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival, which contributed to his dismissal from the Byrds. He subsequently formed Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1968 with Stephen Stills (of Buffalo Springfield) and Graham Nash of the Hollies. After the release of their debut album CSN won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist of 1969. Neil Young joined the group for live appearances, their second concert being Woodstock, before recording their second album ''Déjà Vu''. Meant to be a group that could collaborate freely, Crosby ...
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Gram Parsons
Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973) who was known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist who recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, popularizing what he called "Cosmic American Music", a hybrid of country, rhythm and blues, Soul music, soul, Folk music, folk, and Rock music, rock. Parsons was born in Winter Haven, Florida, and developed an interest in country music while attending Harvard University. He founded the International Submarine Band in 1966, but the group disbanded prior to the 1968 release of its debut album, ''Safe at Home''. Parsons joined the Byrds in early 1968 and played a pivotal role in the making of the ''Sweetheart of the Rodeo'' album, a seminal album in the country rock genre. After leaving the group in late 1968, Parsons and fellow Byrd Chris Hillman formed The Flying Burrito Brothers in 1969; the ban ...
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Kevin Kelley (musician)
Kevin Daniel Kelley (March 25, 1943 – April 6, 2002) was an American drummer, best known for his work with the rock bands the Byrds and the Rising Sons. Kelley also played drums for Fever Tree, although it is unknown whether he was an official member of the group or not. Kelley is the cousin of country rock pioneer and ex-member of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Chris Hillman. He also worked as a session musician between 1969 and 1973, playing drums on albums by artists including John Fahey and Phil Ochs. He appears to have retired from the music industry after drumming on Michael Cohen's 1973 album, ''What Did You Expect?'' Kelley should not be confused with the similarly named Kevin Kelly, another American session musician who played piano for Joan Baez during the Rolling Thunder Revue and guested on albums by Tim Buckley, Judee Sill, Bryn Haworth, and The Babys during the 1970s. Biography Early life Kelley began his musical career playing drums for the Beverl ...
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Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn (born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. As a solo artist he has released 10 albums and collaborated with, among others, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Chris Hillman. The 12-string Rickenbacker guitar is his signature instrument. Early life McGuinn was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States, son of James Joseph McGuinn Jr (b. 1909) and Dorothy Irene (b. 1911), daughter of engineer Louis Heyn. His parents worked in journalism and public relations, and during his childhood, they had written a bestseller titled ''Parents Can't Win''. He attended the Latin School of Chicago. He became interested in music after hearing Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", and asked his parents to buy a guitar for him. (During the early 1980s, he paid tribute to the song that encouraged him to play gu ...
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Gene Parsons
Gene Victor Parsons (born September 4, 1944, in Morongo Valley, California) is an American drummer, banjo player, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and engineer, best known for his work with the Byrds from 1968 to 1972. Parsons has also released solo albums and played in bands including Nashville West, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Parsons Green. Along with guitarist Clarence White, he is credited with inventing the B-Bender (also known as the StringBender)—a device which allows a guitarist to emulate the sound of a pedal steel guitar. The device is often referred to as the Parsons/White B-Bender, a trademarked name. Early career and the Byrds Gene Parsons was born on September 4, 1944, on his family's farm in Morongo Valley in the Mojave Desert, California. His professional musical career began when he joined up with guitarist and Fiddle player Gib Guilbeau in the duo Guilbeau & Parsons. Later the duo was joined by Clarence White, former guitarist with the Kentucky Colonels, an ...
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Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman (born December 4, 1944) is an American musician. He was the original bassist of and one of the original members of the Byrds, which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby and Michael Clarke. With frequent collaborator Gram Parsons, Hillman was a key figure in the development of country rock, defining the genre through his work with The Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas and the country-rock group the Desert Rose Band. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the Byrds. Early years Hillman was born in Los Angeles, California, the third of four children. He spent his early years at his family's ranch home in rural northern San Diego County, approximately from Los Angeles. He has credited his older sister with exciting his interest in country and folk music, when she returned from college during the late 1950s with folk music records by The New Lost City Ramblers and others. Hillman soon began wa ...
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John York (musician)
John York Foley (born August 3, 1946) is an American bassist and guitarist. He is best known for his work with the Byrds. History Prior to joining the Byrds, John York was a member of the Bees and the Sir Douglas Quintet, and also worked as a session musician for the Mamas & the Papas and Johnny Rivers. He was also the bassist in ex-Byrd Gene Clark's touring band. York joined The Byrds in September 1968, as a replacement for the band's original Bassist, bass player Chris Hillman. He remained with the group until September 1969, when he was replaced by Skip Battin. Despite only being with the Byrds for a year, his bass playing and singing appear on two of the group's studio albums, ''Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde'' and ''Ballad of Easy Rider'', as well as on the non-album single "Lay Lady Lay". He wrote "Fido", which appears on ''Ballad of Easy Rider'', and co-wrote "Candy", which is included on ''Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde''. He also appears on the Legacy Recordings, Columbia/Legacy Byrds' li ...
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