File:The_Byrds_in_1965.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Key facts
- Origin
- Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Genres
- Rock pop folk rock psychedelia raga rock country rock jangle pop
- Years active
- 1964–1973 1989–1991 2000
- Labels
- Columbia Asylum Elektra
- Spinoffs
- The Flying Burrito Brothers Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Firefall McGuinn, Clark & Hillman the Desert Rose Band
- Spinoff of
- The Jet Set the Beefeaters
- Past members
- Roger McGuinn , Gene Clark , David Crosby , Michael Clarke , Chris Hillman , Kevin Kelley , Gram Parsons , Clarence White , Gene Parsons , John York , Skip Battin
- Website
- thebyrds .com
via Wikipedia infobox
Official website
Link to the official site · 29,077 chars · not written by Vinony
Wikidata facts
- Official name
- The Byrds
- Official website
- www.thebyrds.com
- Image
- The Byrds (1970).jpg
Show 5 more facts
- inception
- 1964-01-01
- Commons category
- The Byrds
- start of work period
- 1964-00-00
- native label
- The Byrds
- end of work period
- 1973-00-00
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Article
The Byrds (/bɜːrdz/ BURDZ) were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes; frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) was the sole consistent member. For a short time in the mid-1960s, the Byrds were among the most popular groups in the world, with critics considering them to be among the most influential rock acts of their era. The band's signature sound of "angelic harmonies" and McGuinn's jangly 12-string Rickenbacker guitar sound 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 first and second albums and the hit singles "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Mr. Tambourine Man". As the 1960s progressed, the band was influential in originating psychedelic rock and raga rock, with their song "Eight Miles High" (1966) and the albums Fifth Dimension (1966), Younger Than Yesterday (1967), and The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968). The band also helped pioneer country rock, particularly with the 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo.