Through all the seismic changes of the ’60s, the Byrds were at the forefront of several. They were pioneers in the burgeoning folk-rock movement in the middle of the decade, then swerved into psychedelic music just as that music was starting to take hold of the culture only a few years later.
And by the end of the decade, they were one of the first groups to adapt to country music, in turn becoming one of the first country rock acts. There were other stops in between, as outlined in the list below of the Byrds Albums Ranked.
Introducing themselves in the first part of 1965, after a brief stint as the Beefeaters to capitalize on the thriving British Invasion scene, the Byrds (Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman) mostly sat on the sidelines for the recording of “Mr. Tambourine Man,” a No. 1 single, leaving the instrumentation to the seasoned pros in the Wrecking Crew.
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But they were soon performing and writing their own songs, while also drawing on traditional and folk songbooks and making Bob Dylan‘s often winding songs more commercially accessible (four of his songs appeared on the Byrds’ debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man).
By the top of the 1970s, the original quintet had splintered, with only McGuinn remaining. By then, though, the Byrds had already rewritten the popular music rule book with psychedelic shadings (“Eight Miles High”) and country ventures (Sweetheart of the Rodeo, instigated by the short-tenured Gram Parsons). With every turn, they were at the vanguard of change. Their dozen albums tell the story.
The Byrds Albums Ranked
From folk-rock trailblazers to country-rock pioneers, the group helped define the ’60s.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
