I’m too young to have experienced The Byrds in real time. I first heard them when I was 11 or 12, by which point they were already in the “oldies” category – but I loved the sound of those records; the harmonies and the 12-string Rickenbacker. And it soon became clear that lots of other people still loved them as well, including Tom Petty, REM, Robyn Hitchcock, Teenage Fanclub and a dozen other mainstays of my music library. The Byrds rival Fleetwood Mac or Deep Purple for the sheer number of line up changes they underwent – and I’m not even counting the ersatz post-1973 versions of the band that Steve McLean recently wrote about. And while the original line up is still my favorite, every edition of the group made some great music.
That original lineup included Jim (later known as Roger) McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Gene Clark, David Crosby and Michael Clarke. The fact that they chose their drummer (Clarke) for his looks might cause you to roll your eyes, but the others were legit musicians and singers, who had played folk and bluegrass but fell in love with the Beatles and decided to turn to rock. Their first single (as The Beefeaters – ugh – before Hillman joined) didn’t do much, but when they changed their name and signed with Columbia, their first single as The Byrds hit number 1. That was of course Mr. Tambourine Man, the first of many Dylan songs they would cover. But Gene Clark contributed many fine songs as well,
(The latter is sublime, and, OK, Clark had a little help from JS Bach on the latter.)
The story goes that when the other guys saw the Ferrari that Clark bought with his songwriting royalties, they were motivated to get serious about writing as well.
A McGuinn/Clark/Crosby co-write influenced by John Coltrane, was pretty cutting-edge for 1966. Some radio stations banned it, assuming it was about drugs, but while the group were no strangers to drugs, this song was about a flight to England and their experiences there. (I mean, was it ALSO about drugs? Maybe?) And after Clark left the band that year, due to his fear of flying, McGuinn and Hillman in particular stepped up with some classics. In fact, the group’s first post-Clark album, Younger Than Yesterday, is probably my favorite. Highlights include
(There’s one lowlight, however: Crosby’s Mind Gardens, which is pretty much unlistenable.)
Rock ‘n Roll Star was coincidentally featured in the Financial Times’ Life of a Song column as I was compiling this ICA. Hillman was quoted as saying the song was written about the Monkees, but his co-writer McGuinn said he didn’t have anyone in particular in mind. Anyway, this is by no means a “diss track” – it’s a bemused look at the absurdity of the star maker machinery, but hardly a rejection of it.
Crosby was the next to depart, after the others basically got tired of his BS. (Like haranguing the audience at live shows.) The next album, Notorious Byrd Brothers, was a transition between their folk-rock past and country-rock future, and while it may not be their best-remembered record it did feature something rather lovely
Gram Parsons only spent a few months in the Byrds, but he had a major influence on their next album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, recorded with some of Nashville’s finest sidemen. (And in fact a major influence on the rest of their career, as they kept making country-influenced albums until their last record, which reunited the original members.) Parsons wrote the only two originals on Sweetheart, including this
Although neither country fans nor rock fans were ready for the album in 1968, it’s now regarded as a classic, and a big influence on countless Americana artists.
Hillman followed Parsons out the door and into the Flying Burrito Brothers, but not before bringing Clarence White into the group as a full member. Like Hillman, White had played in bluegrass bands before joining the Byrds, and as much as I love the sound of McGuinn’s 12-string, White was arguably the best musician the group ever had. His playing is featured on the final three tracks I’ve picked out for this ICA:-
Sadly, White was killed in a senseless accident – hit by a drunk driver while he was loading gear into a car after a concert with his brother in 1973. Parsons died two months later. McGuinn, Clark, Hillman and obviously Crosby all continued to make records, with varying degrees of commercial and critical success, though to my mind none of them equalled what they did in the Byrds.
In 1973, The Byrds broke up just so they could reform. The original line up of the Byrds were working together once again, all five founding members in the same studio for the first time since 1966. Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke. McGuinn had continued the band after all the other members had drifted away. No less than 11 full time musicians had passed through their ranks.
While the reunion was in the planning stages, a makeshift version of the band was finishing touring commitments. Consisting of McGuinn, Hillman (who had returned to replace bass player Skip Battin, who had replaced John York, who had originally replaced Hillman), guitarist Clarence White and session drummer Denis Dragon (Beach Boys alumni). The touring group had come to be known as The Colombia Byrds, which was the name of the record label to which they were signed. The reunion album was to be released on David Geffen’s Asylum Records who pulled an interesting copyright swerve by crediting the release to the individual members and was given the title ‘Byrds’ (clever work David).
Perhaps the last thing that the Colombia Byrds recorded in the studio was a track on Skip Battin’s solo record. Captain Video was actually a petulant swipe at Roger McGuinn, made even more cheeky by Battin asking McGuinn to play on it.
The song is a lovely slab of 1970s rock. During his time in the Byrds, Battin had taken a few lead vocals, if the record company had the foresight to market this as a Byrds song, it could have been a hit.
Imagine now that you’re watching a movie… It’s a sequel and at the start of that movie there’s a montage of everything that happened in the last film. Well, that montage goes like this; The reunion album flops, the band go their separate ways, Gene Clark records the finest Cosmic American Music album of all time called No Other. McGuinn pals around with Dylan, Crosby pals around with Stills and Nash and cocaine, Hillman thinks ‘I’ll have some of that’ and forms the Souther, Hillman and Furay band. When everyone stops laughing at Hillman he teams up with McGuinn and Clark for some live shows. The shows are well received, not least because promoters sometimes bill them as The Byrds or From The Byrds. This leads to McGuinn, Hillman and Clark recording a couple of records together….. The records aren’t amazing but do give us Gene Clark’s stellar Backstage Pass
Back to the montage; Clark’s drinking gets in the way of McGuinn and Hillman being average and after one record without Gene they all go back to middling solo careers. Gene Clark starts to see his name mentioned by the likes of the Bangles and other 80s jangle populists.
1985 finds Gene Clark a little washed out artistically. His latest album, Firebird had dubious re-recordings of two Byrds songs that even sound dated at the time of release. Although Blue Raven can’t be ruined by the ropey 80s production…
After the Byrds reunion, a stint in Firefall and then a temporary retirement, Michael Clarke found himself drumming in Gene Clark’s backing band. Billed as Gene Clark and the Firebyrds, they land a gig, supporting a reconstituted version of The Band.
It was during the Band tour that Clark and Clarke hit on the idea of putting the Byrds back together for a 20th Anniversary celebration.
McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman weren’t interested…. But do you know who was up for it? John York And Carlos Bernal! Bernal had replaced Hillman on tour before York joined full time. Why have one bass player when you can have two!
Joined by Rick Roberts, who was Gram Parson’s replacement in the Flying Burritos, Blondie Chapman, who had been in the Beach Boys and Rick Danko of the Band (that makes THREE BASS PLAYERS!), they went out billed as A 20th Anniversary Tribute to the Byrds.
Now, that might be a long title but promoters were honest and didn’t just shorten it to the Byrds and advertise it as a reunion. Jokes, of course that’s what they did. To be fair, the press and promoters didn’t always bother with the distinction between the Byrds and the McGuinn, Hillman and Clark band so why should this be any different?
Certainly this TV Telefon appearance doesn’t care to acknowledge them as anything other than the Byrds; The line up here is Clark, Clarke, York and Bernal with Billy Darnell on lead guitar.
Although it should be pointed out that some outlets did advertise the group correctly. Not that anyone cared….
(Poster for a show in 1985)
Regardless how they were billed, that’s a pretty stellar line up. Some nights Richard Manuel of the Band would also join in. When they were supported by the Flying Burrito Brothers there was a tendency for the gig to become a massive jam as Skip Battin, former Byrd and then current Burrito would play with both bands (FOUR BASS PLAYERS!)
For clarity, John York would play a 12 string Rickenbacker guitar… just for the sound recreation and definitely not to try to fool people into thinking that Roger McGuinn was on stage.
The group played multiple dates over the next year or so, with a fluctuating line up of everyone mentioned plus Gregg Harris (Burritos) Jim Goodall (Burritos) and Nicky Hopkins (Quicksilver Messenger Service)… Plus whoever else from the old scene who dropped by.
It seems the concerts would start with duos or trios of performers playing sets from their respective Beach Boys, Band, Burrito careers before finally swelling into a Byrdsian tribute that included a brief solo set by Gene. On paper that that sounds awesome, right? However, reviews were mixed and I don’t say that to be kind, some nights the band could be absolutely knock out and the next they were total dogshit. That’s what happens when you put alcoholics together; Poetry or Puking.
Since the project was a live tribute act there was never really any plans to record and album. However the nucleus of the band would record some demos together; Gene Clark along with York, Darnell, Hopkins and a chap called Pat Robinson went on to record together in an outfit called CRY. These songs were issued in 2001 as Under the Silvery Moon.
The pick of these tracks is probably the York penned (and co-vocal) You Just Love Cocaine
There’s a few live albums, bootlegs and such that have turned up on youtube over the years. A semi official DVD just credited to The Byrds; Never Forgotten was released. It seems the band were decent when they weren’t drunk.
The official word from McGuinn and Crosby was that they weren’t happy, however McGuinn was diplomatic saying ‘Gene has to earn his living as a musician.’ After a few more months of touring, Clark recorded the amazing So Rebellious a Lover with Carla Olson. Their take on John Fogerty‘s Almost Saturday Night is probably the definitive version. In spite of the cult success, he kept up the Byrds shows. By 1986 Mike Clarke had quit the group; his departing comment is noteworthy;
“We tried it for a year and it didn’t really ever approach the big time. It’s kind of a copy band. I think the band should be put to rest. I think Gene should do something else. He’s very talented, he deserves something of his own to be successful.” Michael Clarke 1986.
In 1988, Gene had to have surgery due to a serious ulcer issue, it was around this time that he stopped using the Byrds moniker for his shows. It was also around this time that Tom Petty covered “Feel A Whole Lot Better” on his 5x Platinum solo album Full Moon Fever. It’s probably a coincidence that the sudden increase in royalties coincided with Gene giving up the nostalgia circuit. Interestingly Clark was also rather despondent about using the name The Byrds for five years continuously.
“I really wasn’t comfortable having it be the Byrds. When I got things back on the road for my own solo career, I figured if the other guys don’t want me to use the name, then I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.” Gene Clark 1989.
A recuperated Clark went out on the road once more as Gene Clark and The Firebyrds, it seemed like the legacy of the ‘not really’ Byrds would come to an end.
Steve Green, of Artists International Management in Boca Raton is a name you’ll hear in connection of a lot of ‘New’ bands; including The New Steppenwolf and various line-ups of Iron Butterfly. Green and Michael Clarke became acquainted in early 1988 and by the summer The Byrds Featuring Michael Clarke were on the road (probably just a coincidence).
(Press shot for The Byrds Featuring Michael Clarke)
McGuinn’s patience was tested to the limit (although that’s some brass neck from the man that gave the world Moog Raga).
“First Gene went around with a very, very bad band, calling it the Byrds. Well, okay. Gene was one of the original writer/singer guys and I thought that, though the band was awful, he had as much right to claim the essential part of the Byrds as anybody else. But when it gets to be Michael Clarke the drummer who never wrote anything or sang anything, going out there with an even worse band, and claiming to be the Byrds, at times even advertising themselves as the ‘original’ Byrds, and they can’t play the stuff. What they were was a bunch of drunks out there trying to make enough money to get to the next bus stop. It was dragging the name in the dirt.” Roger McGuinn, Spin Magazine 1991
For the bloke who signed off on a cover version of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ he’s got a pretty strange take on dragging names in the dirt.
But Clarke couldn’t give much of a shit. Once again recruiting the likes of Skip Battin or Carlos Bernal or John York, they were titled many things including The Original Byrds; The Byrds, A Celebration or Michael Clarke’s Byrds. Newcomers Terry Jones Rogers and Jerry Sorn filled out the ranks.. Again, reviews were mixed. They did put on some very good shows. Sometimes local promoters would leave the E off of Clarke’s name to create confusion as to who was in the band.
In 1990, Do-It Records put out a live album in Germany called Eight Miles High, Live in Germany 1989. The record was simply titled The Byrds. Some versions had the 1970s line up on the sleeve. In later years the band dismissed it as a bootleg but the sound quality is above average for such a venture.
McGuinn, Hillman and Crosby tried to take matters to the court. A band-name trademark dispute is a hard one to win. A defendant would have to prove that punters didn’t know that they were buying tickets for Michael Clarke’s Byrds. Plus the law would need multiple examples not to consider any wrong billed shows as a ‘mistake’. Then they’d have to prove that the shows were so bad that they somehow damaged the trademark AND reputation. They’d also have to prove their rights to the trademark. Yikes!
Judges aren’t too good at recognising artistic arguments, they tend to see bands as a business partnership. Clarke’s legal defence was simple; He was a founder member who was hired to be a face in the band because he looked a little like Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. When he left the band’s sales had dropped significantly (this is true since Sweetheart of the Rodeo bombed). McGuinn had used the name The Byrds for years long after the other original members departed and the name had been abandoned after the 1973 reunion.
Cruicially, Gene Clark (with Clarke) used the name with little or no detriment to the brand between 1984 and 1988. District Judge William Castagna didn’t take long to rule against the preliminary injunction that McGuinn and co sought mainly on that point. Namely, they couldn’t prove that Clarke’s actions would harm them artistically or financially.
The remaining Byrds concluded that it would be a large dollar outlay for a trial they couldn’t be sure they’d win. To make sure they had some legal rights to the name; McGuinn, Hillman and Crosby played some shows as ‘The Byrds’ and recorded some new stuff for a boxset while Michael Clarke registered various Byrds trademarks. All five members would appear together at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and shortly after that Gene Clark passed away from ‘natural causes’ (throat cancer, drinking, drugs, bleeding ulcer… Take your pick)
Clark kept his version of the band on the road pretty much solidly for the next two years or so and then followed his old pal Gene into the afterlife due to liver problems from years of sustained alcohol abuse.
And here ends the tale.
JOKE! The Byrds became the brand that just wouldn’t die…. Like WH Smiths or Wimpey. In 1994 Skip Battin along with Terry Jones and Scott Nienhaus got back out there, now being billed as The Byrds Celebration. They licensed the name from Michael Clarke’s Estate and their press release rather ironically spoke about ‘Keeping Michael Clarke’s legacy alive’.
“We lost the legal rights to the band name about five years ago, when we sued Michael Clarke’s band, and the judge favored him because he was using it and we weren’t. Then he (Michael Clarke) died and left it to somebody. I don’t know who has got it now, but they have the legal name . . . which is, you know, stupid, but that’s the way it is. “ Roger McGuinn – Guitar News Weekly 2000
On the surface calling the band The Byrds Celebration absolutely makes it clear that this band was not the Byrds but a tribute to the band. However, promoters (and perhaps the band themselves) knew that this would be open to interpretation. If written in a specific way on a poster it could indeed look like it was The Byrds;
(Poster for The Byrds Celebration Tour… sneaky!)
The poster, which includes press materials provided by the band is at odds with the party line that was towed in interviews
“We just try to bring Byrds music to the people. We don’t pretend to be the original band.”Terry Rodgers, Full Circle Fanzine May 1996
According to an issue of Pollstar from 1998, Byrds Celebration were still being represented by Steve Green’s Artists International…. Gene Parsons, who was in the Byrds between 1968 and 1972 was a member of the Celebration for a while and adds a little more legitimacy to the group. They tour internationally, recording a decent sounding gig for Dutch cable TV. Click here for a link to an hour-long footage.
Before long Parsons was replaced by Vince Barranco. Once again the band would be erroneously billed as just The Byrds. Battin retired in 1997 but even then the remaining members carried on. In 2002 David Crosby, the Byrd member with the most money, purchased the legal rights from Clarke’s family and forbade the Byrds Celebration from using the name. Terry Jones and Scott Nienhaus saw the error of their ways…… For about a week and a half….. By 2001 they were touring a show called Younger Than Yesterday, Featuring former members of The Byrds. Their website prints this legend;
“Terry Jones Rogers was invited to join The Byrds when they reformed in 1988, by Michael Clarke, the original drummer. This led to a long association with The Byrds, as Terry fronted the group on its national and international tours.” Younger Than Yesterday Website
While it’s clearly bullshit it’s also not a lie. Language is weird. As of today, Rogers and Nienhaus still tour as YTY and once again it should be stated that they put on good shows. Probably better shows than they did with the unpredictable Michael Clarke on drums. Battin died in 2003, Crosby died in 2023. With Crosby’s passing, the rights to the Byrds name is reportedly in the hands of McGuinn.
There’s one last postscript to the stolen Byrds. Well actually, it’s a side script. In the mid 1990s there was a selection of budget CDs released as The New Byrds. It was mainly assumed that they were the product of the Byrds Celebration members but all things come out in the wash. Danny McCulloch was a member of Eric Burden’s Animals in the 1960s. In the 1980s he re-recorded Animals songs for the budget record label, K-Tel. Packaged under the name The Animals. It proved to be relatively lucrative. Then he offered the public an album of Mott The Hoople songs, claiming to be re-recorded versions by the original members. K-Tel supposedly paid 75k for the Mott album. He also did it with Steppenwolf and The Byrds. In the end K-Tel got done under the Trades Description Act but not before making a good few quid out of drunks who bought CDs from all-night-garage-windows at 4am in the morning. It’s literally what Half Man Half Biscuit were singing about.
K-Tel would reissue McCulloch’s Steppenwolf / Mott / Animals / Byrds songs as soundalike albums under the banner the Trybe. McCulloch would return to the Animals in the mid 2000s with John Steel’s band; Animals and Friends.
A lot of time has passed and the fans seem to be no longer in their entrenched camps of the Byrds vrs Byrds saga…… So much so, even the band of the 80s is now remembered with fondness (like those Rolling Stones fans who hanker for the glory of the Steel Wheels tour). Personally, I’d have loved to have seen Clark, Clarke, York, Bernal, Battin, Danko, Chaplin, Manuel and Roberts’ Byrds band. What a show!
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 