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Dylan, The Byrds and the Birth of Mid-1960’s Folk Rock
The Players
Bob Dylan
Fifty years ago late last month, one Robert Allen Zimmerman, more well-known as Bob Dylan, performed a pivotal experiment that would become a trend for traditional folk music being presented in a dramatically new way.
On July 25, 1965 at the annual Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island, Dylan took a musical instrument initially used by bluesmen, then by rock ‘n roll and pop stars, and applied it to some of his repertoire normally executed using an acoustic guitar and harmonica.
Dylan went electric – as in guitar! As is Fender Stratocaster! And the crowd booed!
However, despite the poor reception to ‘electrified’ Dylan, the influential legend, now 74, changed the way folk music was about to be perceived.
In fact, prior to his experiment in July of ’65, this new folk music sub-genre known as Folk Rock (a term the media coined to describe it) had already taken root in the late 1963 – the chronology of which is presented here.
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There will always be folk purists who only accept the form when accompanied by a 6 or 12-string acoustic guitar and nothing more.
But those moments at Newport dramatically advanced the movement to where indeed, the times they were a-changin’.
[NOTE]
Due to copyright issues, some audio song files may not play on smartphones, tablets and connected devices. Whenever possible, an alternate working audio source will be provided, but a PC, Mac or laptop may ultimately be required in some cases.
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*THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’
Bob Dylan
(From the album The Times They Are A-Changin‘)
1964
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Jim McGuinn
In July of 1942, James Joseph McGuinn III was born in Chicqgo.
Jim McGuinn would became a musician, getting his first professional work as a banjo-playing sideman in folk groups; first for The Limeliters and then The Chad Mitchell Trio.
[Note] In 1967, for religious reasons, Jim would change his first name to Roger. Details in his bio link above.
Jim McGuinn playing banjo for The Chad Mitchell Trio
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*TURN! TURN! TURN! (To Everything There Is A Season)
The Limeliters
(From the album Folk Matinee)
1962
From the former’s early 1962 album Folk Matinee, listen to Jim’s work on the first recorded version of a tune called Turn! Turn! Turn!, sub-titled To Everything There Is A Season.
The song was written in the late 50’s by the iconic and prolific singer-songwriter Pete Seeger by assembling a set of lyrics based on words from the Bible and adapting them to music.
Taken from Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 (Verses 1-8), the words, although reordered, are mostly verbatim.
Unknown to McGuinn at the time, the song would become a much more significant part of his career less than four years later.
Jim McGuinn’s career would progress further as a guitarist/back-up singer for the great Bobby Darin and by working with singer Judy Collins as her song arranger – among them, on her version of Turn! Turn! Turn!.
Pete Seeger
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TURN! TURN! TURN! (To Everything There Is A Season)
Pete Seeger
(From the album The Bitter And The Sweet)
1962
Prompted by the Limeliters acknowledging his work with Turn! Turn! Turn!, Pete Seeger would record his own song in late 1962 as part of a live album The Bitter And The Sweet, performed at the Greenwich Village coffee house/folk music venue called The Bitter End.
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Jackie DeShannon
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NEEDLES AND PINS
Jackie DeShannon
1963
In April ’63 a young American singer and songwriter (Brenda Lee‘s Dum Dum and Break It To Me Gently) named Jackie DeShannon recorded a song titled Needles And Pins
DeShannon didn’t compose the song herself, but check out the record label and you’ll notice that Sonny Bono (of Sonny & Cher) co-wrote Needles And Pins-zah.
Jackie DeShannon’s record barely made a dent on the Billboard Hot 100 (#84) but would become an important song from the yet-to-emerge Folk Rock Movement.
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WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM
Jackie DeShannon
1963
Later in ’63, she faired even worse on the charts (#99) with the recording of a song she’d written called When You Walk In The Room.
Although both records were Billboard chart failures for Jackie, the approaching folk rock era would soon come a-calling for her songs.
Jackie DeShannon would become a huge supporter of the Folk Rock Movement and later had success as a vocalist in the mid and late 1960’s with What The World Needs Now Is Love and Put A Little Love In Your Heart, respectively.
And in 1974, she recorded and co-wrote (with Donna Weiss) the first version of Bette Davis Eyes, which became the biggest hit of 1981 for Kim Carnes. It also won the 1982 songwriters’ Grammy award for ‘Song of the Year.’
Rickenbacker International Corporation, Santa Ana, CA.
The musical instrument that would play a key role in this soon-to-be revolutionary new sound of folk rock is made by Rickenbacker International Corporation; The model 360/12/2 Pickup 12-string hollow-body electric guitar which produces a very unique bell-like jingle jangle sound – especially when it’s being played 🙂
[Note] The reason I included electric is because Rickenbacker also manufactured a 12-string acoustic model, which already was being played on traditional folk songs.
The Searchers
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NEEDLES AND PINS
The Searchers
1963
Late 1963: The first notable folk rock record emerged in America via the UK from a Liverpool beat group known as The Searchers.
After hearing Jackie DeShannon’s recording of Needles And Pins they decided to do their own version in a different style using a Rickenbacker 12-string.
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January 1964: Although a non-hit in the US, Needles And Pins by The Searchers did well elsewhere, reaching #1 in Canada and #5 in the UK.
With the 12-string Rickenbacker prominent throughout the song, their version is widely regarded as the first electric folk rock record of significance.
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Early February of 1964, and along came The British Invasion; then unknown but soon to be powerful, led by The Beatles.
Pop music in general, and indeed the world, would never be same.
By early March, barely one month after the expected brief phenomenon known as the Beatles, the onslaught of British bands was just gathering steam.
Pre-Flight Byrds
Like millions of others in 1964, Jim McGuinn had quickly become a big fan of The Beatles and their music, and began playing acoustic versions of their songs during his club performances around Los Angeles.
During one of his shows at the famed Troubadour Club, he was approached by fellow Beatles fanatic Gene Clark and they quickly formed a duo, mostly playing folk versions of Fab Four songs in a Peter & Gordon-type style, or adapting the Beatles sound to traditional folk tunes.
Not long after, Beatles devotee David Crosby introduced himself to the duo, which led to the formation of a trio called The Jet Set.
Like McGuinn, Clark and Crosby both came from folk music backgrounds (The New Christy Minstrels and Les Baxter’s Balladeers, respectively)
The Jet Set: (L-R) David Crosby, Gene Clark & Jim McGuinn
February, 1964: Bob Dylan attended Mardi Gras in New Orleans and wrote a song influenced by his visit called Mr. Tambourine Man.
Simon & Garfunkel
A young singing duo from New York City by the names Paul Simon and Arthur Garfunkel had just been signed to a record deal by the major record company Columbia Records.
Paul & Art had actually been together as a duo since 1957, and recorded under the name Tom & Jerry.
By early 1964 they’d changed it to their real names and became Simon & Garfunkel
(L-R) Arthur Garfunkel & Paul Simon
In March of 1964, they recorded the number they’d sung at the audition for Columbia executives which led to their recording contract.
It was a modern folk/soft-rock tune Simon had written with acoustic guitar accompaniment called The Sounds Of Silence.
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THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
Simon & Garfunkel
(Acoustic Single Version)
1964
The Sounds Of Silence was included on Simon & Garfunkel’s debut Columbia LP Wednesday Morning, 3AM.
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Meanwhile, in the spring of 1964, The Jet Set’s David Crosby introduced Jim McGuinn and Gene Clark to a recording studio owner Crosby knew named Jim Dickson. Dickson invited the band to rehearse at his World Pacific Studios, with the possibility of recording some of their music later.
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June 5, 1964: Bob Dylan and Columbia senior producer Tom Wilson recorded a version of Mr. Tambourine Man, but it was rejected for inclusion on the forthcoming album Another side of Bob Dylan.
The tune would be re-recorded over 6 months later during the Bringing It All Back Home album sessions.
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July 1964: The Jet Set added a new member, drummer Michael Clarke. He was hired in part because of his strong resemblance to Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones.
Clarke, who had some experience as a semi-pro conga player, had virtually none as a professional drummer; didn’t even own a drum kit.
June 1964: The Rickenbacker electric 360/12/2 Pickup 12-string electric was gaining popularity with guitarists, particularly in England
The Beatles
The Jet Set were sitting in a movie theater (likely eating popcorn) about to watch the new black and white debut film by the Beatles titled A Hard Day’s Night.
The opening song in the movie is the title track – and a great recording – when unexpectedly George Harrison played the final instrumental part before the song’s fadeout using a Rickenbacker 360/12 model very similar to the one above.
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*A HARD DAY’S NIGHT
The Beatles
1964
Without warning, just nine seconds of a song had Jim McGuinn hooked on the electric 12-string Rick for life – which led to a fascination, love and mastery of the unique sounding instrument.
Unknowingly, it was a huge day for the future of what would become folk rock.
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WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM
The Searchers
1963
In September of 1964, the Searchers again turned to the music of Jackie DeShannon; this time recording a slightly more folk rock oriented version of her record.
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At World Pacific Studios, The Jet Set had progressed to the point where they recorded two songs as an intended single – Please Let Me Love You b/w Don’t Be Long.
On October 7, 1964, Jim Dickson succeeded in convincing Jac Holzman, the owner Elektra Records, to release the single on that label.
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PLEASE LET ME LOVE YOU
The Beefeaters
1964
For the release, The Jet Set used the name the Beefeaters to create the assumption they were another hot British Invasion band and to increase the chances of the record being added to the playlists of radio stations – which by now were dominated by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dave Clark Five, Gerry & The Pacemakers and many others.
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DON’T BE LONG
The Beefeaters
(B-side of Please Let Me Love You)
1964
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In late October, a fifth member was added to the Jet Set’s lineup, Chris Hillman .
Normally a mandolin player, Hillman was brought on board to play bass and unlike the others, Hillman’s background was rooted in country music.
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In the fall of 1964, upon hearing Bob Dylan‘s initial recording of Mr. Tambourine Man that was shelved from his ‘Another side of’ album, the Jet Set recorded two versions of the song at Jim Dickson’s World Pacific Studios; a 12-string Rick version and one arranged with acoustic guitar.
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MR. TAMBOURINE MAN
The Byrds
(Early Electric Version)
1964
David Crosby played the track for the Beach Boys’ legend Brian Wilson who told him it needed more work.
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MR. TAMBOURINE MAN
The Byrds
(Early Acoustic Version)
1964
Both versions have since been released on a number of ‘pre-flight’ Byrds CD’s, including In The Beginning on Rhino Records, Murray Hill‘s Never Before and The Preflyte Sessions from Sundazed.
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By the latter months of 1964 both The Sounds Of Silence single and Wednesday Morning, 3AM album hadn’t sold well in either the UK or U.S. and that failure prompted Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel to separate as a duo.
But the story of The Sounds Of Silence wasn’t complete – more about that coming later.
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Also later in ’64, things began happening very quickly for the Jet Set.
As good fortune and connections would have it, Columbia Records, then known for its rather staid roster of adult-oriented crooners like Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Jerry Vale, Andy Williams and others, was looking to expand into the teen rock ‘n roll record-buying market and sought new talent.
As a result, an A&R (Artists & Repertoire) talent scout for Columbia, having heard about this hot new band called The Jetset on recommendation from the great jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, (also with Columbia) dropped by a venue in which they were performing to check out the buzz.
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November 10th, 1964: The Jet Set was signed to a recording contract by Columbia Records, and the new genre of music was imminent.
The Byrds
(Top L-R) Michael Clarke (Drums) • Jim McGuinn (Lead Guitar/Vocals)
(Bottom L-R) Gene Clark (Tambourine/Vocals) • Chris Hillman (Bass) • David Crosby (Rhythm Guitar/Vocals)
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Thanksgiving 1964: During dinner, the decision was made by Columbia and Jet Set band members to change their name to The Byrds.
Jim McGuinn held a fascination for flight and aeronautics; hence the names The Jet Set and The Byrds.
The intentional misspelling of the name was to emulate the Beatles, who had done the same with theirs.
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On January 15th, Columbia’s senior producer Tom Wilson, who’d completed work on Simon & Garfunkel’s debut album Wednesday Morning, 3AM does likewise on the new Dylan re-recorded version of Mr. Tambourine Man – this time with better results.
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*MR. TAMBOURINE MAN
Bob Dylan
(From the album Bringing It All Back Home)
1965
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Then, on January 20, 1965, just five days after Dylan had recorded his version of MTM, the Byrds held their initial recording session at the same Columbia Studios in Hollywood.
Columbia production staffer Terry Melcher (son of the actress Doris Day) had been hired by the label to work with their new generation of pop music artists and was assigned to sessions with the Byrds.
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For the first recording, the Byrds, Melcher and Columbia naturally chose Mr. Tambourine Man, which had become the group’s signature song during their live performances and one very familiar to them.
It would be a new recording, but based on the electric version they’d done at World Pacific for Jim Dickson which prominently features Jim McGuinn’s 12-string Rickenbacker.
Jim McGuinn recording Rickenbacker 360-12/2-pickup model tracks at Columbia Studios, Hollywood
Unlike the World Pacific Studios demo sessions, four of the five Byrds didn’t play instruments on the Columbia recording of Mr. Tambourine Man that day, or on any of the tracks from their debut album of the same name for that matter.
As with three of the four members of The Monkees 18-months later, it was due to limited experience, both as musicians and with the recording studio process.
And correspondingly, as with Monkees guitarist Michael Nesmith, only the more musically seasoned McGuinn participated in the non-vocal aspects of the MTM single and album.
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Two months after finishing the song Mr. Tambourine Man, while in the middle of more recording time for the album which would keep the group in the studio through April, the Byrds had a wildly successful stint of live performances at a popular music club in the heart of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip (just up the road from the famed Whiskey-A-Go Go) known as Ciro’s Le Disc.
And the flight of the Byrds breathtaking debut soared even higher when Bob Dylan, whom producer Jim Dickson invited to watch the band play, not only dropped in on one their shows at Ciro’s but also did an impromptu performance with them!
Dylan performs with the Byrds at Ciro’s in Hollywood on March 25th (3 days after the release of his new album Bringing It All Back Home.
After they’s played his song All I Really Want to Do, Dylan’s response, not having recognized the totally different 12-string electric version, was “Who’s song is that? That must be one of yours.” Dylan was told that you could dance to it, to which he replied “Good.”
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On April 12th, Columbia released the Byrds single Mr. Tambourine Man.
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MR. TAMBOURINE MAN
The Byrds
(Single Version)
1965
The combination of (1) McGuinn’s jingle-jangle guitar sound, (2) the Dylan-like nasally nuances of his voice and (3) removing some of Dylan’s original song lyrics to pair down the running time to a radio-friendly 2:18, propelled MTM to the top of the pop music charts.
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Already looking ahead to a followup single to Tambourine Man, Columbia Records and the band decided on the second Dylan original, All I Really Want Do, which had been already recorded for the forthcoming MTM album.
However, the label had heard that one of their competitors, Imperial Records, a division of Liberty Records, was about to release a version of the song by Cher.
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ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO
Cher
1965
The recording was produced by Cher’s husband Sonny Bono, and although the record is officially listed as by Cher, Sonny can be alternately heard singing each line in the song.
The 12-string Rickenbacker was used lightly here, just enough to give it a folk rock feel.
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ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO
The Byrds
(Single Version)
1965
After hearing the Imperial label version, Columbia felt the Byrds album version of All I Really Want To Do needed more audio punch and scrambled to put together a modified single version using the album’s master tape of the song.
It was created by retaining all the original instrumentation and backup, chorus and middle-eight vocals from the album track, then replacing the lead vocals of the melody with re-recorded ones by Jim McGuinn; plus re-mixing his Rickenbacker and Gene Clark’s tambourine tracks to boost their prominence. And lastly, the overall audio was electronically compressed to make the record sound louder when played on the radio.
On June 4th, 1965 the second single, initially scheduled for release following the debut of the Mr. Tambourine Man album, was rushed-released two weeks prior.
Also in June, the success of their debut single Mr. Tambourine Man was obviously beginning to gain the attention and influence the thinking of record companies all over America.
And this exploding new form of pop music known as folk rock had suddenly given new hope to Columbia Records, after their disappointment over the failure 15 months earlier of Simon & Garfunkel‘s acoustic recording of The Sounds Of Silence.
A decision was then made by Columbia executives to have staff producer Tom Wilson morph TSOS into a folk rock oriented record.
On June 15th, Wilson retrieved the tape containing the original acoustic master and overdubbed a Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar onto it – plus added a strong drum track.
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THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
Simon & Garfunkel
(12-String Electric Single Version)
1965
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June 21st: The highly anticipated Mr. Tambourine Man album by the Byrds was released.
The front of the record jacket featured a filter-effect concave photo of the group set on a solid black background.
The Debut Album by The Byrds: Mr. Tambourine Man
(Released on June 21, 1965)
The 12-track, 35-minute long LP contained four Bob Dylan cover songs; the title track, the follow-up single, Chimes Of Freedom and Spanish Harlem Incident.
Also included was material written by Pete Seeger, Jackie DeShannon and Ross Parker, plus five original songs penned by various Byrds’ members.
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I’LL FEEL A WHOLE LOT BETTER
The Byrds
(B-side of All I Really Want To Do)
1965
A personal favorite of mine from the album has always been the B-side of All I Really Want To Do, a song called I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better.
It’s a great song written and sung by the very talented songwriter and vocalist, group member Gene Clark, and McGuinn’s Rickenbacker was really chiming on this one.
I’ve always wondered – had Columbia Records not been forced to rush the release of All I Really Want To Do, and weren’t fixated on the notion that covering Dylan songs was the only way to go, if I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better would have been a strong A-side single candidate. It’s unfortunate that it was relegated to B-side status.
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THE BELLS OF RHYMNEY
The Byrds
(From the album Mr. Tambourine Man)
1965
Another interesting track from the MTM album was the tune Pete Seeger wrote called The Bells Of Rhymney.
I’m including it here because only weeks later it would have a big influence on a song written by another major artist, which you’ll hear shortly.
The Mr. Tambourine Man LP would eventually reach #6 on the Billboard 200 album chart and be ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as #232 on their list of the ‘500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.’
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On June 29th of ’65 the Mr. Tambourine Man single reached #1, but only for a one-week stay.
It also topped the music charts in the UK, Canada, Japan and elsewhere, making it the first hit record to prominently use a 12-string electric guitar throughout the song.
Their version of MTM became the only Dylan-written song to reach #1 in America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Even the Beatles, after hearing Mr. Tambourine Man by this somewhat Beatle-esque looking and sounding band from the U.S. said the Byrds were their favorite American group – not a bad endorsement!
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July 25, 1965: Bob Dylan performs at the annual Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.
He stuns the crowd when at one point he uses an electric guitar on some of his numbers for the first time.
Despite the cascade of boos, it gave the advancement of the Folk Rock Movement a big boost.
By early August of 1965, after all of Columbia’s efforts to improve its audio, the second Byrds single All I Really Want To Do had stalled mid-chart (#40).
Personally, I feel it was due to a number of factors: (1) Being forced to split radio airplay and also sales of their single with Cher’s version. (2) Her rendition had stronger appeal to teenage girls who could better relate to the song from a female’s perspective, (3) and most damaging, Sonny & Cher‘s debut single I Got You Babe had concurrently enjoyed a hugely successful ride to a three-week stay atop the charts in August; undoubtedly helping Cher’s record to reach #15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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By August of 1965, Bob Dylan‘s music was increasingly gaining the attention of pop and rock artists with an ear toward emulating what The Byrds had done with MTM.
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*IT AIN’T ME BABE
Bob Dylan
1964
Here’s another Dylan folk original, It Ain’t Me Babe from his 1964 album Another side of Bob Dylan.
The Turtles
Also that month, following the lead of The Byrds with their highly successful cover of MTM, the folk rock sound was further proliferated by another Southern California band.
An instrumental surf music group (a-la Dick Dale & The Deltones) known as The Crossfires, who had also dabbled in traditional folk music as the Crosswind Singers, had just changed their name to The Turtles as vocalist Howard Kaylan re-opened the microphone
In gigs around SoCal they did The Byrds’ version of Mr. Tambourine man (complete with a 12-string Rick).
At one show, they caught the ear of an entrepreneur who recruited them to record for a small record label called White Whale.
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IT AIN’T ME BABE
The Turtles
(Single Version)
1965
Wisely, they chose to record a Bob Dylan folk classic and admittedly arranged the song in the mold of The Zombies 1964 British Invasion hit She’s Not There.
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September 13th of ’65 saw the release of Columbia’s remixed folk rock version of The Sounds Of Silence, which immediately started getting heavy radio airplay all across America.
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On September 18th, the Turtles scored a Top Ten hit with their rendition of It Ain’t Me Babe. With just moderate use of the 12-string Rick throughout to give it that folk rock feel, it climbed to #8.
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Fall of 1965: My personal view is, given the disappointment of All I Really Want To Do, the Byrds began to re-think their choice of material to record; realizing they needed to progress beyond being known as a Bob Dylan cover group.
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TURN! TURN! TURN! (To Everything There Is A Season)
The Byrds
(Single Version)
1965
For the Byrds’ third single, Jim McGuinn remembered a great song from his folk music days and turned to a tune (pun intended) very familiar to McGuinn – Pete Seeger‘s Turn! Turn! Turn!.
TTT was released on October 1st of 1965, again with the Rickenbacker 12 prominent throughout.
And for the single, Columbia decided to speed up the album version of the song in order to give it a more Top 40 radio-friendly faster tempo, and more importantly, a shorter length.
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Two months later on December 3rd of ’65, the Beatles released their UK version of their sixth album Rubber Soul.
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IF I NEEDED SOMEONE
The Beatles
(From the UK album Rubber Soul)
1965
On it, George Harrison continued his love of the electric 12-string Rickenbacker, having used it prominently on a track from side two of the album, called If I Needed Someone.
The song wasn’t included on the North American version of Rubber Soul, released on December 6th, and wouldn’t appear until June 20th, 1966 with the issue of their American and Canadian album Yesterday And Today.
Does this record sound like something you heard earlier?
At the time, the former press secretary for the Beatles, Derek Taylor, had moved to America to start his own public relations company, with one of his first clients being the Byrds.
Through Taylor, Harrison, known to be ‘the shy Beatle,’ passed on a message to Jim McGuinn, saying that he (Harrison) was heavily influenced to write If I Needed Someone by a track from the Byrds’ first album; the Pete Seeger tune they’d covered called The Bells Of Rhymney.
From the structure, sound and feel of both songs, you can definitely hear the similarity.
Thus, in 1964 McGuinn became a strong devotee to the electric Rickenbacker 12-string guitar after hearing Harrison play it on the song A Hard Day’s Night. And one year later, based on a Byrds’ song, the great Beatles guitarist would be prompted to write and record a song using the Rick. Funny how that works.
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The next day, on December 4th, Turn! Turn! Turn! turned out to be a great choice as a single, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for three weeks. It was their second #1 single in three releases. The Byrds had rebounded.
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Two days later on December 6th 1965, and again with great fanfare, the second album by the Byrds was issued.
The Byrds Second Album: Turn! Turn! Turn!
(Released on December 6th, 1965)
The 12 fresh Byrds tracks include the title song but this time only two by Bob Dylan – the previously unreleased (by Dylan) Lay Down Your Weary Tune and The Times They Are A-Changin’. Neither was released as a single by the band.
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1965 came to a close having been a very exciting year for pop music in which things happened in quick succession for the Folk Rock Movement.
And it was just the beginning, with many more songs being recorded in the next two years leading up to 1967’s ‘Summer of Love’ and the equally exciting era of pop music known as ‘Psychedelic Rock’.
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Here are a few of the folk rock highlights from 1966 and 1967 –
January 1st: The first day of the New Year saw the Columbia’s revamped Simon & Garfunkel folk-rock single The Sounds Of Silence climb to #1 for one week, drop down to #2 for two weeks, then regain the #1 spot for another week on January 22nd for a total of three weeks at the top.
For Paul & Arthur, success had been born from failure, thanks to Columbia’s star artists the Byrds.
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On January 6th, It was very clear that the Byrds were forging ahead with new, non-Dylan musical experimentation, while remaining under the folk rock umbrella.
A very important and tendentious new single by the Byrds was released titled Eight Miles High
It was a track from their forthcoming third album called Fifth Dimension, scheduled for release in the summer of ’66.
Following the release of EMH, Gene Clark quit the Byrds, ironically over a fear of flying, and for other personal reasons, leaving the group with only four members.
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Obviously, the controversy stemmed from the word ‘high’ – and it’s meaning. And that depended on which story you chose to believe.
Of course, the long-held popular consensus was it being strictly a drug-related connotation, but over the years the band strongly refuted the assertion.
The song was written by Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn and David Crosby.
Co-writer Clark explained its genesis as someone on the flight attempting to goad the fearful Clark by inquiring about the plane’s altitude (which was six miles) so the song’s title was amended to Eight Miles High, in honor of the Beatles 1965 #1 hit Eight Days A Week.
McGuinn offered that the song ostensibly is about landing in England on a gray, foggy, rainy London morning after an overnight flight from America; and the strangeness that appeared to surround them as they observed the scene from inside a very quiet limousine provided by their record company.
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However, years later, co-writer Crosby contradicted all of that; quoted as saying EMH was flat-out a drug-related song.
My personal view is the truth lies somewhere in the middle. However, I’m certain that using the H-word in the title was by design, to garner interest and draw attention to the record.
Despite the denials and explanations, the record was banned for airplay by some American Top 40 radio stations.
And regardless of the contentions, Eight Miles High was widely seen as the first true psychedelic record, a full year in advance of that future musical genre that debuted in 1967.
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EIGHT MILES HIGH
The Byrds
(Album Version)
1966
Jim McGuinn’s intricate electric 12-string guitar licks (on the song’s introduction and later on the instrumental bridge) were a hybrid of his Rickenbacker producing Ravi Shankar-type sitar sequences by emulating saxophone riffs off a song called India by legendary jazz great John Coltrane. ‘Trane’ as he was known, was himself trying to create sitar-like sax licks.
The Byrds: How We Made Eight Miles High
Source: The Guardian
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May 21, 1966 saw the single Eight Miles High, after a slow seven week ascent up the Billboard Hot 100 finally level out at #14, no doubt in part because of the radio bans.
It would also be the last Top 20 single by the Byrds on any national music chart.
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Now the hot summer of 1966, the third Byrds’ album Fifth Dimension is issued on July 18th.
Like the MTM album, the cover artwork featured a stark black background, but with a beautifully colored new psychedelic rendering of the group’s logo, accompanied by a photo of the band (minus the departed Gene Clark) sitting on or around a Middle Eastern type rug.
Album #3 by The Byrds: Fifth Dimension
(Released on July 18th, 1966)
The album was only moderately successful and produced just one hit single, Eight Miles High (#14)
Two more single releases from the album, 5 D (Fifth Dimension (released June 13th – #44) and Mr. Spaceman (released September 6th, #36), made 1966 a down year chart-wise for the Byrds.
Early 1967 and the famous ‘Summer of Love’ and the ‘Hippie Movement’ were on the horizon to spawn yet another genre of rock music to be termed ‘Psychedelic Rock.’
On January 9th, the Byrds released an interesting new single to start the New Year called So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star.
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SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR
The Byrds
1967
Again, depending on which account you believe, the song was inspired by either the recent instant success of the music industry-manufactured band The Monkees, or Jim McGuinn thumbing through a recent issue of a teen magazine, where he noted an endless slew of no-name new pop music stars.
Regardless, the song is definitely a sarcastic ‘guide’ on how to quickly and easily become a rock ‘n roll star.
Of significance, it became the first known folk rock recording to use a horn arrangement.
Byrds bassist Hillman previously had done studio work with a well-known South African trumpet player named Hugh Masekela, who had the instrumental hit Grazing In The Grass in 1968.
So Masekela was brought in to add outstanding horn work to the record.
‘SYWTBARNRS’ preceded the release of next Byrds’ album from which it came, titled Younger Than Yesterday, by less then a month.
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On February 6th of ’67, the fourth album is released by the Byrds and by this time their leader had changed his name to Roger McGuinn. (see his bio link)
The Byrds Fourth Album: Younger Than Yesterday
(Released on February 6th, 1967)
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MY BACK PAGES
The Byrds
(Single Version)
1967
For the Byrds’ next single, they finally returned to a Bob Dylan song they recorded for the Younger Than Yesterday album. Again, it came from his 1964 album Another side of Bob Dylan, called My Back Pages.
Released on March 13th, 1967, the edited single version is :37 shorter than the album track, and Roger McGuinn really had the Rick ringin’ on this one, mostly during the 22-second instrumental bridge starting at 1:47.
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Also in March 1967, the Byrds‘ single So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star would stall at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated March 4th.
In May of 1967, 6 weeks after its debut on the Billboard Hot 100, My Back Pages tops out at #30 on May 6th.
In total, the Byrds recorded thirteen officially released Bob Dylan cover songs between 1965 and 1970.
Besides the ones featured here, they also covered Chimes Of Freedom, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue, Lay Down Your Weary Tune, Lay Lady Lay, Nothing Was Delivered, Positively 4th St., Spanish Harlem Incident, The Times They Are A-Changin’, This Wheel’s On Fire and You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.
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The ‘X-factor’ which separated the new genre of folk music from the old was the overall sound appeal, in particular, the unique jingle-jangle sound of an instrument made in Orange County, California – the Model 370/12 Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar.
Bob Dylan, Jim McGuinn and the Byrds, the artists and record companies influenced by their success, along with the outstanding-sounding Rickenbacker 12 collectively were the pioneers of the mid-60’s Folk Rock Movement, and the key components to the success of the genre.
So many great records were made containing songs with previously might have only been enjoyed acoustically within the traditional folk music realm.
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Upon reading this blog post, a good friend and ex-radio colleague Robert Chenault – who is very knowledgable about many genres of music – commented: “Dylan and the Byrds changed folk music forever. But some artists refused to buy into it, like Joni Mitchell, the Kingston Trio, the Brothers Four, Judy Collins and others.”
Chenault also added: “But the folk rock movement brought us many new artists such as Buffalo Springfield, Scott McKenzie, Beau Brummels, the Animals and many more. It was a great time in music!”
Well said Robert – and I completely agree!
(Folk) Rock On!
Extra Stuff
Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn Custom Model 370/12 with 3 Pickups
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IF I NEEDED SOMEONE
Roger McGuinn
(Limited Edition CD)
2004
In 2004, Roger McGuinn re-paid the compliment given to him back in 1965 by George Harrison, who said a track from the Byrds first album Mr. Tambourine Man inspired him to write the Beatles song If I Needed Someone.
The technology-savvy McGuinn recorded If I Needed Someone on his laptop computer.
Legendary Guitars: Roger McGuinn’s Rickenbacker 360-12, 370-12
Source: American Songwriter
Tom Petty
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SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
(From the album Back Up The Plantation: Live!)
1985
If you’re a younger reader of my blog, you’ve likely now discovered that it hasn’t been Tom Petty imitating Bob Dylan for all this time. But rather Petty’s emulating the 12-string Rickenbacker-laiden sound of the Byrds – and in particular, Roger McGuinn.
He’s a semi-clone of Roger (not that it’s a bad thing) both vocally and by playing the same model Rick 12 on many of his (Petty’s) records to create that Byrds-like electric folk rock sound, such as The Waiting and American Girl.
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AMERICAN GIRL
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
(From the album Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
1977
In fact, the similarity between Tom Petty’s records and the musical style of the Byrds was so strong that when McGuinn’s manager first played American Girl for him, Roger asked “When did I write that song?”
R.E.M.
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THE ONE I LOVE
R.E.M.
1987
Another act heavily influenced by Roger McGuinn and the Byrds was 1980’s alternative rock band R.E.M., from Athens, GA.
The One I Love features vocals by Michael Stipe and the chord flourishes of Peter Buck on the Rickenbacker 360-12 JetGlo model, similar to the one pictured above.
R.E.M.‘s first hit topped out at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987.
10 Acts That Owe The Byrds A Round
Source: Diffuser
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CREDITS
Produced & Written By: Rick Murray Hunter / HouseoftheHits.com
Songs Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits Inc. (Except *)
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
Record Label & Sleeve Graphics
Courtesy of 45cat
