Tambourine Man" by eliminating some verses and adding instantly memorable 12-string guitar leads and Beatlesque harmonies, they came upwith the first big folk-rock smash (though the Beau Brummels and others had begun exploring similar territory as well). They managed to procure a demo of a new Dylan song, "Mr. The band was so lacking in equipment in their early stages that Clarke played on cardboard boxes during their firstrehearsals, but they determined to master their instruments and become a full-fledged rock band (many demos from thisperiod would later surface for official release). With the help of session musicians, they released asingle on Elektra as the Beefeaters that, while a flop, showed them getting quite close to the folk-rock sound that wouldelectrify the pop scene in a few months.the Beefeaters, soon renamed the Byrds, were fleshed out to a quintet with the addition of drummer Michael Clarke andbluegrass mandolinist Chris Hillman, who was enlisted to play electric bass, although he had never played the instrumentbefore. David Crosby soon joined to make them a trio, and they made aprimitive demo as the Jet Set that was nonetheless bursting with promise. They were inspired by the success of the Beatles to mix folk and rock McGuinn had alreadybeen playing Beatles songs acoustically in Los Angeles folk clubs when Clark approached him to form an act, according tosubsequent recollections, in the Peter & Gordon style. Jim McGuinn (he'd change his first name toRoger a few years later), David Crosby, and Gene Clark were all young veterans of both commercial folk-pop troupes and theacoustic coffeehouse scene. Not a singlemember of the original quintet had extensive experience on electric instruments. Tambourine Man," topped thecharts in mid-1965, it was something of a miracle that the group had managed to coalesce in the first place. the Byrds' innovations have echoed nearly as stronglythrough subsequent generations, in the work of Tom Petty, R.E.M., and innumerable alternative bands of the post-punk erathat feature those jangling guitars and dense harmonies.Although the Byrds had perfected their blend of folk and rock when their debut single, "Mr. They also played a vital role in pioneering psychedelic rock and country-rock, the unifying element being their angelicharmonies and restless eclecticism.Often described in their early days as a hybrid of Dylan and the Beatles, the Byrds in turn influenced Dylan and the Beatlesalmost as much as Bob and the Fab Four had influenced the Byrds. Thejangling, 12-string guitar sound of leader Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker was permanently absorbed into the vocabulary ofrock. They were not solely responsiblefor devising folk-rock, but they were certainly more responsible than any other single act (Dylan included) for melding theinnovations and energy of the British Invasion with the best lyrical and musical elements of contemporary folk music. read moreĪlthough they only attained the huge success of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys for a short time in the mid-'60s, time has judged the Byrds to be nearly as influential as those groups in the long run. Thejangling, 12-string guitar sound of leader Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker was permanently absorbed into the v. Although they only attained the huge success of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys for a short time in the mid-'60s, time has judged the Byrds to be nearly as influential as those groups in the long run.
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