The Byrds were a marvelously synergistic, incredibly influential band. They began when some folk musician's tried to emulate rock music; the result was alchemy, mixing the two disciplines to create a third. To paraphrase leader Roger McGuinn, the Byrds whooshed like a jet plane where rock had formerly chugged along train-style. It was McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker - along with the group's seamless, soaring harmonies - that made "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn Turn Turn" sound so good on the radio. That they were introducing teeny boppers to Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger was just a bonus. McGuinn, of course, wasn't the only Byrd - but over the years his trademark jangle, moptop hair, and goofy granny glasses came to represent the group in the public's eye.

The Byrds quickly progressed; by "Eight Miles High," they had completely loosed themselves from the clutches of traditional music, creating wholly original rock tinged with psychedelia. As band members (most notably Chris Hillman, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Gram Parsons, Clarence White, and Skip Battin) passed through McGuinn's ever rotating door over the years, the evolution continued. The Byrds quickly move on, returning to roots-based music by embracing country music, then exploring blues-based rock. The group finally fell apart altogether in 1973, but the twang and jangle of the Byrds continued with reverberate; their influence extends through the present via REM, Tom Petty, the Church, Uncle Tupelo, Radiohead, and more.

The Byrds produced eleven albums for Columbia during their career. Starting in 1997, Sony/Legacy refurbished them all, improving the mastering and packaging and adding bonus tracks. This makes these individual discs the best way to collect the Byrds. The first seven CD's - Mr. Tambourine Man (1965), Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965), Fifth Dimension (1966), Younger Than Yesterday (1967), Sweetheart Of The Rodeo (1968), The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968), and Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde (1969)- are absolutely great. The final four albums were recorded after all founding members (except McGuinn) had departed. These records - Ballad Of Easy Rider (1970), Untitled (1970), Byrdmaniax (1971), and Farther Along (1972) - found the Byrds settling into a comfortable roots rock groove, and each has good moments.

Many versions of these seminal albums have been released on CD, but none have improved on Sony's original series - except possibly their own two-disc expansion of Sweethearts Of The Rodeo, featuring dozens of alternate takes and some of Gram Parson's early work with the International Submarine Band. Sony also released Live At The Fillmore February 1969 from recently discovered tapes. Finally, collectors should seek out Sundazed Records' The Preflyte Sessions (2002), which compiles 40 tracks from the Byrds' early, pre-Columbia days; it should be noted that Preflyte Sessions is far superior to other reissues covering the same material, including the original Preflyte LP (1969) or Rhino's aging In The Beginning CD (1988).

It's worth noting that after McGuinn's latterday, ramshackle version of the Byrd's fell apart, the original five members reunited for one album, Byrds, on a new label (Asylum) in 1973. It was roundly criticized at the time - in Rolling Stone, Jon Landau called it "one of the dullest albums of the year" - and it wasn't reissued on CD in America until 2004 (though an imported version wasn't too hard to find). Rather than bad, though, I'd call Byrds curious. Mostly, it doesn't sound like the Byrds (rather ironic considering the title...). It features very little of McGuinn's trademark 12-string guitar - and only minimal harmonies - while adhering to a rather generic country-rock format. More tellingly, several of the songs (Clark's "Full Circle," Crosby's "Laughing," and McGuinn's "Born To Rock 'n' Roll") are recycled from earlier efforts, and three are covers (including a sumptuous version of Neil Young's "Cowgirl In The Sand"). All told, Byrds has some fine moments - most belonging to Gene Clark - but it punctuated the group's soaring career with an anticlimatic, earthbound ellipsis. They wouldn't record together again for over 20 years.

Short of collecting all those (superb) Byrd albums on Columbia - which I did - consumers are presented with many choices. Sony Legacy's remastered Greatest Hits (1967) would be the sentimental and popular favorite. It's hard to beat that classic album's eleven songs (now expanded to fourteen); they are among the most important recordings of the 1960's. But, the CD samples only from the Byrds' first four albums, telling barely one-third of their story. My personal choice would be Sony's The Essential Byrds (2003), a two-disc set containing 33 songs, from "Mr. Tambourine Man" (1965) to "Farther Along" (1972) - something from every original Columbia LP. The 4-CD boxed set, The Byrds (1992, now deleted), is very good, too, despite the inclusion of some lackluster new tracks; if digging that deep, however, I recommend the group's individual albums rather than the box.

Even before the Byrds' dissolution, former members began generating numerous solo and group efforts, most of them quite good and some of them hugely influential. Most notably, Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons founded the Flying Burrito Brothers who, as much as any artist other than the Byrds themselves, were responsible for the creation and propagation of country rock. After leaving the Burritos, Gram Parsons recorded a couple of tremendous solo albums before his untimely death, while Chris Hillman eventually became a mainstream country star with his bluegrass-influenced Desert Rose Band. The most underappreciated Byrd, Gene Clark, released a string of wonderful folk-rock records (summarized to different degrees on Echoes, American Dreamer 1964-1974, and Flying High), while the most overrated member, David Crosby, joined Crosby Stills & Nash (read more) and became a (literally) bloated rock superstar (and lesbian baby daddy).

Roger McGuinn began recording solo shortly after the Byrds' breakup, releasing five albums through the 1970's; these years are nicely summarized on Columbia's Born To Rock & Roll (1992). He also reunited with fellow Byrds Chris Hillman and Gene Clarke as McGuinn Clark & Hillman, recording several albums (one without Clarke) over the next few years. McGuinn returned to the spotlight in 1991 with Back To Rio and has recorded fitfully since. Highlights from the seemingly endless string of Byrds-related releases were compiled by Raven, an Australian label, on Byrd Parts and Byrd Parts Two. [top of page]