the byrds Free Sheet Music

Select one of the 1 pieces below.

• Turn Turn Turn

About the byrds

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (aka Jim McGuinn) remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973. Although they only managed to attain the large industrial success of contemporaries like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Rolling Stones for a brief amount of your time (1965-66), The Byrds are today considered by critics to be one of the most influential bands of the 1960s. Initially, they pioneered the musical genre of folk rock, melding the influence of The Beatles and alternative British Invasion bands with up to date and ancient folk music. As the Nineteen Sixties progressed, the band was also influential in originating psychedelic rock, raga rock, and country rock. In addition, the band's signature blend of clear harmony singing and McGuinn's jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar has continued to be influential on fashionable music up to the present day. Among the band's most enduring songs are their cowl versions of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Flip! Flip! Flip! (to Everything There is a Season)", together with the self-penned originals, "I'll Feel a Whole Heap Higher", "Eight Miles High", "Therefore You Need to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star", "Ballad of Straightforward Rider" and "Chestnut Mare". The original five-piece line-from The Byrds consisted of Jim McGuinn (lead guitar, vocals), Gene Clark (tambourine, vocals), David Crosby (rhythm guitar, vocals), Chris Hillman (bass guitar, vocals), and Michael Clarke (drums). But, this version of the band was comparatively short-lived and by early 1966, Clark had left due to issues related to anxiety and his increasing isolation among the group. The Byrds continued as a quartet till late 1967, when Crosby and Clarke additionally departed the band. McGuinn and Hillman set to recruit new members, as well as country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, but by late 1968, Hillman and Parsons had conjointly exited the band. McGuinn, who by now had modified his name to Roger after a flirtation with the Subud religion, elected to rebuild the band's membership and between 1968 and 1973, he helmed a new incarnation of The Byrds, featuring guitarist Clarence White among others. McGuinn disbanded the then current line-up in early 1973, to make method for a reunion of the initial quintet. The Byrds' final album was released in March 1973, with the reunited group disbanding soon afterwards. Many ex-members of the band went on to own successful careers of their own, either as solo artists or as part of groups, like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or The Desert Rose Band. In the late 1980s, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke both began touring as The Byrds, prompting a legal challenge from McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman over the rights to the band's name. As a result of this, McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman performed a series of reunion concerts as The Byrds in 1989 and 1990, and additionally recorded four new Byrds' songs. In January 1991, The Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a happening that saw the 5 original members performing along for the last time. McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman still stay active but Gene Clark died of a heart attack in 1991, and Michael Clarke died of liver failure in 1993.