Artist:The Byrds
Song:Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)
Album:20 Essential Tracks From The Box Set:1965-1990
The Byrds were one of the most popular groups of the 60s and were very influential in shaping folk rock. I'm going to talk about their early days. The group was formed by Jim (Roger) McGuinn, David Crosby & Gene Clark. They were all veterans of the folk scene. Clark approached McGuinn about forming a duo. They added Crosby and released a single on Elektra as The Beefeaters. That failed. They added drummer Michael Clarke and mandolin player Chris Hillman. Hillman played electric bass and McGuinn took up his famous Rickenbacker electric guitar. Playing folk music on electric instruments was new at the time. Their first single on Columbia was a version of Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man. Once that topped the charts, The Byrds were dubbed The American Beatles. Turn! Turn! Turn! was a #1 smash in 1965. It may have been the first pop hit adapted from the Bible as adapted by folk music legend Pete Seeger. McGuinn had played the song while he was guitarist for folk group The Limeliters. Then he did an arrangement of the song for Judy Collins. The Byrds' version is simply timeless. This comp from the box set is OK for beginners. Gene Clark left The Byrds in 1966 over a fear of flying. The problem was he was the lead singer and wrote original songs. The Byrds would regroup in a somewhat different form. That's for another time. Here's The Byrds performing Turn! Turn! Turn! on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1965.
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