Happy Birthday Roger

One of my favourite 60s bands was the Byrds. They wrote and performed great songs and did amazing covers of Bob Dylan tunes such as Mr. Tambourine Man and My Back Pages. A big part of their distinctive sound was Roger McGuinn's unique voice and Rickenbacker guitar. Roger turns 67 today.

There were many permutations of the group from it's inception in 1964 to its disbandment in 1973, including a reunion album of the original members in 1973. McGuinn preserved the franchise as best he could before finally going solo, and playing and touring with Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review in the mid 70s. Here's a 1973 performance of Eight Miles High, a tune originally recorded in 1966. Gene Clark of the original Byrds penned the lyrics about an experience on an airplane trip to England. At the time, many listeners - and radio executives - thought it was about drug use and several radio stations banned it. Hey, it was the 60s!

The Byrds Over the Years

(Wikipedia)

Roger McGuinn – guitar, vocals (1964–1973)
Gene Clark – tambourine, guitar, vocals, harmonica (1964–1966, 1967, 1973)
David Crosby – guitar, vocals (1964–1967, 1973)
Chris Hillman – bass, vocals (1964–1968, 1972-1973)
Michael Clarke – drums (1964–1968, 1973)
Kevin Kelley - drums (1968)
Gram Parsons – guitar, piano, vocals (1968)
Clarence White - guitar, vocals (1968–1973)
John York – bass, vocals (1968–1969)
Gene Parsons – drums, vocals (1968–1972)
Skip Battin – bass, vocals (1969–1972)
John Guerin – drums (1972–1973)
Joe Lala - drums (1973