Dickson had the Byrds line up in front of the studio monitor and listen to "Mr. The song was a folk style tune in 2/4 time with four verses. Their second stroke of luck was when Jim Dickson remembered a Bob Dylan song that Dylan wasn't going to use on his next record because someone was singing out of tune on the track. The group's first big break came when Jazz legend Miles Davis heard them and got them a contract with Columbia Records, contingent on the success of a single. Gene Clark offered "The Birdsies." Nobody liked that name and Dickson said, "How about the Birds"? "Birds" was slang in England for girls and the band didn't want to be called "the Girls." Then McGuinn came up with the B-Y-R-D-S spelling, and it stuck. The band was having Thanksgiving dinner when they tried coming up with a new name for the band. Dickson decided to get a $5000 loan so that the band could get some real instruments.
The first practice recordings they made sounded very primitive.
Chris Hillman was playing a cheap Japanese bass and Michael Clarke didn't have a drum kit, so he learned on a set of cardboard boxes with a tambourine taped to the top. Dickson would let the trio record late every night on some old tape that wasn't good enough to use for a record but was fine for rehearsal.
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Clarke didn't know how to play the drums, but that didn't matter.Ĭrosby's friend, Jim Dickson, was a producer at World Pacific Studios. Michael Clarke was hired on the spot for just looking the part. Crosby and McGuinn were standing in front of the Troubadour when they spotted a man coming toward them who looked like a combination of two of the members of the Rolling Stones. By 1964 the group added bassist, Chris Hillman (who also played mandolin), and were in search of a drummer. McGuire later had a number one hit with "Eve of Destruction," while Phillips was still in New York, struggling to put the Mama's and Papa's together.Īfter changing their name to the Beefeaters, McGuinn, Clark and Crosby recorded an Elektra single called "Please Let Me Love You," which was not well received. Barry McGuire would join them occasionally.
Phillips and McGuinn were both living at the Earl Hotel in Greenwich Village, where they had frequent jam sessions with other folk musicians on the scene. It's an interesting side note that John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas wrote the song "Creeque Alley" based on their experiences during that time, with the line "McGuinn & McGuire still gettin' higher". Gene Clark had been a member of the New Christy Minstrels (along with Barry McGuire and Kenny Rogers). McGuinn had been an accompanist for the Limeliters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, Bobby Darin and musical director for Judy Collins. One of the most influential American rock groups of all time, the Byrds began in 1964 as a Los Angeles folk trio called the Jet Set, composed of Jim McGuinn (who later changed his name to Roger) along with David Crosby on guitar and Gene Clark accompanying on tambourine all three shared vocal duties.
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