NUMBER 100: The Byrds

I have neglected this blog, and I feel bad. People "follow" it, and they have gotten two shitty posts since the end of March. So now I'm going to try to keep up and write a lot, and here's how to motivate myself. Recently, I made a list of my top 100 artists (musicians), and to make it a less worthless list, I'm going to write 100 blogposts about these 100 artists, from 100 to number 1. Starting it off, at the number 100 greatest artist of all time (of course, this list is my opinion) are The Byrds.

The Byrds are one of those bands who do not get enough credit in today's world. I don't think I have ever given them enough credit myself. But when I was making my top 100 list, I told myself that this band had to be in there, even if it was at the number 100 spot. The Byrds were a band compared to The Beatles, sometimes said to be The "American Beatles." I would not go that far, however. First off, The Byrds never got nearly as big as The Beatles (then again, name five bands who have). Second, The Byrds were a very folk-based band, as opposed to the Beatles strict pop/rock combo. In fact, when the first members of The Byrds got together, they were strictly a folk band, and had never played rock 'n roll before. They had to learn how to be a good rock band, and they were very successful. The members of the band led pretty successful musical careers as well; their most successful were David Crosby (Crosby, Stills, and Nash/and Young), who was a part of the early version of The Byrds, and Roger McGuinn, who was a part of the last few versions of The Byrds, before they split.
Their most popular songs were not fully written by themselves: "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "My Back Pages", both written by Bob Dylan, are two of their more popular songs. "Turn Turn Turn" takes its lyrics from the bible, and the music to it was originally written by Pete Seeger. However, there are many other songs this band did, and it's unfortunate that they get lost in all that's played on the radio today. Rarely do you hear this band on the radio, and when you do, it's the three songs mentioned above. My personal favorite song of theirs is "So You Wanna Be a Rock 'n Roll Star," but certainly they had plenty of great songs. I personally like their version of Jackson Browne's "Jamaica Say You Will," which is on their Live At Royal Albert Hall 1971.
I hope you go out and listen to The Byrds. An influential, early folk-rock band that found great success in the 1960's. The Byrds are the number 100 greatest artist of all time.
Next up, number 99
(Please feel free to complain about my list)