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By 1967 there was increasing tension between the band members, McGuinn and Hillman becoming irritated by what they saw as Crosby's overbearing egotism, and his attempts to jockey for control of the band. In June, when the Byrds performed at the Monterey Pop Festival, Crosby sang the majority of lead vocals, and to the intense annoyance of the other members gave lengthy speeches between every song, on subjects such as the JFK assassination and the benefits of giving LSD to "every man, woman and child in the country". He then added insult to injury by performing later with rival band Buffalo Springfield (filling in for Neil Young). His stock within the band dropped further following the commercial failure of his first A-side, "Lady Friend", released in July (US #82). In October, during the recording of the fifth Byrds album, Crosby refused to participate in taping the Goffin-King number "Goin' Back" in preference to his more controversial "Triad", a song about a ménage à trois. The simmering tensions within the band finally erupted and in 1967 the other group members fired Crosby, who subsequently received a considerable cash settlement, and soon after began working with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, forming the hugely successful supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash. Gene Clark briefly rejoined The Byrds to take his place, but left three weeks later, after again refusing to board an aircraft while on tour. Michael Clarke also quit during these sessions, partly due to disputes with Crosby during the recording of "Dolphin's Smile". Studio drummer Jim Gordon was drafted in to complete his parts. The bluegrass guitarist Clarence White contributed significantly on several tracks, later becoming a permanent band member in 1968.
The resulting album, The Notorious Byrd Brothers, was released in January 1968, and despite its troubled genesis, contains some of the band's gentlest, most ethereal music. The record mixed folk rock, country, psychedelia and jazz, often within a single song, and attempted to deal with many contemporary themes such as peace, ecology, freedom, drug use, alienation and mankind's place in the Universe. It included the song "Wasn't Born to Follow", which featured on the Easy Rider Soundtrack. Over the years, The Notorious Byrd Brothers has gained in reputation, and is often considered the group's best work, while the contentious incidents surrounding its making have largely been forgotten.
Now reduced to a duo, The Byrds quickly recruited Hillman's cousin Kevin Kelley as drummer and the band went out on tour in support of The Notorious Byrd Brothers as a trio. After realizing that the trio arrangement wasn't going to work, McGuinn and Hillman, in a fateful decision for their future career-direction, hired Gram Parsons, originally to play keyboards (he later moved to guitar). With the aid of Hillman, Parsons persuaded McGuinn to change direction again, and take up a style with which they had previously only dabbled - country music.
Country rock:
On February 15, 1968, they played at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the first group of longhairs ever to do so, and immediately started recording their next album in a wholly Country style, with Parsons choosing and singing many of the songs. However, on July 29, Parsons quit the band just before they flew to South Africa because he refused to play to segregated audiences. At the same time, Sweetheart of the Rodeo was released, most of Parsons' vocals being replaced by either McGuinn or Hillman due to legal problems with Parsons' previous record company. The album was commercially unsuccessful on its release (US # 77), but contains the yearning Parsons song which has become a standard, "Hickory Wind", as well as a couple of Dylan tunes from his then-unreleased Basement Tapes collection, and more traditional songs from such unlikely sources as The Louvin Brothers ("The Christian Life"). It is the first country-rock album to be released by an established rock band, coming six months before Bob Dylan's "Nashville Skyline". (The first country rock album was arguably released by Gram's International Submarine Band on the indie record label that later created legal problems for Gram with the Byrds.)
Kevin Kelley left not long after Gram Parsons and in their places, McGuinn and Hillman hired drummer Gene Parsons and guitarist Clarence White, who had both played in Nashville West. This new lineup played two shows together[3] in October before Hillman quit to join Gram Parsons in the Flying Burrito Brothers. McGuinn, now the only original member left, hired bassist John York to replace Hillman and the resulting quartet recorded the Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde album and released it in February 1969 to poor US sales and moderate UK success.
In July 1969 The Byrds were the headliner of the Schaefer Music Festival in New York City's Central Park, along with Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, B.B. King, The Beach Boys, Frank Zappa and Patti LaBelle. They re-appeared at the festival in 1970 and 1971.
In October 1969 came the Ballad Of Easy Rider album. "Jesus Is Just Alright" from that album was issued as a single, which, in a similar arrangement, became a hit for The Doobie Brothers, four years later. The group also recorded a version of Jackson Browne's "Mae Jean Goes to Hollywood" during the recording sessions, but it remained unreleased for some twenty years. The title track was composed by McGuinn (expanding on a verse line written by Bob Dylan) as the music theme for the 1969 hippie movie Easy Rider, and the album sold well off the back of the movie's huge success. By the time this album was released, John York had left the band because his girlfriend objected to his going out on the road.[4] He was replaced by bassist Skip Battin, who had some chart success in 1959 as half of the duo Skip & Flip.
In 1970, The Byrds released the double album (Untitled), which charted well in the UK and acceptably in the US. (Untitled) featured one disc of live recordings and one of studio performances such as "Chestnut Mare", "All The Things" and "Lover of the Bayou". It also included a 16-minute live version of "Eight Miles High".
In 1971 they released the Byrdmaniax album, which was a commercial and critical disappointment, largely due to inappropriate orchestration which was added to many tracks without the band's approval by producer Terry Melcher. Also in 1971 came the release of the Farther Along album. The title track of that album, sung by Clarence White (with the rest of the group harmonizing), would became a prophetic epitaph for both White and Gram Parsons. (In July 1973, White was killed by a motor vehicle while he was loading equipment after a gig in Palmdale, California. Soon afterwards, Gram Parsons died, as a result of an overdose of morphine and alcohol, in the Joshua Tree Motel, California.)
McGuinn toured with the Byrds through 1972, with LA session man John Guerin replacing Gene Parsons. Two Byrds recordings exist with this lineup, live versions of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Roll Over Beethoven", recorded for the soundtrack to the movie Banjoman. The final recording sessions involving all four of the latter-day Columbia Byrds were for Skip Battin's 1972 album, Skip; Guerin was on drums. McGuinn appeared on only one track, though, "Captain Video" - evidently Battin's tribute to his erstwhile employer.
Skip Battin and John Guerin either quit or were fired after the February 10, 1973 show in Ithaca, New York, and were replaced by Chris Hillman and Joe Lala, respectively, for the Byrds' final two shows on February 23 (Burlington, Vermont) and 24 (Passaic, New Jersey).
The Byrds Live in Louisville Kentucky
April 20, 1970
The Byrds Lineup
Roger McGuinn – guitar, vocals
Clarence White – guitar, vocals
Skip Battin – bass, vocals
Gene Parsons – drums, vocals
01 Lover Of The Bayou
02 You Ain`t Going Nowhere
03 Old Blue
04 You All Look Alike
05 My Back Pages
06 Baby What You Want Me To Do
07 He Was A Friend Of Mine
08 Willin`
09 Black Mountain Rag
10 This Wheels On Fire (fades out)
11 Jesus Is Just Alright (fades in)
12 Chimes Of Freedom
13 Nashville West
14 Turn! Turn! Turn!
15 Mr.Tambourine Man
16 Eight Miles High (fades out)
17 Break Song (Eight Miles High)
18 So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star
19 Mr. Spaceman (fades out)