The Byrds speak about

The Byrds

So many of my friends have fallen by the wayside. Two friends in the Byrds have died and Gram. But it was by their own choice! No one put a gun to their head. I could have been a statistic, but I never lost my sense of decency.

The Byrds weren't really a rock band. We just plugged the instruments into the wall and started learning! (laughs) We had no blueprint or preset idea in our minds at all. I think I can look back at that band today -which is almost 45 years later- with pretty clearly. You know, The Byrds, we never got really rich. We did quite well relative to the time, but what I'm most proud of that far outweighs any monetary gain is that we left a musical path for everyone to follow. Be it the Eagles, or Bruce Springsteen or Tom Petty - who has always acknowledged it. I mean, I don't even know anything about Kenny Chesney, except that he's a huge country star. But I saw an interview the other day where he was saying that he felt there wouldn't even be any country music today without The Byrds, because we had folks like Vern Gosdin -who was an old band-mate and friend of mine- open up for us. It was a very nice sentiment.

All of my bands have had their defining moments. It's just that the Byrds were the most well-known of them all. As I like to say, it seems I'll never get fully out of the nest. (laughs) We had a wonderful man named Jim Dickson who was our manager. He drilled into our heads to go for substance more than anything. He told us we should try to make music we could listen to in 30 or 40 years and be proud of, rather than to go into the “boys and girls” territory. Of course, since we had such gifted songwriters as Gene Clark and Roger and -a little later on- myself to an extent, it worked out well.

Roger McGuinn - Barnes & Noble 2006

The thrill of being No. 1 with the Byrds was great, but it had some side effects that were not wonderful, like the pressure. It was kind of a dizzying experience. But this is just wonderful; there's nothing bad about it. I feel great now in my life.
I have two favorite spots in the Byrds' career. The first was the excitement of going from zero to 60 in two seconds. We were starving musicians on the streets of L.A., taking buses around, living from the charity of (manager) Jim Dickson, who would buy us cheeseburgers once a day, and that's how we stayed alive, and then we were meeting the Beatles and having No. 1 hits and hanging out with Dylan, and going to a height that few people can imagine.