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27.06.1970 -  Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Byrds, Canned Heat, Steppenwolf, Jefferson Airplane, Johnny Winter, Frank Zappa And The Mothers of Invention, Dr. John, The Moody Blues si Fairport Convention concerteaza la festivalul Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music in Bath, Anglia. Biletul costa 1.10 lire.

The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better ( S1.4 )

Argentinian rock musician Charly García covered the song on his 1990 album, Filosofía Barata y Zapatos de Goma. The track was named "Me Siento Mucho Mejor" and the lyrics were translated into Spanish.

Country pop artist Juice Newton covered the song on her 1985 Old Flame album but the song is slightly retitled as "Feel a Whole Lot Better". Newton's version also alters some of the song's verse lyrics. Likewise, The Crust Brothers covered the song on their 1998 live album, Marquee Mark, under this slightly altered title.

Johnny Rivers covered the song in 1973 on his Blue Suede Shoes album and the song was also included on his 2006 compilation album, Secret Agent Man: The Ultimate Johnny Rivers Anthology.

Dinosaur Jr. did a grungy cover on the Byrds tribute album, Time Between – A Tribute to The Byrds. Reportedly, this version was Gene Clark's favorite cover of the song because he felt that the band had captured the essence of the lyrics, but successfully made the music even more uptempo.

Marty Stuart's 2017 album Way Out West features a mash-up of "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better" and some original Stuart lyrics. Not only that but the album was produced by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, who also plays guitars on the track as he did on Petty's version from Full Moon Fever.

Single by the Byrds
from the album Mr. Tambourine Man
A-side	"All I Really Want to Do"
Released	June 14, 1965
Recorded	April 14, 1965
Studio	Columbia, Hollywood, California
Genre	Folk rock, pop
Length	2:32
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Gene Clark
Producer(s)	Terry Melcher

The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better ( S1.3 )

Said Dickson, "There was always something to unravel in those songs, the non-explanation of the complex feeling. For instance, if you remember I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better, it doesn't say: "I'll feel a whole lot better", but "I'll probably feel a whole lot better." For me, that makes the song. There's a statement followed by a hesitation." Dickson would later work as a producer on Clark's 1984 album Firebyrd, which featured a re-recorded version of "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better".

Reception

Although it was initially released as the B-side of the "All I Really Want to Do" single, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" was itself heavily promoted by Columbia Records during the time that "All I Really Want to Do" spent on the Billboard charts. As a result, the song managed to chart in its own right in the U.S., reaching number 103. Mark Deming has commented that "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" was the first song written by a member of the Byrds to be commercially successful.

Since its release, the song has become a rock music standard, inspiring a number of cover versions over the years. It is also considered by many critics to be one of the band's, as well as Clark's, best and most popular songs, with Rolling Stone magazine ranking it at number 234 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Cover versions

Tom Petty covered the song (as "Feel a Whole Lot Better") on his 1989 solo album, Full Moon Fever. Petty's version was released as the fourth single from the album and peaked at number 18 on the US Rock chart.

Don Nix on his 1976 album Gone Too Long with George Harrison, retitled "Feel a Whole Lot Better".

In 1978, country singer Bobby Bare covered the song on his album Sleeper Wherever I Fall San Francisco band The Flamin' Groovies also released a cover of the song on their 1978 Sire Records release, Flamin' Groovies Now. Paisley Underground band The Three O'Clock covered the song on their Baroque Hoedown EP. Reportedly, Gene Clark sings backing vocal on this version of the song.

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The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better ( S1.2 )

Composition and content

The song dates from the Byrds' pre-fame residency at Ciro's nightclub in Los Angeles, as Clark explained during an interview: "There was a girlfriend I had known at the time, when we were playing at Ciro's. It was a weird time in my life because everything was changing so fast and I knew we were becoming popular. This girl was a funny girl, she was kind of a strange little girl and she started bothering me a lot. And I just wrote the song, 'I'm gonna feel a whole lot better when you're gone,' and that's all it was, but I wrote the whole song within a few minutes."

Byrds expert Tim Conners has called the song "the Platonic ideal of a Byrds song", in reference to the presence of some of the band's early musical trademarks, including Jim McGuinn's jangling 12-string Rickenbacker guitar; Chris Hillman's complex bass work; David Crosby's propulsive rhythm guitar, and the band's complex harmony singing and use of wordless "aaahhhh"s. Band biographer Johnny Rogan has also commented on the song's country-influenced guitar solo.

The song is built around a riff that Clark later admitted was based on the Searchers' cover of "Needles and Pins". Music critic Mark Deming has said that, lyrically, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" takes a sardonic view of romance, with Clark undecided about whether to break off a relationship with a woman who hasn't been entirely honest with him. The song's refrain of "I'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gone" betrays Clark's uncertainty about ending the relationship and whether such an act would be the answer to his problems or not.

Deming has also pointed out that the use of the word "probably" in this refrain is key and lends the track a depth of subtext that was unusual for a pop song in the mid-1960s. Jim Dickson, the Byrds' manager, has remarked that this level of subtext was not unusual in Clark's songs of the period

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The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better ( S1.1 )

"I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" is a song by the Los Angeles folk rock band the Byrds, first released in June 1965 on the B-side of the band's second single, "All I Really Want to Do". Despite initially being released as a B-side, the song managed to chart in its own right in the U.S., just outside the Billboard Hot 100. It was also included on the Byrds' debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man.

The song was written by band member Gene Clark, who also sings the lead vocal. "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" has been covered by a number of different artists over the years, and is regarded by fans and critics as one of the Byrds' best known songs."I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" is a song by the Los Angeles folk rock band the Byrds, first released in June 1965 on the B-side of the band's second single, "All I Really Want to Do". Despite initially being released as a B-side, the song managed to chart in its own right in the U.S., just outside the Billboard Hot 100. It was also included on the Byrds' debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man.

The song was written by band member Gene Clark, who also sings the lead vocal. "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" has been covered by a number of different artists over the years, and is regarded by fans and critics as one of the Byrds' best known songs. 

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The Byrds - I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better ( L2 )

The reason why, Oh I can say
I have to let you go , and right away
After what you did, I can't stay on
And I'll probably feel a whole lot better
When you're gone

Baby for a long time, you had me believe
That your love was all mine, and that's the way it would be
But I didn't know, that you were putting me on
And I'll probably feel a whole lot better
When you're gone

Now I've got to say, that it's not like before
And I'm not gonna play, your games anymore
After what you did, I can't stay on
And I'll probably feel a whole lot better
When you're gone
Oh when you're gone
Oh when you're gone
Oh when you're gone

The Byrds ( B48 )

Subsequent members

• Kevin Kelley – drums (1968)
• Gram Parsons – rhythm guitar, piano, organ, vocals (1968)
• Clarence White – lead guitar, mandolin, vocals (1968–1973)
• Gene Parsons – drums, banjo, harmonica, pedal steel guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals (1968–1972)
• John York – bass guitar, vocals (1968–1969)
• Skip Battin – bass guitar, piano, vocals (1969–1973)

Discography

• Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)
• Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965)
• Fifth Dimension (1966)
• Younger Than Yesterday (1967)
• The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)
• Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)
• Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde (1969)
• Ballad of Easy Rider (1969)
• (Untitled) (1970)
• Byrdmaniax (1971)
• Farther Along (1971)
• Byrds (1973)

The Byrds ( B47 )

This is precisely what made the Byrds such a rewarding band to follow from one record to the next."

In his book The Great Rock Discography, music researcher Martin C. Strong describes the Byrds' cover of "Mr. Tambourine Man" as "a timeless slice of hypnotic, bittersweet pop" and a record that "did nothing less than change the course of pop/rock history." Author and musician Bob Stanley, writing in his 2013 book Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop, has called the Byrds' music "a phenomenon, a drone, genuinely hair-raising and totally American."

In his book Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in 60s Hollywood, music historian Domenic Priore attempts to sum up the band's influence by noting, "Few of The Byrds' contemporaries can claim to have made such a subversive impact on popular culture. The band had a much larger, more positive impact on the world at large than any Billboard chart position or album sales or concert attendance figure could possibly measure."

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the Byrds at number 45 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Members

Original members

• Roger McGuinn – lead guitar, banjo, Moog synthesizer, vocals (1964–1973, 1989–1991, 2000)
• Gene Clark – tambourine, rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals (1964–1966, 1967, 1972–1973, 1991)
• David Crosby – rhythm guitar, vocals (1964–67, 1972–73, 1989–91, 2000)
• Michael Clarke – drums (1964–1967, 1972–1973, 1991)
• Chris Hillman – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, mandolin, vocals (1964–1968, 1972–1973, 1989–1991, 2000)

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The Byrds ( B46 )

To date, the Fred Walecki tribute concert appearance in 2000 was the last performance by the Byrds. However, Hillman and Crosby have both expressed an interest in working with McGuinn again on future Byrds projects, but the lead guitarist and head Byrd remains adamant that he is not interested in another full reunion. During an interview with music journalist John Nork, McGuinn replied "absolutely not," when asked if he had any plans to revive the Byrds, explaining, "No, I don't want to do that. I just want to be a solo artist. The Byrds are well documented. I don't think we need anymore from the Byrds."

In spite of McGuinn's comments, he and Hillman undertook a series of concerts together in 2018 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo album. Though not billed as the Byrds, the duo, together with backing band Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, played some earlier Byrds' material before performing all of the songs from the album and telling stories about its creation.

Legacy

Since the band's 1960s heyday, the influence of the Byrds on successive generations of rock and pop musicians has grown steadily, with acts such as the Eagles, Big Star, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, R.E.M., the Bangles, the Smiths, and innumerable alternative rock bands of the post-punk era all exhibiting signs of their influence. Musician and author Peter Lavezzoli described the Byrds in 2007 as "one of the few bands to exert a decisive influence on the Beatles", while also noting that they helped to persuade Bob Dylan to begin recording with electric instrumentation. Lavezzoli concluded that "like it or not, terms like "folk rock," "raga rock" and "country rock" were coined for a reason: the Byrds did it first, and then kept moving, never staying in the "raga" or "country" mode for very long. 

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The Byrds ( B45 )

Crosby and Hillman were booked to appear at the event separately, but McGuinn, who was not listed on the bill, made a surprise appearance and joined his two former partners on stage. McGuinn introduced the hastily reformed trio with the words, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Byrds", as the group launched into renditions of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)". According to contemporary press reports, the reunion was an unmitigated success, with the audience giving the band multiple standing ovations and shouting for more as they left the stage.

During the 2000s, two more ex-members of the Byrds died when drummer Kevin Kelley succumbed of natural causes in 2002 and bassist Skip Battin, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, died at his home in 2003. Former members Gene Parsons and John York both remain active and continue to perform and record various musical projects. Perhaps the most surprising development in the Byrds' story during the 2000s, however, was the acquisition by David Crosby of the rights to the band's name in 2002. Ownership of the Byrds' name had reverted to Clarke's estate upon his death in 1993 and Crosby's purchase served to effectively bring the convoluted battle for control of the group's name to an end.

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Istoric ( 144 )

24.02.1973 - The Byrds au ultima aparitie live in New Jersey.

The Byrds ( B44 )

On January 16, 1991, the five original members of the Byrds put aside their differences to appear together at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The ceremony honored the original line-up of Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke, while later configurations of the group featuring such key personnel as Gram Parsons and Clarence White were quietly passed over. The occasion, which saw the band come together on stage to perform the songs "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)", "Mr. Tambourine Man", and "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", represented the first time that all five original Byrds had stood together since 1973. Unfortunately, it would also represent the last time that the five original members were gathered together. Clark died later that year of heart failure, and on December 19, 1993, Clarke succumbed to liver disease brought on by alcoholism.

Following Clarke's death, Terry Jones Rogers resurrected the Byrds tribute act, with guitarist Scott Nienhaus and former Byrds Skip Battin and Gene Parsons on bass and drums respectively. Performing under the banner of The Byrds Celebration, the tribute group toured extensively throughout the remainder of the 1990s, although Parsons was replaced by session drummer Vince Barranco in 1995 and Battin was forced to retire due to ill-health in 1997. Since 2002, Rogers and Nienhaus have continued to tour as part of the band Younger Than Yesterday: A Tribute to the Byrds, along with bassist Michael Curtis and drummer Tim Politte.

McGuinn performing in 2009. Despite Hillman and Crosby's interest in future Byrds reunions, McGuinn remains reluctant to reform the band.

McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman all returned to their individual solo careers following the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. However, the Byrds did reunite for a third time on August 8, 2000, to give an impromptu, one-off performance at a tribute concert for Fred Walecki, the owner of a Los Angeles music equipment store who was suffering from throat cancer.

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The Byrds ( B43 )

In retaliation against Clarke's trademark application, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman submitted their own counter-claim to gain ownership of the band's name. McGuinn had actually attempted to trademark the Byrds name himself during the 1970s, in order to prevent its misuse, but his application had been turned down. To strengthen their case, the three musicians announced in December 1988 that they would be performing a series of concerts in January 1989 as the Byrds. Although he was no longer connected with Clarke's tribute act, Gene Clark was not invited to participate in these official Byrds reunion concerts due to residual ill-feeling stemming from his earlier "20th Anniversary Tribute to the Byrds".

The reunion concerts were a resounding success, but with Michael Clarke continuing to tour with his Byrds tribute, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman filed a lawsuit against the drummer in the spring of 1989, suing him for allegedly false advertising, unfair competition and deceptive trade practices, as well as seeking a preliminary injunction against Clarke's use of the name. At the court hearing in May 1989, the judge denied the injunction, ruling that McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman had failed to show that they would be irreparably damaged by Clarke's actions. As a result, Clarke gained full legal ownership of the name the Byrds. In the wake of this ruling, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman dropped their lawsuit, but to demonstrate that they had not wholly surrendered the Byrds name to Clarke, the three musicians appeared under the banner of "The Original Byrds" at a Roy Orbison tribute concert on February 24, 1990, where they were joined on-stage by Bob Dylan for a rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man". Later that year, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman entered Treasure Isle Recorders in Nashville to record four new Byrds tracks for inclusion on the forthcoming The Byrds box set.

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The Byrds ( B42 )

This tribute act began performing on the lucrative nostalgia circuit in early 1985, but a number of concert promoters began to shorten the band's name to the Byrds in advertisements and promotional material. As the band continued to tour throughout 1985, they eventually decided to shorten their name to the Byrds themselves, prompting McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman to berate the tribute group in interviews, with McGuinn deriding the act as "a cheap show."

After the tour wound down in late 1985, Clark returned to his solo career, leaving Michael Clarke to soldier on with a band that was now billed as "A Tribute to the Byrds" (although again, it was often shortened to the Byrds by promoters). Gene Clark returned to the group following the release of his and Carla Olson's So Rebellious a Lover album, and the tribute band continued to work on and off in 1987 and 1988. Author Johnny Rogan has stated that most die-hard fans of the Byrds were mortified by the existence of this ersatz version of the group, while Byrds expert Tim Connors has commented that "no chapter in the history of the Byrds caused as much consternation and controversy among fans."

In June 1988, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman appeared at a concert celebrating the reopening of the Ash Grove folk club in Los Angeles. Although they were billed as solo artists, the three musicians came together for an on-stage reunion during the show, performing a string of Byrds hits including "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Eight Miles High". Although Clark and Clarke's Byrds tribute group was inactive at the time of this high-profile get-together of McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman, Michael Clarke did mount another tribute tour shortly afterwards, this time featuring former Byrd Skip Battin and newcomers Terry Jones Rogers and Jerry Sorn, under the banner of "The Byrds featuring Michael Clarke". In addition, the drummer also sought to trademark the name "The Byrds" for his own use.

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The Byrds ( B41 )

Following the reunion of 1972/1973, the Byrds remained disbanded throughout the rest of the decade. Roger McGuinn turned his attention to establishing his own career, releasing a series of solo albums between 1973 and 1977, and making a high-profile appearance with Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue. Chris Hillman worked as part of the Souther–Hillman–Furay Band following the Byrds reunion and released a pair of solo albums entitled Slippin' Away and Clear Sailin' in 1976 and 1977 respectively. David Crosby returned to the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for their 1974 tour and subsequently continued to produce albums with Graham Nash. He also took part in a 1977 reunion of Crosby, Stills & Nash, which saw the group release their multi-platinum selling CSN album. Michael Clarke also found success following the Byrds reunion as the drummer for soft rock group Firefall, while Gene Clark returned to his solo career, producing the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful albums No Other (1974) and Two Sides to Every Story (1977). In addition, between 1977 and 1980, McGuinn, Clark and Hillman worked on and off together as a trio, modeled after Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and, to a lesser extent, the Eagles. This supergroup made up of former Byrds was reasonably successful commercially and even managed to score a Top 40 hit with the single "Don't You Write Her Off" in March 1979. The trio toured internationally and recorded the albums McGuinn, Clark & Hillman and City. Clark departed the group in late 1979, resulting in a third and final album being billed as McGuinn-Hillman.

Ersatz Byrds and further reunions (1989–1991; 2000)

In 1984, Gene Clark approached McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman in an attempt to reform the Byrds in time for the 20th anniversary of the release of the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single in 1985. None of these three original members were interested in the venture and so Clark instead assembled a group of musicians and friends, including Rick Roberts, Blondie Chaplin, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and the ex-Byrds Michael Clarke and John York, under the banner of "The 20th Anniversary Tribute to the Byrds".

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The Byrds ( B40 )

The reunion album, titled simply Byrds, was released on March 7, 1973 to mixed reviews. As a result, a planned tour in support of the album failed to materialize. Among the album's shortcomings, critics made note of a lack of sonic unity and the absence of the Byrds' signature jangly guitar sound. Nonetheless, the album managed to climb to number 20 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart and number 31 in the UK. In the United States, the album became the band's highest charting LP of new material since 1965's Turn! Turn! Turn!, which had also been the last Byrds' album to feature Gene Clark as a full member. Among the tracks included on the album were McGuinn's folk-flavored "Sweet Mary", the Joni Mitchell cover "For Free", a re-recording of Crosby's song "Laughing" (which had originally appeared on his 1971 solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name), and a pair of Neil Young songs. The album also featured the Gene Clark compositions "Changing Heart" and "Full Circle", the latter of which had provided the reunion album with its working title and was subsequently released as a single, although it failed to chart.

The negative critical reception that Byrds received in the music press resulted in the band losing faith in the idea of an ongoing series of reunions. In the years following its release, all five band members were openly critical of the album, with the general consensus being that the material included on it was weak and that the recording sessions had been rushed and ill-thought out. In addition, McGuinn and Hillman have both suggested that with the exception of Gene Clark, the songwriting members of the band were reluctant to bring their strongest compositions to the recording sessions, preferring instead to hold those songs back for their own solo projects. In the wake of the reunion, the five original Byrds quietly returned to their own careers, with the June 1973 release of McGuinn's eponymously titled solo album serving to effectively mark the end of the Byrds.

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The Byrds ( B39 )

Five months later, guitarist Clarence White was killed by a drunk driver in the early hours of July 15, 1973, while he loaded guitar equipment into the back of a van after a concert appearance in Palmdale, California.

Reunions

1972–1973 reunion

The five original members of the Byrds reunited briefly during late 1972, while McGuinn was still undertaking selected concerts with the Columbia Records version of the group. Discussions regarding a reunion between Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke had taken place as early as July 1971, around the same time as the then current line-up of the band were recording the Farther Along album. Plans for a reunion accelerated in mid-1972, however, when the founder of Asylum Records, David Geffen, offered each of the original band members a sizable amount of money to reform and record an album for his label. The reunion actually took place in early October 1972, beginning with a rehearsal at McGuinn's house, where the group began selecting suitable material for a new album. The five original Byrds booked into Wally Heider Studios in Los Angeles from October 16 until November 15, 1972, recording their first album together in seven years.

Following his dismissal from the band in 1967, David Crosby (pictured in 1976) was critical of Roger McGuinn's decision to recruit new band members, while continuing to use the Byrds name.

Following completion of the album, Crosby persuaded McGuinn to dissolve the Columbia version of the Byrds, who were still touring at that time. Crosby had long been vocal regarding his displeasure over McGuinn's decision to recruit new band members following his dismissal from the group in 1967, and had stated in a number of interviews that in his opinion "there were only ever five Byrds." In keeping with the new spirit of reconciliation that the reunion fostered, McGuinn permanently disbanded the Columbia line-up of the group in February 1973.

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The Byrds ( B38 )

Parsons was quickly replaced with L.A. session drummer John Guerin, who remained with the Byrds until January 1973, when he decided to return to studio work. Although Guerin participated in recording sessions with the band and appeared on stage with them from September 1972, he was never an official member of the Byrds and instead received a standard session musician's wage, while continuing to undertake work for other artists as an in-demand studio player. Three officially released Byrds recordings exist of the McGuinn–White–Battin–Guerin line-up: live versions of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Roll Over Beethoven" that were recorded for the soundtrack of the Earl Scruggs' film Banjoman, and a studio recording of "Bag Full of Money" that was included as a bonus track on the remastered reissue of Farther Along in 2000.

Following Guerin's departure, he was temporarily replaced for live performances by session drummers Dennis Dragon and Jim Moon. The band underwent a further personnel change following a show of February 10, 1973 in Ithaca, New York, when Skip Battin was dismissed by McGuinn, who had capriciously decided that the bassist's playing abilities were no longer of a sufficient standard. McGuinn turned to ex-Byrd Chris Hillman, who at that time was a member of the band Manassas, and asked him to step in as Battin's replacement for two upcoming shows on February 23 and 24. Hillman agreed to play both concerts for the sum of $2,000 and also brought in Manassas percussionist Joe Lala to fill the vacant spot behind the drum kit. Following a shambolic, underrehearsed performance at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey on February 24, 1973, McGuinn cancelled the band's remaining concert commitments and disbanded the touring version of the Byrds, in order to make way for a reunion of the original five-piece line-up of the band.

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The Byrds ( B37 )

Unfortunately, the compilation album also failed to reach the UK charts, while contemporary reviews made note of its misleading and inaccurate title, since among its twelve tracks, only "Chestnut Mare" had been a genuine hit in the United Kingdom. An equivalent compilation wasn't released in the U.S. until November 1972, when The Best of The Byrds: Greatest Hits, Volume II was issued.

On November 17, 1971, less than five months after the release of Byrdmaniax, the Byrds issued their eleventh studio album, Farther Along. The album was met with slightly more enthusiastic reviews than its predecessor but nevertheless, only managed to climb to number 152 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, while failing to reach the charts in the United Kingdom altogether. Musically, the album found the Byrds beginning to move away from their country rock sound—although at least half the album still bore a strong country influence—and instead, embrace a style indebted to 1950s rock 'n' roll music. The Skip Battin and Kim Fowley penned song "America's Great National Pastime" was taken from the album and released as a single in late November, but it failed to chart on either side of the Atlantic. Johnny Rogan has concluded that, ultimately, the rapidity with which the Byrds planned and recorded Farther Along resulted in an album that was just as flawed as Byrdmaniax and as a result, it failed to rehabilitate the band's ailing commercial fortunes or increase their declining audience. The album's title track, sung by White with the rest of the group harmonizing, would later become a poignant and prophetic epitaph for the guitarist when it was sung by ex-Byrd Gram Parsons and the Eagles' Bernie Leadon at White's funeral in July 1973.

Breakup

Clarence White and Roger McGuinn on stage during the Byrds' September 9, 1972 appearance at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Following the release of Farther Along, the Byrds continued to tour throughout 1972, but no new album or single release was forthcoming. In July of that year, Gene Parsons was fired from the group for a number of reasons, including McGuinn's growing dissatisfaction with his drumming, disagreements that he and McGuinn were having over band members' pay, and his own discontent over the band's lack of morale during this period.

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