A Byrd in the Band Quiz | The Byrds

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The lead guitar player and singer for the Byrds came from the Chad Mitchell Trio, where he was a session musician. Who was he?

Answer: Roger McGuinn

McGuinn first played with the Chad Mitchell Trio as Jim McGuinn; his full name is James Joseph McGuinn III. He was a founder of the Byrds in 1964. The harmonies he and his band mates produced helped define folk rock, as did McGuinn's Rickenbacker guitars which had a distinct sound due to recording studio tricks McGuinn learned from recording engineer Ray Gerhardt. Among many personnel changes in the band McGuinn was the constant and remained in the Byrds until they broke up in 1973.

2. The principal songwriter for the Byrds, Gene Clark, wasn't new to the music scene. Beforehand he was with one of the more traditional folk music groups of the early 1960s and knew many of the performers of that genre. Do you know which group that was?

Answer: The New Christy Minstrels

Clark is from Missouri. While performing in St. Louis he was discovered by the New Christy Minstrels and recorded two albums with them. Then he heard the Beatles, quit the band and moved to Los Angeles. He became a founding member of the Byrds, played tambourine, sang vocals and wrote or co-wrote many of their songs including "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "Set You Free This Time" and "Eight Miles High", a song the band members swore was not about drugs - until they finally admitted several years later that it was. Clark didn't fit in well with the other band members and left the group in 1966.

3. This might sound like a name you've heard before but who was the original drummer for the Byrds?

Answer: Michael Clarke

If you were setting up a band why would you hire someone as a drummer whose only drumming experience was playing congas in a semi-professional group? I don't know either but that's what the Byrds did when Michael Clarke came on-board. He didn't own a drum set at the time; rather, it was because of his Brian Jones-style (Rolling Stones) haircut. By 1967 the band members had numerous personality conflicts and Clarke left to join another band, later joining a group named Firefall; their biggest hit single was "You Are the Woman" in 1976.

4. A new Byrd appeared in 1967, not really a religious man, who would go on to form another group. Can you name him?

Answer: Gram Parsons

Parsons is considered a pioneer of country rock music although he claimed he didn't like the title. He did help move the Byrds to more of a country music sound, writing some of the songs for the "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" album. Parsons flew off in 1968, working with other artists including Emmylou Harris and befriending Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.

Some of the Stones' attraction to country music in the 1970s can be attributed to Parsons. Although some of Parsons's lyrics speak of the dangers of drugs, he died of a drug overdose in 1973.

5. If you were forming a band would you hire a bass guitar player who had never played bass before? The Byrds did and he turned out to be an asset to the band. Which bluegrass-inspired musician was it?

Answer: Chris Hillman

Hillman was a country and bluegrass musician from California. He was offered a chance to join a new group which would be called the Byrds. He apparently quickly learned to play bass. He did some singing and a little songwriting at first, more so after other band members left or became involved in interpersonal disputes, co-writing the song "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star".

The strife within the Byrds eventually got to him and he left in late 1968 to work with other bands including Manassas and the Desert Rose Band.

6. A performer who would go on to form a supergroup with Stephen Stills in the late '60s got his start with the Byrds. Which guitarist was it?

Answer: David Crosby

Crosby stayed with the Byrds long enough to be part of their first five albums. He co-wrote "Eight Miles High", "Why" and many others for the Byrds. Over time, though, tensions among the band members increased and Crosby was fired from the Byrds in 1967, being charged with trying to dictate the band's musical direction.

He went on to be a founder of Crosby, Stills and Nash, with Neil Young later joining in.

7. Kevin Kelley was the first person hired to replace a departing Byrd. He would later go on to a group whose biggest hit record was "San Francisco Girls". Which group released that song?

Answer: Fever Tree

Kelley was Byrd's bass player Chris Hillman's cousin. When the Byrds needed a drummer in 1967, they called on Kelley, who was between bands and working in a men's clothing store. After touring with the Byrds he had a personality conflict with another new Byrd and was fired in 1968.

After being with Fever Tree Kelley worked as a session musician for a few years before retiring from music in 1973.

8. This might sound like a name you've heard before, but who was the third drummer for the Byrds?

Answer: Gene Parsons

Parsons, who was not related to Gram Parsons, replaced Kevin Kelley as the Byrds drummer from 1968 to 1972. He was recommended by Clarence White, who became a Byrd in 1968 and caused some changes in the band. The two had played together as members of the Kentucky Colonels, a California bluegrass band.

He has songwriting credits for parts of the Byrds albums "Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde" and "(Untitled)". He left to join another group.

9. A replacement bassist for the Byrds came from the Sir Douglas Quintet, a British Invasion band that looked like they were from Britain, but they weren't, they were from Texas. His name might sound like he's from the Empire State, and in fact he is. Who is he?

Answer: John York

The Sir Douglas Quintet wasn't exactly a one-hit wonder but "She's About a Mover" is their best-known song. York, from White Plains, N.Y., replaced Chris Hillman as the Byrds' bass player in 1968. He was only there for a year but his bass work and vocals were heard on the albums "Ballad of Easy Rider" and "Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde".

After leaving the Byrds he had a lengthy career as a bassist and guitarist, including some solo work.

10. Several former Byrds flocked together to form a new country rock group, to keep from starving, perhaps. What unusually- named group did Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman and others form?

Answer: The Flying Burrito Brothers

Parsons and Hillman founded The Flying Burrito Brothers in 1968 along with three other musicians. Over the years ex-Byrds Michael Clarke, Gene Parsons and Skip Battin would join the group as the membership changed. Though they were all skilled musicians they brought their attitudes and personal problems with them and so the band was in a constant turmoil.

But the Burritos were highly influential in country rock; their debut album "The Gilded Palace of Sin" setting the tone for the genre. They disbanded in 1972. Of the original members, Chris Hillman is the only one still alive, as of this writing.

Source: Author CmdrK

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A Byrd in the Band Trivia Quiz

...was a good thing in the 1960s and '70s, or was it? Can you identify members of the Byrds and which bands they came from or went to?

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