Like almost all beat groups from the mid-sixties, The Byrds initially mainly played compositions by others. Due to a background in the folk scene, the band, which further modeled on the sound of The Beatles around A Hard Days Night, focused on the intelligent songs of (emerging) folk singers. And so it happened that the Bob Dylan compositions Mr. Tambourine Man and All I Really Wanna Do are mainly
… remembered these days in the versions of The Byrds: with a backbeat, jingling guitars and beautiful harmonious vocals. A brilliant idea that opened the way for countless followers. The debut of The Byrds, which was released in 1965, immediately showed the enormous potential of the group: with Gene Clark, David Crosby and Roger McGuinn it had no fewer than three recognizable lead singers in its ranks, who also wrote good songs themselves. The fact that the best studio musicians in Los Angeles were used for their debut single - only McGuinn played - did not detract from that. (MS)more
