the byrds so you want to be a rock and roll star

It was impossble for the group members (or fans in later years) not to recognize that the wild audience cheering that was heard had been recorded on their first British tour, 18 months before, and that by early 1967 when the single showed up it had been a long time since the Byrds had elicited those kinds of screams. Ironically, the single was produced so well -integrating not only a trumpet solo by guest artist Hugh Masekela but a cheering, roaring crowd - that it made the top 30 and became the Byrds' last hit in their original line-up.

'So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star' was a savage attack on what the music business had become, and on prefabricated groups like the Monkees - every cliche of the business was assembled into its lyrics, and beneath the pleasant harmonizing by the band members was a good deal of bitterness over the Byrds' declining commercial fortunes. Tambourine Man', a punchy yet still respectful adaptation of a Bob Dylan song, had captured the airwaves, popular taste had moved on and downward in late 1966, when the song was written and recorded, the most popular group in America was the Monkees, who seemingly topped the charts and sold millions of records at the drop of a hat, merely by looking right, while the Byrds and groups like them were selling progressively fewer records each year, after than same roaring start.

In a sense, it was pandering to the public and AM radio with its quick paced opening and spirited choruses, but with a purpose. One of the group's most brisk, straight-ahead, popularly aimed and focused tunes, it was the logical number with which to open their 1967 album Younger Than Yesterday, as well as the logical choice for a single, and it grabbed the public in a way that was increasingly rare among records by serious rock groups in 1967. The Byrds pioneered folk rock, a blend of folk music with rock and roll.

Later band members included Gram Parsons, Clarence White, and Gene Parsons. 1 Their members included Jim McGuinn (who later changed his name to Roger), David Crosby, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke. The Byrds' first top 30 single in close to a year (since 'Eight Miles High') and their last hit single in their original line-up, 'So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star' was laced with irony behind its circumstances (and production) and bitterness behind its lyrics. The Byrds were a popular folk rock band, from California.

The byrds so you want to be a rock and roll star