So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-by-Day, 1965-1973

by Christopher Hjort

In 1965, The Byrds had a worldwide smash with Bob Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man', opened for The Rolling Stones in the US, hung out with The Beatles, undertook a disastrous tour of Great Britain, and capped the year with a second US chart-topper 'Turn! Turn! Turn!' Over the next few years they released the groundbreaking 'Eight Miles High' single and a clutch of classic albums, enduring regular line-up changes that would have been the end of most bands but in The Byrds case, fuelled leader Roger McGuinn's innate capacity for reinvention. With hindsight, The Byrds were one of the 60s most influential bands. After virtually inventing folk-rock they pioneered psychedelia and country-rock, and were also the first guitar rock band to use synthesizers. Their influence endures in the mainstream rock of R.E.M. and Tom Petty, a multitude of jangly indie bands from the last 25 years, and just about every alt.country and Americana act on the scene. Now, The Byrds story is unraveled, as it happened, day-by-day, in So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star . From the band's formation and breakthrough hit in 1965 to the brief reunion of the original line-up in 1972/73, this book is the most compelling and complete account of The Byrds ever published. Drawing on hundreds of lost and previously undiscovered sources, not to mention a wealth of previously unseen photos, it is a gripping chronicle of the life and times of this seminal band.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Butch Lazorchak]

I'm a Byrds fanatic so I had to get this book. If you're not a fanatic you might find the day-by-day approach a little tedious, but it really is quite effective in painting a picture of the band that you might not get elsewhere. I found it fascinating, for example, that they mostly played shows on the weekends throughout their entire career. They'd fly out to Chicago on a Friday, plays shows in the region on Saturday and Sunday and then fly back to L.A. And they'd do this almost every weekend! I'm still trying to understand that one.

You only get a bit of the band member's personalities out of this approach, unfortunately. McGuinn had to be a machine to keep the band alive through all the ups and downs but you don't get a deep look into what drove him.

Still, I really enjoyed this and couldn't put it down.

[Steven]

A book like this separates the fan from the fanatic. Over 300 pages with a day by day calendar from (as the title says) 1965 to 1973. The index includes a list of where the Byrds played, so you can check and see.
If you're a big fan, there are other books you should get - but if you're a fanatic, then you have to know what happened on August 13, 1965-- in Ipswich in the UK), you know can know -- includes reviews from the local press...
Let me be clear: fun for the fanatic, not as fan for those who aren't.

[Edmund]

Fascinating book and a useful reference point for resolving debates on Facebook etc!! As another reviewer said you don't get much insight into the characters and personalities, but that isn't the focus. As a "Day in the Life" recount it's doing what I think it set out to do.

[Antony Fanelli]

Very in depth book about the career of the Byrds! It took a while to read but it was well worth it. If you're a Byrds fan, read this book!

[Avis Black]

I never knew the Byrds played a bill with Captain Beefheart and Tiny Tim. Interesting book, if depressing near the end