music

10 reasons why The Byrds are the most influential rock band of all time

1 They brought Dylan to the masses

And helped him on his discovery of electric music

2 They influenced The Beatles

 

The Fabs hero-worshiped them, and many Beatles tracks feature that trademark Byrds jangly guitar. Rubber Soul was almost a Byrds tribute album.

3 They were first to get a Psychedelic song in the charts

This was a full year before most of their contemporaries started making trippy pop music

4 Michael Clarke’s barnet is one of the most copied haircuts ever

It was de riguer for Indie chaps in the mid-80s

5 They invented country rock

And this does it better than anyone else

6 Their members launched some incredible solo careers in the 70s

Gene Clark’s No Other is a masterpiece, David Crosby made some wonderful albums and then there’s the fantastic Gram Parsons’ albums

7 They made tambourines popular

Not just for salvation Army types

8 They were a massive influence on just about every great 80s indie band

You can hear that ringing guitar everywhere, from early Primal Scream through to The Stone Roses

9 They talked about Space Rock before anyone else

A good five years before Bowie and 30 years before Spiritiualised.

10 This

Perfect, almost forgotten single