Byrds, the

US pioneering folk-rock group 1964-73. Emulated for their 12-string guitar sound, as on the hits ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ (a 1965 version of Bob Dylan's song), ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ (1965), and ‘Eight Miles High’ (1966), they moved toward country rock in the late 1960s, setting another trend.

The Byrds formed in Los Angeles, California, at the time of the Beatles' greatest influence, and comprised Roger McGuinn (1942- ), David Crosby (1941- ), Gene Clark (1944-1991), Chris Hillman (1944- ), and Michael Clarke (1946-1999), most of whom had a folk-music background. Their music became much more free-form psychedelic with the album Fifth Dimension (1966), then country and western with Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968). They dissolved in 1973 after many changes of line-up that left only the guitarist McGuinn of the original members.