Many maintain that the crowds gathered at Ciro’s in LA to see the Byrds perform “represented the first stirrings of the West Coast hippie counterculture”. McGuinn’s square specs, Crosby’s outlandish capes and hats, and their general stoned aloof demeanor, cultivated their pop star status. Columbia and the American public, eager for a homegrown group to rival all those Brits, made them into teen idols (see ‘ So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star’).
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Their first two albums hit #6 and #17 respectively, spurred by their two #1 hits and a series of lesser hits (especially ‘ All I Really Want to Do’). But by the time their first studio session was scheduled, they hadn’t yet mastered their instruments, so The Wrecking Crew was brought in to lay down the instrumentals together with McGuinn, who did do the vocals together with Clark and Crosby. They liked the direction, so they bought electric guitars (including a 12-string Rickenbacker for McGuinn), added a Brian Jones lookalike drummer (Mike Clarke) and an ex-bluegrass mandolinist as bassist (Chris Hillman), and started rehearsing.Ĭolumbia signed them, and their management got them a tape of a new, unreleased Dylan song. In LA in 1964, three bona fide folk musicians – Jim (later Roger) McGuinn, Gene Clark and Dave Crosby – formed The Jet Set, playing acoustic Beatle covers alongside the droning olde Irish ballads. The Beatles were at the apex of their initial mania period (“Help” July 1965), the British invasion had captured AM radio. So circa 1965, the folk scene was just beginning to lose steam.
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