I can’t remember if I’ve posted this here before or not.
In any case, this is pretty good (even if it is long). The Byrds is (are?) the band that first got me interested in music that wasn’t liturgical. And Chris Hillman plays all of the instruments I can play.
Actually, as he mentions, he wrote “So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star,” which is the song that made me want to get a guitar because at 16 I did not realise that the song was satirical.
— “Pretty Boy Floyd” - The Byrds, Sweetheart of the Rodeo
It seems every 6 February, something musical happens to me.
It started coincidentally. On 6 Feb. 2009, I learned to play my first song on the guitar (Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin”). I had wanted to play guitar because of the Byrds’ “So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star,” not realising that it was satirical. Incidentally, the album on which that appeared was released on 6 February 1967, and it was named “Younger than Yesterday” - a phrase taken from Dylan’s “My Back Pages,” which the Byrds covered on that album.
In 2010, I was at a quiz bowl competition, and since I was the only varsity player present, I was the captain of the team. So my friend drew me a “Cap’n Dave!” logo, which I later took to be my moniker for when I write songs and such.
This year I’m done with the coincidences; I’m making things happen.
For a few months, I’ve been planning this. I cut out “¡Sapiano!” in paper letters, and taped it to my guitar. I based this off Chris White (of the Zombies, my favourite band), as seen in this picture.
I realise now that it says “This is a piano,” but in my excitement when I first found these pictures, I misread it as “¡Sapiano!” So… yeah.
— Chris Hillman, The Byrds - “Time Between”
— David Crosby, of the Byrds, 1966
Commentary on fifty-year old music, pictures from the archives of historical societies, grammatical intricacies... and other stuff.
