"So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman and included on their 1967 album, Younger Than Yesterday. The song was released as a single on January 9, 1967 (see 1967 in music) and reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The song was inspired by the hype surrounding the creation of The Monkees, whose television series had recently debuted in America and had launched the pre-fabricated band to international fame. The manufactured nature of the group caused Hillman and McGuinn to look upon the current state of the pop world with more than a little cynicism.

Background and content

Musically, one of the song's main hooks is provided by McGuinn's striking 12-string Rickenbacker guitar riff, while Hillman's driving bass-line forms the core of the song. Hillman has stated that he composed the song's bass guitar part during a recording session for South African musician Hugh Masekela. The song also features the trumpet playing of Masekela, which represents the first use of brass on a Byrds recording. In addition, "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" features the sound of hysterical teenage pop fans screaming. These screams were recorded at an August 15, 1965 Byrds' concert in Bournemouth by the band's publicist, Derek Taylor, at McGuinn's request.

The Byrds /ˈbɜːrdz/ were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole consistent member, until the group disbanded in 1973. Although they only managed to attain the huge commercial success of contemporaries like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones for a short period (1965–66), the Byrds are today considered by critics to be one of the most influential bands of the 1960s. Initially, they pioneered the musical genre of folk rock, melding the influence of the Beatles and other British Invasion bands with contemporary and traditional folk music. As the 1960s progressed, the band was also influential in originating psychedelic rock, raga rock, and country rock.

The band's signature blend of clear harmony singing and McGuinn's jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar has continued to be influential on popular music up to the present day. Among the band's most enduring songs are their cover versions of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)", along with the self-penned originals, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "Eight Miles High", "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star", "Ballad of Easy Rider" and "Chestnut Mare".

The Byrds is a four-CD box set by the American rock band The Byrds that was released on October 19, 1990 by Columbia/Legacy. The compilation comprises 90 tracks and covers the band's career from 1965 to 1971 (a period when they were signed to Columbia Records) in roughly chronological order, but excludes material from their 1973 reunion album Byrds, which was released on Asylum Records. The box set also includes six songs performed by a reunited line-up of The Byrds, featuring original members Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, and Chris Hillman. Of these six songs, two were recorded live at the Roy Orbison Tribute Concert on February 24, 1990 and four are new studio recordings dating from August 1990. The two other original members of The Byrds, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke, who were both still living in 1990, did not participate in the reunion.

At the time of its release, The Byrds was the first box set by a defunct rock act to be issued by Columbia Records. The compilation includes a number of rare and previously unreleased songs, many of which were later included as bonus tracks on the remastered editions of the band's individual albums. Of special interest to fans of both The Byrds and country rock pioneer Gram Parsons, was the inclusion of six previously unreleased tracks from the recording sessions of The Byrds' 1968 album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Of these unreleased tracks, the versions of "The Christian Life", "You Don't Miss Your Water", and "One Hundred Years from Now" featured their original Parsons' lead vocals, which had been removed and replaced by McGuinn and Hillman prior to the release of the album. In the years since Sweetheart of the Rodeo was issued, these "lost" Parsons' vocals had become near-legendary among fans of the band and their inclusion on The Byrds provided a major selling point for the box set.

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The term was also the name of several eponymous albums:

See also