The Byrds

Of the most important rock 'n' roll artists of the 1960s, The Byrds are possibly the most poorly served by history. They're justly lauded as the pioneers of folk-rock, pretty much inventing the entire genre with their hit electric recasting of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man." During their heyday, they directly influenced everyone from The Beatles on down, and generations of rockers since have copied Roger McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker sound and David Crosby's harmonies. (Tom Petty, Big Star and Robyn Hitchcock are among the most obvious devotees; R.E.M. got their oft-cited "Byrdsian jangle" through those second-generation Byrds fans.) And with the John Coltrane-inspired 1966 single "Eight Miles High," they helped cement both psychedelia and jazz-rock as viable commercial forms. And yet, most modern rock critics seem to have selected only Sweethearts of the Rodeo -- an atypical country-rock collection made by a short-lived version of the band featuring doomed singer-songwriter Gram Parsons that sounds little like anything they did before or after -- as a classic album, otherwise relegating the group to second-rank "singles band" status. In reality, the group's entire string of releases from 1965's Mr. Tambourine Man to 1970's (Untitled) are among the finest LPs of their era, and even their last two Columbia albums, Byrdmaniax and Farther Along, aren't nearly as bad as their reputations suggest. From Gene Clark's underrated songwriting to Clarence White's bluegrass-inspired guitar work, each iteration of The Byrds has its merits. However, all of their reunion attempts were terrible.