The Byrds - Chestnut Mare (1971)

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 20:02:22 +0000

The Byrds were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. They fused traditional acoustic folk with electric rock sounds and pioneered the genre "folk rock". The bands signature sound was the harmony singing of Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark and Chris Hillman. McGuinn, who is the only remaning consist member of the band, also played his jangly 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and influenced pop music up to the present day. Their biggest hit was a cover version of the Bob Dylan song "Mr. Tambourine Man", peaked at number 1 on the Billboard chart in 1965.

The song "Chestnut Mare" was original planned for a country rock musical named "Gene Tryp". The musical was never staged and the song was instead released in September 1970 as part of The Byrds' (Untitled) album. They performed the song live at a Beat Club concert on May, 22nd 1971.