Today in Music (1966): The Byrds “Eight Miles High” released

Eight Miles High The Byrds

Writer(s): Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark (see lyrics here) Released: March 14, 1966 First Charted: April 2, 1966 Peak: 14 BB, 12 CB, 13 GR, 15 HR, 2 CL, 24 UK, 4 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 9.70 video, 32.58 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Byrds formed in 1964 in Los Angeles. Their 1965 cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” got the group “lauded as the harbingers of a whole new genre – folk-rock.” LW With 1966’s “Eight Miles High” they were celebrated for another song “that was also heralded as a groundbreaking event.” LW It is considered “a classic of the counterculture era” WK and “one of the masterpieces of the psychedelic era,” TC even being held up by many critics as “the first bona fide psychedelic rock song.” WK Band member Roger McGuinn said “this nugget of proto-psychedia” DT was not about drugs, as everyone assumed, “but in the ‘60s, anything with abstract imagery was automatically considered a psychedelic song.” SJ It was about the band’s impressions of touring in England. He said, “it’s about the altitude of the airplane – eight miles high – and when you land over there, when you touch down, you find culture shock.” SJ The protests didn’t keep radio from banning it for what regarded as “perceived drug connotations in its lyrics.” WK Band members Gene Clark and David Crosby would admit later that the song “was at least partially inspired by their drug use” WK and McGuinn would acknowledge that “high” had a double meaning. SS In addition, “the Byrds’ harmonies were never more ghostly and uplifting,” SS which enhanced the psychedelic effect of the song. “The amazing guitar solo is McGuinn playing live – and alone!” SJ He said, “There’s no overdubs on that; it’s one straightforward guitar part on a twelve-string. The reason it sounds like that is because I was influenced by John Coltrane,” SJ specifically his song “India.” It was McGuinn’s attempt to replicate “the saxophonist’s repetitive line in that song.” SS Music historian Steve Sullivan said McGuinn’s work here was “no doubt in turn also inspiring an up-and-coming virtuoso named Jim Hendrix.” SS Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Byrds TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 117-8. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 126. SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Brothers, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 239. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 404. DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 144. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 4/24/2024.