‘We could make really good music together’: Two Byrds want a reunion; Roger McGuinn does not

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The Byrds are still broken up, and Roger McGuinn — a confirmed solo artist — is apparently still fine with that. The same can’t be said for former bandmate David Crosby. In a way, though, Chris Hillman says he understands.

“I mean, hell, sometimes you’ve got old war wounds that have healed but fester again if opened,” the ex-Byrds bassist tells Goldmine. “Some of that stuff should be kept locked up. Maybe a short reunion, just a few shows, because it’s such great music. Part of me, truth be told, really wants to. Another part of me totally gets McGuinn’s logic. Hey, Roger is happy doing what he’s doing. His show is basically the Byrds, anyway.”

Reduced now to a trio after the deaths of Gene Clark and Michael Clarke, the Byrds last got together in 2000. Before that, the original lineup hadn’t played together since 1991, as the Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “Roger doesn’t want to be in a band,” Crosby tells Guitar World. “He wants to be folkie and work by himself, and that’s frustrating to me and Chris, because we know we could make really good music together. There’s not even a question.”

Crosby has even agreed to work simply as a sideman, only to be rebuffed. That leaves Crosby and Hillman to their own small-scale get togethers. “I have a very good relationship with Chris Hillman,” Crosby adds. “He lives not too far me, so we have dinner together sometimes. I’ll go out to hear him and Herb Pedersen play country music, because they are the real deal.”

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