While McGuinn was the mainstay through these changes, Gene Clark was the first to leave, and by the Byrds's fourth album, Younger Than Yesterday, Chris Hillman had suddenly emerged as a songwriter and singer. The story goes that Crosby was expelled by McGuinn and Hillman after making a political speech about the Warren Commission during a performance at the Monterey Pop Festival.

Another young veteran-cum-legend was to join the Byrds in the person of Gram Parsons, who, along with the emergent Hillman, was to point the Byrds in the direction of country music. The Byrds were eventually to develop the genre of country rock as they had invented folk rock years before, all under the leadership of McGuinn.

Hillman and Parsons left to form the Flying Burrito Brothers, but Parsons was to die of a drug overdose in late 1973. Some have said that Parsons was at heart a sensitive country boy for whom the pressures of fame simply proved too much.

Like Parsons and White, the other two deceased Byrds have since passed into the realm of legend. Both Michael Clarke and Gene Clark died tragically and young in the early 90s, after intense battles with substance abuse. It is hard not to speculate that the pain and melancholy one hears in the voice and songs of Gene Clark finally caught up with him. Some believe he was not well handled by producers, who failed to promote his various post-Byrds projects. Clark died a tremendously under-recognized talent, though he is now gaining a fiercely devoted cult following on the Internet. It's said that his own songwriting in turn had an influence on those - like Bob Dylan and the Beatles - who had originally influenced him.

Happily, today McGuinn and Hillman are enjoying life and digging into their respective roots. Ever the innovator, McGuinn has a website where he presents and markets traditional folk music in an effort to keep it alive for future generations. He also tours both as a solo act and with other celebrated folk artists, such as Judy Collins. He was recently nominated for a Grammy for a self-produced CD, Treasures from the Folk Den, which is available through his website.

David Crosby, thankfully, has survived his own trials with substance abuse and is now a member of the super group Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and sometimes Young).