In his excellent The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, And the Southern California Experience, the late author and Billboard publisher Timothy White quotes McGuinn as conceding Melcher's production contributions: Melcher brought "that creamy California sound that he superimposed on the rough-edged folk-rock sound that we were doing, and I think...it gave a luster to it that it wouldn't have had."

After four years, Melcher and the Byrds reconciled in '69 for Ballad of Easy Rider, by which time the Byrds had pioneered country-rock. By Ballad, McGuinn was the only original Byrd remaining and the three-and-four part harmony of the early sound had largely been replaced by solo vocal leads from McGuinn, bassist John York, and tasty country-rocking lead guitarist Clarence White. The title track is a bluegrassy McGuinn great. "Jesus Is Just Alright" is the original gospel-rock recording of an arrangement the Doobie Brothers had a hit with three years later.

(Untitled) is better still. A double-album set, record one is a live recording of spiky, rock arrangements of Byrds standards including "Lover Of the Bayou," "Mr. Tambourine Man," and 16 freaky minutes of "Eight Miles High." The studio disc contains some great country-rock moments: McGuinn's "All the Things," "Take a Whiff (On Me)," and especially his poignant sagebrush ode to a wild horse, "Chestnut Mare."

Richier Unterberger's Turn! Turn! Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock Revolution also has a very fine chapter on the Byrds.