So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-by-Day, 1965-1973 [Paperback]

Christopher Hjort (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher Hjort is a rock historian who combines a love for popular music with an interest in typography and graphic design. In 2000, together with noted American researcher Doug Hinman, he published an acclaimed chronology of Jeff Beck's career, Jeff's Book. In 2007 Hjort wrote the acclaimed Strange Brew: Eric Clapton and The British Blues Boom 1965-1970.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Jawbone Press (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906002150
• ISBN-13: 978-1906002152
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #379,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Hjort (born 1958) is a rock researcher and historian who combines a love for popular music with an interest in typography and graphic design. Hjort has also worked as a semi-professional guitarist, and toured and recorded two albums with Norway's first cajun and zydeco group, Bygg Band. The group's second album was recorded in Crawley, Louisiana, in 1984, together with cajun and zydeco legends Link Davis Jr. (sax), Michael Doucet (fiddle), and Cleveland Chenier (rub board). Hjort lives in Oslo, Norway, where he collects literature on popular music and guitars and works as a communication advisor. In 2009, his book on "So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day, 1965-1973" was awarded a Certificates of Merit for the 2009 Association For Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence In Historical Recorded Sound Research.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading!, October 22, 2008

By 

Philip Graham (Urbana, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-by-Day, 1965-1973 (Paperback)

As the third reviewer of this book, I appear to be the first person to actually have read it--or at least large sections of it. And I'll be rereading it, too.

This book is amazing, and surpasses all my expectations. It goes FAR beyond the Rogan book on the Byrds, which is its own first-rate exploration of the subject. But this book . . .

It has so much material that hasn't appeared in print together before. It really is a day by day account, describing concert performances, recording sessions (I didn't know that Gene Clark was the co-writer of the song "Get to You" from The Notorious Byrd Brothers, not Chris Hillman, but there it is, in McGuinn's own words), contemporaneous reviews of the singles releases, the albums. ETc, etc.

And there are so many photos, images of posters advertising concerts, and on and on. This is about as comprehensive as you can get, a dream of a book for a Byrds fan. I was stunned to see reviews of a concert I'd attended at Carnegie Hall in New York, when the Byrds and the Gram Parson/Chris Hillman Burrito Brothers shared the bill and later jammed together; or the concert at the Fillmore East where the band introduced (Untitled).

This is a treasure trove for the fanatic. Yes, I know, that's what I am. I demand that amazon institute a new 6 star rating system, so I can give this book one extra star.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine tribute to a great band, November 4, 2008

By 

Mr. John L. Ward "John Ward Byrd Brain" (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-by-Day, 1965-1973 (Paperback)

This is a 336 page, superbly documented chronicle and includes many photographs that I had never seen before. Up to now, the greatest authority on The Byrds has been Johnny Rogan's 'Timeless Flight Revisited', which I've heard, is going to reappear at some point in a vastly expanded fourth edition. Of course, Rogan's book remains unmatched for analysis and insight. But for contemporary press reports, very many long lost interviews, posters, set lists, recording sessions and a wealth of information you didn't know before, Christopher Hjort's volume is the real deal. But beware - you'll find it dangerously engaging!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy treasury, highly recommended for fans for the Byrds, December 9, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-by-Day, 1965-1973 (Paperback)

So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star is a thorough account of the rock group The Byrds, which chronicles the band's life and music, from their worldwide hit "Mr. Tambourine Man" in 1965 to their final concert in 1973. A text-heavy account interspersed with occasional black-and-white period photographs (and print memorabilia!), So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star draws upon eyewitness accounts, press reports, concert reviews, set lists, tour dates, gig locations, record releases, reviews and more to put together its day-to-day narrative. A worthy treasury, highly recommended for fans for the Byrds.