"If you are a fan of music at all, you realize that there are many challenges for musicians to achieve any sort of real success. This case was unusual, as normally the name of the band wouldn’t come into question; however, it truly was a case of bad timing."
Band Members:
Ali McKenzie—Vocals, Harmonica
Ronnie Wood—Lead Guitar, Vocals
Tony Monroe—Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Kim Gardner—Bass, Vocals
Bob Langham—Drums (1964)
Pete McDaniels—Drums (1964-66)
The band began in the Yiewsley neighborhood of West London in 1964 as the Thunderbirds. As they grew in popularity, they found themselves on the same bill as Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds, prompting them to shorten their name.
They continued to make a name for themselves with an appearance on the TV show, “Ready, Steady, Go” which attracted the attention of the execs at Decca records. Their first single, the Ronnie Wood penned, “You’re On My Mind” (November 1964) didn’t make a stir on the charts, however the Eddie Holland cover, “Leaving Here” (April 1965) made it to #45 on the UK charts.
It looked as if the band was really beginning to pick up steam when a group from California headed to the UK for a tour that would spell the beginning of the end for The Birds. In the spring of 1965, The Byrds had their first big hit with Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” It was a massive seller not only in the States but in the UK as well. The band wanted to capitalize on this and planned a tour of Britain.
The manager for “The Birds” filed a lawsuit to try to get them to change their name as it was becoming a point of confusion with fans and record stores. Unfortunately, since the names were spelled different, there really wasn’t a case to be had. While it might seem odd that this would be an issue, I found in researching this story that people still want to spell “Byrds” as “Birds,” so evidently, I was incorrect in my assumption.
Ironically, the third single with Decca, released in October 1965 should have been the one to have broken them wide open. Starting out with a Ron Wood opening that easily reminds you of The Who, “No Good Without You Baby” is a crackin’ good song which deserved to be a hit.
An almost year long layoff between releases and a misguided attempt at a name change to “The Birds Birds” finished off the band. Kim Gardner (1948-2001) left to join Tony Ashton and Roy Dyke, and as Ashton, Gardner and Dyke had a #3 hit in the UK (#39 in the states) with “The Resurrection Shuffle”. Ron Wood would later join Faces and then in 1976, The Rolling Stones, where is still is today.
Informative as always....I always want to spell it Byrd's too!