Here’s wishing a very Happy 80th Birthday to founding Byrds bassist Chris Hillman, who was born on December 4, 1944.
In addition to being an original member of the influential folk-rock band, Hillman also co-founded a number of other noteworthy groups, including country-rock pioneers The Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas, The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, and The Desert Rose Band.
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Before becoming a member of The Byrds in 1964, Hillman was an accomplished bluegrass musician who was an excellent mandolin player and a solid guitarist. He’d never played bass until he was asked to join the band, but thanks to his musical ability, he quickly became skilled at the instrument.
Hillman also was a strong singer who provided harmonies, and occasional lead vocals, to many memorable Byrds tunes.
By The Byrds’ fourth studio album, Younger than Yesterday, Hillman had begun making significant songwriting contributions to the band. From then on, Chris continued to write or co-write tunes for his various music projects.
In 1991, Hillman was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Byrds.
In honor of his 80th birthday, here are four noteworthy tunes composed or co-written by Hillman:
“So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” – The Byrds (1967)
“So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” was the lead single released from Younger than Yesterday. Released as a single in January 1967, the song peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Hillman co-wrote “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” with Byrds singer/guitarist Jim “Roger” McGuinn. As Chris explained in his 2020 memoir, Time Between, the song’s opening riff and first verse came to him after he and Byrds bandmate David Crosby worked on sessions for a South African jazz singer named Letta Mbulu that were produced by lauded South African trumpet player Hugh Masekela.
“So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” was one of several songs Hillman was inspired to write or co-write after working with Masekela. He noted that McGuinn then came up with a bridge that was inspired by a song he heard by another South African artist, Miriam Makeba. The bandmates incorporated some Latin and jazz influences into the tune, and asked Masekela to play trumpet on the track.
Lyrically, Hillman explained, the song was a lighthearted critique of “the cynical nature of the entertainment business.”
“Have You Seen Her Face” – The Byrds (1967)
“Have You Seen Her Face” also was featured on the Younger than Yesterday album. The song was the first solely written by Hillman for The Byrds. It was released as the album’s third single in May 1967, and reached No. 74 on the Hot 100.
The tune also was one of the songs Chris was inspired to write after the aforementioned recording session with Masekela. Cecil Barnard, a member of Masekela’s band, played piano on the track.
“Have You Seen Her Face” is a catchy pop-rock gem with lyrics focused on a beautiful and perhaps unattainable woman.
“Sin City” – The Flying Burrito Brothers (1969)
Hillman formed The Flying Burrito Brothers with singer/songwriter/guitarist Gram Parsons in late 1968 after leaving The Byrds. Parsons, a country-music aficionado, had joined the Byrds lineup in early 1968, and was a key contributor to the group’s influential country-rock album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Parsons quit the band that summer, though, when he opposed The Byrds’ planned tour of South Africa.
“Sin City” was a song co-written by Hillman and Parsons that appeared on The Flying Burrito Brothers’ 1969 debut album, The Gilded Place of Sin.
The twangy country tune takes a look at the evils that await many who try to succeed in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. In a 2007 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Hillman explained that some of the lyrics were inspired by the nefarious actions of The Byrds’ manager, Larry Spector, surrounding the implosion of the group’s core lineup.
“Spector was a thief, it was as simple as that,” Hillman said. “And his condo, he lived on the 31st floor behind this awful, garish gold door.”
“Sin City” features the following verse: “This old earthquake’s gonna leave me in the poor house / It seems like this whole town’s insane / On the 31st floor a gold plated door / Won’t keep out the Lord’s burning rain.”
“I Still Believe in You” – The Desert Rose Band (1988)
Hillman formed the country act The Desert Rose Band in 1985 with Herb Pedersen and John Jorgenson. From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, the group released a series of hit country singles.
“I Still Believe in You” was among the many songs Hillman co-wrote for the band with songwriter Steve Hill. The sensitive love ballad appeared on The Desert Rose Band’s second album, Running.
The tune went on to top Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart for one week in March 1989.