Sunday Morning Coming Down with The Birds

A key distinction here – this is The Birds. Don’t confuse them with The Byrds, as all of the UK and North America did when this band released No Good Without You in 1965.

The story of this band is that they had maybe the worst luck of any Mod group of the 60’s. They were called The Thunderbirds, and built up a significant following in London, earning regular opening spots for The Yardbirds, The Kinks and The Who. But, the band was forced to change their name due to a copyright dispute from the name Thunderbirds… They chose The Birds.

Across the pond, at exactly the same time, a band from LA called The Byrds released Mr. Tambourine Man, and it was all over for The Birds. They were instantly, not the Byrds, and couldn’t get any record stores to order their albums.

They gave it another try, releasing an album under the name The Birds Birds, but it was to no avail… members left the group for other opportunities, most notably Ronnie Wood – who  moved through The Faces (w/ Rod Stewart), and The Jeff Beck Group, before ending up in the biggest band from the Mod movement The Birds help start – The Rolling Stones.

Here’s a taste of what could have been – maximum R&B.

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