This Byrds Song Was a Hit, but David Crosby Hated It So Much That It Catalyzed His Departure From the Band

What’s a hit with the public isn’t always a hit with the band, and that was certainly true of The Byrds’ 1967 single that broke into the Billboard Hot 100…and almost definitely catalyzed David Crosby’s acrimonious departure from the Los Angeles rock band.

Of course, to put the blame on any one track would also mean ignoring the many, many mini confrontations Crosby had with bandmate Roger McGuinn over the group’s leadership, creative vision, and public identity. Crosby was trying to pull The Byrds one way. McGuinn, another. In the end, “Goin’ Back” was merely the final straw.

And that’s a shame, considering the song itself doesn’t deserve the grief it suffered at the hands of the fracturing band. Originally written by songwriting duo Gerry Goffin and Carole King in 1966, Dusty Springfield recorded a version of it that same year. The Byrds’ follow-up was a worthwhile addition to the canon, peaking at a modest but still notable No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100.

David Crosby Revolted After “Goin’ Back” Beat Out “Triad”

Okay, so maybe revolt is a strong word for what David Crosby actually did. But a lazy revolt is still a pushback nonetheless. When the band made the executive decision to put their cover of “Goin’ Back” on their next album, The Notorious Byrd Brothers, instead of Crosby’s original composition “Triad”, he wasted no time telling the band that he thought it was a mistake. Moreover, it was an offensive one.

“David sat on a couch for three days and didn’t do a thing,” road manager Jim Seiter said of Crosby’s reaction in the album’s liner notes. “‘Goin’ Back’ was in direct competition with ‘Triad’ for a place on the album, and David really wanted to do ‘Triad’.”

McGuinn considered “Triad”, a very-of-the-time number about a threesome, “tasteless.” Crosby thought “Goin’ Back” was unoriginal fluff. With “Triad” voted off the album and Crosby opting out of performing on the Goffin and King cover, tensions had officially reached their breaking point. McGuinn and Chris Hillman drove to Crosby’s house and fired him on the spot.

In the 2018 documentary Echo In The Canyon, Crosby offered the kind of brutally honest take that only hindsight could provide. The Byrds fired him, he argued, “because I was an a**hole. If you give kids millions of dollars, they’ll screw up. We held together for a pretty long time. Bands tend to devolve. They evolve to the point where they’re exciting and new and good. After that, they work their way downhill until it’s, ‘Turn on the smoke machine and play your hits.’”

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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