Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde

Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde

Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde is the seventh album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in March 1969 on Columbia Records (see 1969 in music). The album saw the band juxtaposing simple country rock material with harder-edged psychedelia, giving the album a stylistic split-personality that was alluded to in its title. The album was the first to feature the new band line-up of Clarence White (guitar), Gene Parsons (drums), John York (bass), and founding member Roger McGuinn (guitar). Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde is unique within the band's discography for being the only album on which McGuinn sings the lead vocal on every track.

The album peaked at #153 on the Billboard Top LPs album chart and reached #15 on the UK Albums Chart. A preceding single, "Bad Night at the Whiskey" (b/w "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man"), was released on January 7, 1969 but it failed to chart in the United States or in the United Kingdom. However, a non-album single recorded shortly after the release of Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde, a cover of Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay", peaked at #132 on the Billboard singles chart. Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde was the lowest charting album of the band's career in the United States, edging out the later Farther Along by one place.