Disappearing Autographs: The Byrds

     On March 12th I blogged about how storing cash in our safe led to the worthlessness of $1,600.   Losing that much cash was certainly a blow, but to me, a bigger loss was the deterioration of the prized autographs that I had gotten in my youth.  The earliest of those autographs, came from members of The Byrds, one of my all time favorite musical groups.

    I had been an early fan of Bob Dylan, and in sometime in 1965, I started hearing some of Dylan’s songs recorded by The Byrds.  I was immediately captured by the folk rock sound that The Byrds created with their jangling electric 12-string guitar, and their beautiful vocal harmonies. 

    I think it must have been in 1966 that The Byrds played a concert at the outdoor Mesker Amphitheatre in my home town of Evansville, Indiana.  I sat through the opening band, but then walked down to the fence that blocked the stage.  As I stood there by the gate, a guy came out to get some soft drinks for the band and asked me if I wanted to get in to the stage, which I did.  He let me help carry some of the drinks in for the band. 

    Once inside, I got to meet some of the Byrds, and got the autographs of  Mike Clarke, drummer and vocalist, and David Crosby, rhythm guitar and vocalist. (Photo of autographs above)   I had always loved David Crosby’s high harmonies.   I also got the autograph of Chis Hillman, who played the bass for the Byrds. (Photo below).  

    Getting to meet and get the autographs of some of The Byrds, did have one big drawback:  Because I was back stage, I didn’t get to see them perform.  I heard them playing, but it certainly would have been nice to see them do it.

    Both Crosby and Hillman went on to became very well known for their musical talents later in life.  After leaving The Byrds, David Crosby became a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and Chris Hillman formed the Flying Burrito Brothers Band-- All music that I love.

    I prized these autographs, but early on I made a tragic mistake in an attempt to protect those valued autographs.  I put adhesive plastic on the top of them thinking that would protect them, but over time it did just the opposite, and caused the signatures to deteriorate.  Then later, when I put them into our safe thinking that would keep them safe, the moisture in the safe destroyed them to the point where it is now difficult to make the signatures out.

    Tomorrow, I will blog about more deteriorating autographs.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca