![]() Managers, particularly of English bands, liked to start tours at the Fillmore East because a good review in Billboard could go a long way towards creating interest in their group amongst booking agents and promoters. One of the weekend performances in Fillmore East was always reviewed in each week's Billboard, so that meant that all three bands on the bill got National exposure. Billboard was the leading music industry trade journal, and in many ways the only source of information about bands on tour. The review in Billboard magazine was a crucial element of Fillmore East's importance. According to the June 1 Billboard review (quoted in Christopher Hjort's fine Byrds chronology So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star), however, the Byrds country material was quite well received by the audience. The country sounds of the Gram Parsons-era Byrds would have been completely unprecedented to a New York Fillmore East audience, as Gram Parsons was crucial in legitimizing the concept of country rock (although he himself did not like the term). ![]() The Byrds had just finished recording Sweetheart of The Rodeo, although that album would not be released until August. The May 1968 lineup of The Byrds featured Roger McGuinn, Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman and Kevin Kelley, and banjoist Doug Dillard (Dillard was not actually a member of the group, just an additional musician). The Byrds current album at this time was Notorious Byrd Brothers (Columbia Jan 68), but the band had already moved on. By 1968, however, while still popular, The Byrds had been through numerous personal and musical changes, and were not as highly ranked in the firmament as before. They had even played the venue in its previous incarnation, The Village Theater (on July 22, 1967, supported by The Seeds and Vanilla Fudge). The Byrds had been major rock stars since 1965. May 17-18, 1968 The Byrds/Tim Buckley/The Foundations (this post is part of a series cataloging every performance at The Fillmore East)
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