Pop Quiz: The Byrds

Pop Quiz: The Byrds

Aidin Vaziri | The best box set of the year? That's easy. The Byrds' "There Is a Season," a four-disc run through the archives of the California band's prime material, covering everything from the jingle-jangle Dylan covers ("Mr. Tambourine Man") and shimmering psychedelic rock classics ("Eight Miles High") to the songs that set off the whole cosmic country-rock movement (everything from "Sweetheart of the Rodeo"). Without them, there would have been no R.E.M., Wilco or, ahem, Eagles. The Byrds' original bass player, Chris Hillman, served as our tour guide through the package, which also comes with a DVD of vintage television appearances.

Chris Hillman of The Byrds
Q: The record company spared no expense on this box set. It even smells good.
A: I've probably rarely said this in 44 years, but they did a great job. It brings back the good memories, not the bad ones.
Q: So you're not going to use this an excuse to dump on your former bandmates?
A: No, I don't wish to waste energy on things that happened 20 or 30 years ago. We got to enjoy what I consider the very best part of the '60s. I was just the bass player.
Q: Just the bass player of one of the most influential American bands in the past million years.
A: The Byrds, as great as they were, my better work was with the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Desert Rose Band, which you probably don't know. But even if I cured cancer tomorrow I would be known as an ex-Byrd.
Q: And the least famous one at that.