Turn! Turn! Turn! by The Byrds

Turn! Turn! Turn! is the second album by the folk rock band the Byrds and was released in December 1965 on Columbia Records (see 1965 in music). Like its predecessor, Mr. Tambourine Man, the album epitomized the folk rock genre and continued the band's successful mix of vocal harmony and jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar. The album's lead single and title track, "Turn! Turn! Turn!", was a Pete Seeger adaptation of text from the Book of Ecclesiastes that had previously been arranged in a chamber-folk style by the band's lead guitarist Jim McGuinn, while working with folksinger Judy Collins. The arrangement that McGuinn used for the Byrds' version utilized the same folk rock style as the band's previous hit singles.The album peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and went to number 11 in the United Kingdom. The "Turn! Turn! Turn!" single preceded the album by two months and topped the chart in the United States. Another single taken from the album, "Set You Free This Time", was less successful and failed to break into the U.S. Top 50.The album marked an increase in McGuinn's songwriting output and rhythm guitarist David Crosby received his first writing credit on a Byrds' album. However, the band's prolific songwriter Gene Clark still contributed most of the original material. The album also included two Bob Dylan covers: "The Times They Are a-Changin'" and the then unreleased song, "Lay Down Your Weary Tune". Turn! Turn! Turn! would be the last Byrds' album to feature the full participation of Gene Clark until the release of the original quintet's 1973 reunion album, Byrds.