Background
Shortly after the release of their Fifth Dimension album, The Byrds found themselves without a record producer when Allen Stanton, who had worked with them on Fifth Dimension, left Columbia Records to work for A&M. The band chose to replace Stanton with Gary Usher, a former songwriting partner of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, who had recently co-produced ex-Byrd Gene Clark's debut solo album, Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers. In addition to producing Younger Than Yesterday, Usher would produce the band's next two albums as well. The Byrds biographer Johnny Rogan has noted that Usher's wealth of production experience and love of innovative studio experimentation would prove invaluable as the group entered their most creatively adventurous phase.
The entire Younger Than Yesterday album was completed during a work-intensive, eleven-day period, starting on November 28 and finishing on December 8, 1966. The original working title for the LP was Sanctuary, but ultimately this was dropped in favor of a title inspired by the chorus lyrics of the album's Bob Dylan cover, "My Back Pages":
- Ah, but I was so much older then,
- I'm younger than that now.
Younger Than Yesterday was the first album to be entirely recorded by The Byrds without the participation of original member and principal songwriter Gene Clark. As on the band's previous album, guitarists Jim McGuinn and David Crosby continued to hone their songwriting skills in an attempt to fill the void left by Clark, while Michael Clarke continued to mature into a competent and, at times, impressive drummer. However, the most surprising development within The Byrds at this time was the emergence of bass player Chris Hillman as the band's third songwriter. On the Fifth Dimension album, Hillman's only writing contribution had been a shared credit for the instrumental "Captain Soul", but on Younger Than Yesterday he is credited as the sole songwriter of four tracks, as well as the co-writer of "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star".
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