Watch The Byrds Iconic “Turn! Turn! Turn!” on The Ed Sullivan Show

The Byrds made their only performance on The Ed Sullivan Show on December 12^th, 1965, when they played their two biggest hits.

With such enthusiastic applause, it seemed certain that the ensemble would be invited back to perform on the Sullivan stage. However, The Byrds would never play again. During an interview for the 10-part series “The History of Rock N’ Roll,” bassist Chris Hillman admitted why they were never asked to go back to the famous TV show: “We had a problem.  David [Crosby], that devil, got into an argument with the director and we were never asked back.”

Moreover, David Crosby, thinking back on the significance of The Ed Sullivan Show, said: “It was like you could go there and kind of feel that you were part of the crowd, but you had been watching Sullivan since you were a kid and it had tremendous authority.  I don’t know how I got so mad at him and almost blew it, ‘cause I should’ve been very respectful.”

Nevertheless, their sole performance in the show was completely wonderful, with the band singing “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season).” The renowned Pete Seeger wrote this groundbreaking song, and he found inspiration from the words in the Bible.

They took a short pause, and then returned to the stage to play “Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan in front of a spinning psychedelic backdrop and cheering audience. As the final curtain fell, The Byrds performed this Bob-Dylan hit again.

Watch The Byrds perform “Turn! Turn! Turn!” below.