Credit: Far Out / Raph_PH
Sun 6 September 2026 23:00, UK
Even Neil Young, who spent the best part of his career engaged in a bitter feud with his fellow songwriter, surely must admit that the landscape of American songwriting was forever changed by the contributions of one David Crosby.
An icon of the hippie age and an enduring pioneer of the famed ‘California sound’, without whom the realms of folk rock and psychedelia would be unrecognisable, Crosby’s legacy is pretty difficult to ignore. Ultimately, all of the musical innovations, intense conflicts, internal turmoil, and songwriting mastery that illustrated Crosby’s illustrious career began back in 1966, with an often-overlooked B-side and the beginning of the ‘flower power’ years.
After a number of failed gigs, non-starters and a college drama course that he dropped out of, Crosby formed The Byrds in 1964, not knowing that they would soon become essential in formulating the sound of America’s largest youth counterculture movement. Aside from providing rhythm guitar and vocals to the band, though, Crosby spent the early part of The Byrds’ existence staying away from songwriting, save for one joint effort on the band’s second record.
It wasn’t until their third album, Fifth Dimension, in fact, that Crosby began chasing writing credits in his own right. His inaugural effort for the band was the masterful ‘What’s Happening?!?!’.
A gorgeous slice of folk-rock with the kind of psychedelic tinge that would soon become his trademark, the song is an incredible debut effort, and it doesn’t take much of a stretch to connect its sound with the future of alternative rock and groups that existed decades down the line from The Byrds.
Such was the quality of the band’s output during that time that ‘What’s Happening?!?!’ wasn’t considered a stand-out from the 1966 album upon its release. Three singles were released in support of the LP, and the David Crosby effort had to resign itself to being the B-side of Jim McGuinn’s sci-fi acid trip in ‘Mr Spaceman’.
Nevertheless, the importance of the song prevails. That single, after all, managed to reach 36 in the US singles charts upon its release, and it is difficult to imagine famously frugal hippies forking out for a seven-inch only to listen to the A-side.
Further reading: From The Vault
You don’t need to be a studied musicologist to recognise the sonic impact of that 1966 track, both on the future of The Byrds and the future of alternative music more broadly. Perhaps more importantly, though, the song began David Crosby’s songwriting career as it was meant to carry on. A multitude of further tracks followed in the wake of that third album, each striving for a comparable degree of artistic innovation and originality.
Arguably, therefore, ‘What’s Happening?!?!’ was among the most important songs in David Crosby’s repertoire. It was, after all, the song that started it all, from The Byrds to Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and all the various side projects, solo efforts, and collaborations on which he features in the songwriting credits. Not only was the song an anthem of the counterculture years, but it changed the landscape of American rock forevermore – a bold feat for a lowly B-side.
