 With Parsons gone from the band and their tour of South Africa due to begin in two days time , the Byrds were forced to draft in their roadie Carlos Bernal as a substitute rhythm guitar player . The ensuing South African tour was a disaster , with the band finding themselves having to play to segregated audiences — something that they had been assured by promoters they would not have to do . The under @-@ rehearsed band gave ramshackle performances to audiences that were largely unimpressed with their lack of professionalism and their antagonistic , anti @-@ apartheid stance . The Byrds left South Africa amid a storm of bad publicity and death threats , while the liberal press in the U.S. and the UK attacked the band for undertaking the tour and questioned their political integrity . McGuinn attempted to counter this criticism by asserting that the tour of South Africa had , in some small way , been an attempt to challenge the country 's political status quo and protest against apartheid . 
