 However , the tour did enable the band to meet and socialize with a number of top English groups , including the Rolling Stones and the Beatles . In particular , the band 's relationship with the Beatles would prove important for both acts , with the two groups again meeting in Los Angeles some weeks later , upon the Byrds ' return to America . During this period of fraternization , the Beatles were vocal in their support of the Byrds , publicly acknowledging them as creative competitors and naming them as their favorite American group . A number of authors , including Ian MacDonald , Richie Unterberger , and Bud Scoppa , have noted the Byrds influence on the Beatles ' late 1965 album Rubber Soul , most notably on the songs " Nowhere Man " and " If I Needed Someone " , the latter of which utilizes a guitar riff similar to that in the Byrds ' cover of " The Bells of Rhymney " . 
