‘Psychotic Reaction’ writer

John Byrne, 61, a rock ‘n’ roll musician who wrote and sang “Psychotic Reaction,” the only hit of the San Jose garage band Count Five, died Dec. 15 of kidney and liver failure at the Regional Medical Center of San Jose, his daughter Tina said.

“Psychotic Reaction,” with its distinctive fuzz guitar and harmonica riff echoing the sound of the Yardbirds, reached No. 5 on the Billboard charts in 1966. It has been immortalized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of 500 songs that shaped rock music.

Byrne, who was born Nov. 16, 1947, in Dublin, immigrated to the United States at age 14, joining an older brother living in San Jose.

Count Five (sometimes referred to as Count V) was formed in 1964 in San Jose. Byrne, who played rhythm guitar and sang, joined lead guitarist John Michalski, bassist Roy Chaney, drummer Craig Atkinson and Ken Ellner, who also sang and played the harmonica.

The band released its debut album, also called “Psychotic Reaction,” in 1966. A few singles followed, but the group never repeated the singular success of “Psychotic Reaction.”

Byrne returned to his studies at San Jose State University and became an accountant, later working as a manager of a Montgomery Ward store in Northern California. But he never quit playing music, his daughter said.

“Maybe I made some mistakes,” Byrne told the San Jose Mercury News in 2002 when the band had a revival. “I was determined to get through college. Maybe I was wrong, but I’m glad I’m an educated man. At least when people talk to me, they know I’m not an idiot.”