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"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song by Bob Dylan, released as the first track of the acoustic side of his March 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds released a jangle pop version in April of the same year as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart, as well as being the title track of their debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man. The Byrds' recording of the song was influential in popularizing the musical subgenres of folk rock and jangle pop, leading many contemporary bands to mimic its fusion of jangly guitars and intellectual lyrics in the wake of the single's success.
This song has been performed and recorded by many artists, including Judy Collins, Odetta, Melanie, and William Shatner. The song's popularity led to Dylan recording it live many times, and it has been included in multiple Dylan and Byrds compilation albums. It has been translated into other languages, and has been used or referenced in television shows, films, and books.
The song has a bright, expansive melody and has become famous in particular for its surrealistic imagery, influenced by artists as diverse as French poet Arthur Rimbaud and Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. The lyrics call on the title character to play a song and the narrator will follow. Interpretations of the lyrics have included a paean to drugs such as LSD, a call to the singer's muse, a reflection of the audience's demands on the singer, and religious interpretations. Dylan's song has four verses, of which The Byrds only used the second for their recording. Dylan's and The Byrds' versions have appeared on various lists ranking the greatest songs of all time, including an appearance by both on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 best songs ever. Both versions received Grammy Hall of Fame Awards.
The Byrds' version
Release
The Byrds performing "Mr. Tambourine Man" on The Ed Sullivan Show, December 12, 1965
"Mr. Tambourine Man", recorded in January 1965, was released on April 12, 1965 by Columbia Records as the debut single of the Byrds,[36] and in June 1965 as the title track of the band's debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man.[36] The Byrds' version is abridged and in a different key from Dylan's original.
The single's success initiated the folk rock boom of 1965 and 1966, many acts imitating the band's hybrid of rock beat, jangly guitar, and poetic or socially conscious lyrics.[15][37] The single, the "first folk rock smash hit",[38] gave rise to the very term "folk rock" in the U.S music press to describe the band's sound.[39][40]
This hybrid had its antecedents in the American folk revival of the early 1960s,[41] the Animals's rock-oriented recording of the folk song "The House of the Rising Sun,"[42] the folk-influences present in the songwriting of the Beatles,[43] and the twelve-string guitar jangle of the Searchers, and the Beatles's George Harrison.[44] However, the success of the Byrds' debut created a template for folk rock that proved successful for many acts during the mid-1960s. [15][45]
Conception
Mr. Tambourine Man (1964 demo)
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An excerpt from a 1964 demo recording of "Mr. Tambourine Man" by the Byrds, highlighting Michael Clarke's martial, marching band-style drumming.
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Most of the members of the Byrds had a background in folk music,[38] since Roger McGuinn (then known as Jim McGuinn), Gene Clark, and David Crosby had all worked as folk singers during the early 1960s.[46][47] They had spent time, independently of each other, in various folk groups, including the New Christy Minstrels, the Limeliters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and Les Baxter's Balladeers.[46][48][49][50] In early 1964, McGuinn, Clark, and Crosby formed The Jet Set and started developing a fusion of folk-based lyrics and melodies, with arrangements in the style of the Beatles.[47][51] In August 1964, the band's manager Jim Dickson acquired an acetate disc of "Mr. Tambourine Man" from Dylan's publisher, featuring a performance by Dylan and Ramblin' Jack Elliott.[3][47][52] Although the band members were initially unimpressed with the song, they began rehearsing and demoing it.[53] In an attempt to make it sound more like the Beatles, the band and Dickson elected to give the song a full, electric rock band treatment.[38][52][53] To further bolster the group's confidence in the song, Dickson invited Dylan to hear the band's rendition.[54] Dylan was impressed, enthusiastically commenting, "Wow, you can dance to that!" His endorsement erased any lingering doubts the band had about the song.[54] During this period, drummer Michael Clarke and bass player Chris Hillman joined,[47] and the band changed their name to the Byrds.[52] The two surviving demos of "Mr. Tambourine Man" dating from this period feature an incongruous marching band drum part from Clarke but overall the arrangement, which utilized a 4/4 time signature instead of Dylan's 2/4 configuration, is very close to the later single version.[55][56]
