The Byrds – Mr. Tambourine Man

“Mr. Tambourine Man” – single by The Byrds from the album Mr. Tambourine Man.
B-side: I Knew I’d Want You
Released: April 12, 1965
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia
Producer: Terry Melcher
Charted No. 1 in US and No.1 in UK

Bob Dylan wrote “Mr. Tambourine Man,” which was originally released on his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home, on March 22, 1965. His version wasn’t released as a single, but when The Byrds released their cover on April 12, 1965, it was a transatlantic hit, topping the charts in both the US (on June 26) and UK (on July 22). It’s the only song Dylan ever wrote that went to #1 in America (in the UK, Manfred Mann’s cover of “Quinn The Eskimo” also went to #1).

On January 20, 1965, the band entered Columbia Recording Studios in Hollywood to record the then-unreleased Bob Dylan song “Mr. Tambourine Man” as their debut single. Record producer Terry Melcher felt that the band hadn’t completely gelled yet musically, so he brought in a group of L.A. session musicians, later known as the Wrecking Crew, to provide the musical backing on the single. As a result, McGuinn was the only Byrd to play on “Mr. Tambourine Man” and its Clark-penned B-side, “I Knew I’d Want You”.

The electric rock band treatment that the Byrds and Melcher had given “Mr. Tambourine Man” effectively created the template for the musical subgenre of folk rock.

This was the first influential folk-rock song. All of the characteristics of that genre are present, including chorus harmonies, a rock rhythm section and lots of thought-provoking lyrics.