55th Anniversary Album Spotlight
Mr. Tambourine Man
The Byrds
Released June 21, 1965
Chart debut: June 26, 1965
Chart peak: #6, August 7, 1965
#232 on
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Wiki said:
Mr. Tambourine Man is the debut studio album by American rock band the Byrds, released on June 21, 1965 by Columbia Records. The album, along with the single of the same name, established the band as an internationally successful act and was influential in originating the musical style known as folk rock. The term was, in fact, first coined by the American music press to describe the band's sound in mid-1965, around the same time as the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single reached the top of the Billboard chart. The single and album also represented the first effective American challenge to the dominance of the Beatles and the British Invasion during the mid-1960s.
I've had this album in my collection for a little over 20 years, and it was love at first listen...a perfect example of what I was looking for in music from this era. It not only still holds up in immersive retro context, but becomes all the more impressive. I was always aware that this album preceded
Rubber Soul, with which I strongly associate it, by a half year, but didn't have the fuller context that I do now of just how much the Byrds were bringing to the table with this debut effort. Judging by the selections on the
Rolling Stone list, there really had been nothing quite like it when it came out. In carrying the sound of the British Invasion forward, I'd now argue that for this brief, shining moment, the Byrds were doing the Beatles better than the Beatles...!
The album opens with its lead single, title track, and first of four Dylan covers, "Mr. Tambourine Man" (charted May 15, 1965; #1 US the week of June 26, 1965; #1 UK; #79 on
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time):
This song and its B-side, the band's first professional recordings, used session group the Wrecking Crew, as producer Terry Melcher was not yet confident in the band's musicianship.
Gene Clark composition "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" (B-side of "All I Really Want to Do"; charts July 24, 1965; #103 US; #234 on
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time), while based musically on the Searchers' "Needles and Pins," sounds not just very much like the Beatles, but to my ear, very much like the Beatles on
Rubber Soul...which, again, hasn't been recorded yet. Take from that what you will.
Wiki said:
Byrds expert Tim Conners has called the song "the Platonic ideal of a Byrds song", in reference to the presence of some of the band's early musical trademarks, including Jim McGuinn's jangling 12-string Rickenbacker guitar; Chris Hillman's complex bass work; David Crosby's propulsive rhythm guitar, and the band's complex harmony singing and use of wordless "aaahhhh"s.
A common criticism of the album is that the band was at this point too reliant on Dylan material like
"Spanish Harlem Incident"...but as it was standard practice for rock/pop albums to include several covers at this point...and as their take on Dylan's material not only sounded so good, but was pioneering an influential new subgenre...you won't find me complaining.
"You Won't Have to Cry" is another great, bouncy band original (written by Clark and Jim McGuinn). The intro reminds me a little of "You Can't Do That".
Gene Clark's "Here Without You" has a moody vibe and gorgeously ethereal sound:
It may sound a little familiar, as the band will be repurposing its melody for their psychedelic masterpiece "Eight Miles High".
The first side closes with "The Bells of Rhymney," a rocked-up cover of a traditional folk song co-written and originally recorded by Pete Seeger:
This one is of particular interest to Beatles fans, as George Harrison, in a nod to the Byrds, "co-opted" its guitar riff for "If I Needed Someone"...my favorite George track, recorded for the UK version of
Rubber Soul but held back in America for the later Capitol album
Yesterday and Today.
Side two opens with Dylan cover
"All I Really Want to Do". The slightly different single version of this song (charts July 3, 1965; #40 US; #4 UK) will be outperformed by Cher's simultaneous release on this side of the pond. Me, I'll take either of the Byrds' versions any day...and Dylan's after those.
Clark composition "I Knew I'd Want You" was recorded as the B-side of "Mr. Tambourine Man," and considered for the A-side. It's another number with gorgeously ethereal vocals, but more upbeat and waltzy than the last:
Its last notes always reminded me of "Norwegian Wood"...which, y'know, hasn't been written or recorded yet...
That I'd consider Clark/McGuinn composition
"It's No Use" to be one of the less distinguished band originals on the album is no aspersion on its quality...the other material is just that good.
The album does start petering out for me a bit by the time we get to the following track, Jackie DeShannon's
"Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe," which has an unusually feminist vibe for a recording by a male rock band at this point, and also hints at the nascent counterculture.
The album's penultimate track is its final Dylan cover,
"Chimes of Freedom".
The album closes with a quirky, offbeat choice, a beat-style cover of World War II standard
"We'll Meet Again"...inspired by the song's use in
Dr. Strangelove.
Wiki said:
In the months following the release of the Mr. Tambourine Man album, many acts began to imitate the Byrds' hybrid of a British Invasion beat, jangly guitar playing and poetic or socially conscious lyrics. The band's influence can be heard in many recordings released by American acts in 1965 and 1966, including the Turtles, Simon & Garfunkel, the Lovin' Spoonful, Barry McGuire, the Mamas & the Papas, Jefferson Airplane, We Five, Love, and Sonny & Cher.
My main beef concerning this spectacular debut is that I never felt that the Byrds' subsequent albums lived up to what I so loved about it...but 55th anniversary business will give me the chance to reassess that early impression.
I very highly recommend giving this one a listen. The next major sea change in '60s music begins here.
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That makes sense. They'll probably be posting more.
Actually, it looks like they've been posting new videos of a variety of artists over the past week.
But within the department? I'm just going by memory but this episode seemed to stand out in that respect. I always remembered it, anyway, but maybe I missed others.
Perhaps, but that reminds me of how the episode didn't quite live up to the set-up of the conference coordinator telling Friday how attendees tended to learn surprising things about themselves...it would have been a lot more interesting if it had been Friday and/or Gannon who'd had to face their preconceptions, rather than a guest cop of the week.
