Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)

Mr. Tambourine Man is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Byrds, released on June 21, 1965, by Columbia Records. The album is characterized by the Byrds' signature sound of Jim McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and the band's harmonies. The material on the album consists of cover versions of folk songs, primarily composed by Bob Dylan, and originals written or co-written by singer Gene Clark. Along with the Dylan-penned single of the same name, Mr. Tambourine Man established the band as an internationally successful act and is widely regarded by critics as representing the first effective American challenge to the chart dominance of the Beatles and other British Invasion bands during the mid-1960s.

The album was influential in popularizing the musical subgenre known as folk rock, by melding sophisticated lyrical content with electric guitars and a rock backbeat. The term "folk rock" was coined by the American music press to describe the Byrds' sound in mid-1965, around the same time that the album was released. The band's hybrid of a British Invasion beat, jangly guitar playing, and poetic or socially conscious lyrics influenced a number of acts in the mid-1960s and has also been influential on later musicians.

The album peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and number 7 on the UK Albums Chart. It is the band's most successful album on either chart. The "Mr. Tambourine Man" single was released ahead of the album in April 1965 and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. A second single, "All I Really Want to Do", also a Dylan cover, was moderately successful in the U.S., but fared better in the UK, where it reached the top ten.

Background and recording

Before forming the Byrds in 1964, most of the band members had come from a folk and roots music background, rather than a rock and roll one. Lead guitarist Jim McGuinn had been a solo folk singer and sideman with various professional folk groups. So too had singer and songwriter Gene Clark and the band's rhythm guitarist David Crosby. Bassist Chris Hillman's musical background also encompassed folk, but was more oriented towards bluegrass music.

Clark and McGuinn first met in early 1964 at The Troubadour folk club in Los Angeles and formed a duo, playing Beatles' covers, Beatlesque renditions of traditional folk songs, and some self-penned material. The duo soon added Crosby to the line-up and named themselves the Jet Set. Over the coming months, Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke were added to the Jet Set and the band signed to Columbia Records on November 10, 1964. They changed their name to the Byrds over Thanksgiving that year.

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 single was released in April 1965 and was an immediate hit, reaching number 1 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart. In addition, 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.

Although the band's musicianship improved following the recording of their debut single, it was assumed by both Columbia and the band's management that their entire debut album would be recorded with session musicians. The band, however, had other ideas and insisted that they be allowed to perform the album's instrumental accompaniment themselves. By the start of recording sessions for the album, Melcher felt satisfied that the group had polished their sound enough to be able to produce professional-sounding backing tracks and the Byrds were allowed to record the rest of the Mr. Tambourine Man album without any help from session musicians. However, a persistent and widely circulated rumor about the album is that all of the playing on it was done by session musicians (a misconception that is likely due to confusion between the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single and the album of the same name). Hillman has stated in interview that the contrast between the more polished sound of the two tracks featuring session musicians ("Mr. Tambourine Man" and "I Knew I'd Want You") and the sound of the rest of the album is quite noticeable. Recording was completed on April 22, 1965.