1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 53. The Byrds – Mr Tambourine Man (1965)

Last time, Bob Dylan gave us Mr Tambourine Man, and as if by magic, here come The Byrds to cover it (as well as All I Really Want To Do). It feels like The Byrds took the “jingle jangle morning” lyric from Mr Tambourine Man as an instruction for their distinctive jangle-rock sound, which not only stems from the use of a 12-string Rickenbacker (per George Harrison) but also near constant use of the tambourine. Add in this their lush harmonic vocals and you get the distinctive “Californian version of the Beatles” sound for this iteration of the band. 

I was also thinking that the folk-rock feel was a bit like Crosby Still and Nash, only to discover that David Crosby is part of the line up on this album. So, I guess that’s not a surprise. This kind of sound is mimicked hereafter; it can be found in The LAs for example several decades down the road. 

Other standout tracks for me – I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better (an original track), which I’d first heard covered by Tom Petty on the 1989 album Full Moon Fever, but as it turns out Petty does almost a note-for-note version, so you may as well stick to The Byrds. I also liked the slower I Knew I’d Want You which sounds like a stripped back version of Nights In White Satin, and is over too soon. It’s another original song. 

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