tracks on LP: Mr. Tambourine Man | All I Really Want To Do | Chimes Of Freedom | Spanish Harlem Incident | The Times They Are A Changin’ | Lay Down Your Weary Tune | My Back Pages | You Ain’t Going Nowhere / Nothing Was Delivered | This Wheel’s On Fire | It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue | Lay Lady Lay | Positively 4th Street
Record label: CBS 84084
Released: February 1980
Purchased: 05/06/83
During the past two decades many artistes have covered the songs of Bob Dylan but none have achieved such consistent commercial success and critical acclaim as the legendary Byrds. Their recording of “Mr. Tambourine Man” was a landmark in the history of rock music for it proved that Dylan’s acoustic material could successfully be adapted to a rock beat without losing its inherent integrity. The Byrds transformed the song, adding soaring harmonies and the magical sound of a 12—string Rickenbacker. Their efforts were rewarded with one of the biggest selling singles of 1965.
“Mr. Tambourine Man” reached number one in both the U.S. and England, a feat never equalled by any other Dylan cover version. Indeed, Dylan himself would never see one of his own singles reach number one. The Byrds provided Dylan with what he most needed —worldwide commercial acceptance.
Since that initial explosion, the Byrds and Dylan have always been closely connected, and at one stage were scheduled to record an album together. That recording never took place, but the tracks on this compilation indicate what an astonishing collaboration might have been produced.
While the rock world was still recovering from the phenomenal success of “Mr. Tambourine Man” the Byrds released their first album, which included three new Dylan compositions. “All I Really Want To Do”, “Spanish Harlem Incident” and “Chimes Of Freedom” served as a blueprint for countless other groups who would attempt similar covers of Dylan’s acoustic material. By the close of 1965, the Byrds’ pioneering work had influenced the course of American music to such an extent that a new term came into existence: “folk rock”.
The second Byrds album, Turn! Turn! Turn! included a further two Dylan songs, “Times They Are A-Changing” and “Lay Down Your Weary Tune”. The latter was one of several unreleased Dylan songs recorded by the Byrds, who were clearly becoming more selective in their choice of material.
By 1966, the number of Dylan imitators had multiplied to such a degree that the Byrds decided temporarily to stop recording his songs and concentrate on their own material. The stunning version of “My Back Pages” which appeared on their fourth album Younger Than Yesterday, was a brief reminder of what they were capable of achieving.
The six tracks that appear on side two of this compilation are the sum total of Dylan songs recorded by the group between 1968 and 1970. “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” and “Nothing Was Delivered” (taken from the then unreleased Basement Tapes) were unashamedly country, and helped to establish another new genre: “country rock”.
Always innovators, the Byrds moved on again and chose to re-arrange “This Wheel’s On Fire”, “Lay Lady Lay” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” without the expected country influence. It was typical of the Byrds to do the unexpected. In fact, the closing cut on this compilation continues a tradition of ending Byrds albums on an unusual note. The live version of “Positively 4th Street” had never previously been attempted by the Byrds, but in 1970 they chose to include it in their set, five years after Dylan had recorded it. It was fitting that their last Dylan cover should re-enact the era of “Mr. Tambourine Man”. (John Rogan)
Leave a Reply