Sunday Music – Mr Tambourine Man – The Bob Dylan Series (Part 6)

Today’s music video is ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’, and this version is from The Byrds.

This video was posted to You Tube by mcd220

This song is special for so many reasons, and the version sung here on this video is also special, and because of that, this will be a long post, because there is just so much to say, and here, keep in mind that I’m only touching the surface.

This song was released on Bob’s fifth studio album. The three albums released prior to this one had firmly cemented the name ‘Bob Dylan’ into the far reaches of almost superstardom, before that term was even thought of. Bob Dylan was a name everyone in the music industry knew, and numerous songs had been lifted from those three albums and made into hits by so many artists and bands, that now more and more people in the general public were becoming aware of him, and not just those fans. What makes this song so important, and for some, this is probably not easy to comprehend, is that ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ was the first of those numerous songs from numerous artists to actually reach the Number One position on the mainstream popular music charts.

Bob wrote the song in 1964, and it was originally slated for release on the album, ‘Another Side Of Bob Dylan’ but it wasn’t polished enough in time for the release of that album, so it appeared on Bob’s fifth studio album, and keep in mind this was his fourth studio album in 22 months, so prolific was he becoming, and this new album, ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ was released in early 1965.

The band shown in the video above formed in 1964, and finally adopted the name of The Byrds late in that same year. Dylan’s original of this song was four verses, and way too long for radio when any song longer than two and a half minutes was considered as too long. The Byrds got hold of Bob’s version of this song and then truncated it somewhat, giving it the full rock treatment, and in so doing created a whole new musical genre, Folk Rock.

The master for this song by The Byrds was produced in January of 1965 and released in April, the month after Bob’s album with this song on it was released. Of interest on that Byrds master was the fact that the only one of the 5 band members to actually play an instrument was Roger McGuinn, as it was considered he was the only one competent enough at that time to play. All the backing instruments were provided by that famed, and quite large group of Session musicians at the time, The Wrecking Crew, made up of so many famous names in their own right, and highly demanded by nearly every act at the time when it came to recording sessions for albums. The vocal harmony backing of Byrds members McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby were then added onto that master. This song set the tone for the Byrds with tight complex harmonies a distinct characteristic of the band, those three singers having all come from a folk music background. Those three, along with Bass player Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke then worked flat out together in the lead up to the sessions for the album of the same name as this single.

That brings us to the video shown above, and as a comparison, I want to direct you to this link. This version of the song is from The Ed Sullivan show almost at the end of this year of release, 1965. This version on Ed’s show was in fact that original studio version and the band lip synced their way through the song. Now, lip syncing has a bad name, but virtually every TV performance by every singer and band at that time was in fact lip synced, especially with bands. This was mainly due to the fact that when you see a band at a live concert there are rows of amps and speakers, each instrument separately plugged into pedals at the feet of guitarists, and from there into an amp of its own, and each mike independently plugged into an amp as well. For the TV shows, setting all that up was out of the question just for the one short clip, so all the band had to bring with them was their guitars, and sometimes the Bass drum with the band’s name on it, as most of these shows had a small drum kit on hand for all bands to play. If you watch any of the bands on any of the TV shows, the guitar and mike leads all just neatly lay on the floor going back towards the rear, and anyway, no one really notices that stuff anyway, the main concentration being on the guy singing the vocals.

Now, why I directed you to the Ed Sullivan video was that version was indeed the single which was released, and also the album version of the song. The video you see featured above is from the Frankie Avalon show. This was only their second TV appearance, and a couple of months before their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The vocals sung here are in fact not being lip synced at all, and are being sung live, hence the distinctly different sound of the vocals. The music backing from all the instruments is from the tape of the song, so the instrumental part is in fact being synced, but the voices are live, and here you can better grasp the really nice harmonies from the three main voices, Roger, Gene and David. Watch as Roger sings the vocals, and then for confirmation of the live microphones, then watch as Frankie Avalon comes in at the end and speaks directly into the centre mike, and then again as Gene interrupts him.

Roger did the lead vocals, and in this clip above, he’s the guy on the left, appearing here without his trademark tinted glasses. Gene Clark is in the middle and David Crosby on the right, with Chris playing Bass behind them and Michael on the drums.

Of particular interest is the guitars played by Roger and Gene. Roger has his trademark Rickenbacker 360/12, which he used exclusively for most of his career. This was a beautiful 12 string electric guitar with an original head design that did not have the large heads of most other 12 string acoustic guitars, where the strings go into the pegs. This guitar was what gave this song its distinct and original appeal. It produced a jangly type of sound which actually fitted in with the ‘jingle jangle’ lyrics. This ‘sound’ was further enhanced by compressing it to give it that beautiful sustained tone.

Now, what is of particular interest with this video clip is that Gene Clark is playing guitar as well. Here he is shown with a wonderful Fender XII 12 string electric guitar, and as you can see, this one has the typical extended head of a 12 string electric guitar, ironically on this guitar called the Hockey stick, because of its size. The main body of the guitar is different also, a noted difference in fact when the coming popularity of the Stratocaster was taking over from the Telecaster, and this special 12 string electric used a body similar to the Fender Jaguar body. Whilst it was a wonderful guitar of itself, mainly for innovations Fender were becoming famous for, this Fender 12 had only a short life. It was introduced late in 1965, so this clip is probably one of the first times this guitar was seen being played. It was discontinued in 1970. Nearly everyone has heard this guitar being played, because Jimmy Page used it on ‘Stairway To Heaven’, that famous song from Led Zeppelin.

This song gave the band star status which lasted a number of years. As expected at the time with most bands, tensions arose and members left the band, most notably David Crosby, who, er, left the band and joined up with Stephen Stills, (from Buffalo Springfield) and Graham Nash (from The Hollies) to form one of the first supergroups, that group later joined by Neil Young. (also from Buffalo Springfield, and already well into a long and prolific solo career)

The 5 original members got back together in 1973 for a one off album, titled simply as ‘Byrds’. On this album, they have a ‘cover’ of Neil Young’s ‘See The Sky About To Rain’, a song Neil released a year later than this Byrds version, on his wonderful album ‘On The Beach’, Neil’s fifth studio album.

Take this link to listen to this song.

As to Bob Dylan and ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’, he liked this version of his song by The Byrds. I mean, who wouldn’t. Covers of all his songs were already making him a fortune in royalties, and this one which was by far his most popular song yet was a really good cover. He performed the song live at his concerts where it was always well received, as so many new people identified with it. The one version I have below is an indicator of Bob doing one of the better live versions of the song. Watch closely at the start as he rummages around on a shelf for a harmonica to place in the rig around his neck so he has his hands free to play guitar.

Now, when a singer songwriter writes a song, it just comes to him. Then he works on it till he gets the melody right, and then he does the lyrics, or sometimes even, vice versa. Once it’s right, then he sings the song, but he does this in the key he is most comfortable singing it in, so he doesn’t have to strain his voice. That’s why some songs, even though basically the same sound different when covered by other artists. They change the key. All the chords and notes are still in the same progression, only starting from a different key.

Bob did this song Mr. Tamborine Man in a different key , and to get it all sounding right, then the harmonica has to be in the same key as what he is playing on the guitar, and also singing in.

The same applies with Harmonicas, and the first I noticed it was when I was at a concert featuring the legendary Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Brownie was blind and a harmonica legend. He would come on stage with Sonny, and then sit in front of a mike. He always wore a large custom made leather belt with anything up to 20 harmonicas in this belt, and would just swap and change as the concert progressed.

In this video, Bob doesn’t have his E harmonica, so he asks the question in general, then of the crowd, and then asks them to just throw them up on stage. Listen for the three or four clunks and Bob’s thanks. A funny start to what turns into a wonderful clip of him doing this great song, ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’.

This video was posted to You Tube by EDUAGGRO01