Customer Reviews

Mr Tambourine Man

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What a debut! The Byrds only released two albums and a handful of singles with Gene Clark--until a rather abysmal reunion in the early 1970's--but what a couple of albums they are! "Mr. Tambourine Man," their first release, would of course be hailed as one of the penultimate folk-rock records, with the group so aptly adapting the songs of Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger to a radio-friendly audience. Yet, for me, it's not how the group performs the title track, "The Bells of Rhymney," "Spanish Harlem Incident" or even "Chimes of Freedom," but the quality of their original material, the bulk of which was penned by Gene Clark! Clark's amazing "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" has become a rock and roll classic, and "Here Without You" beautifully exemplifies its composer's darker, poetic side. Clark and McGuinn, the team that penned The Turtles' "You Showed Me," would co-write "You Won't Have to Cry" (not to be confused with "You Don't Have to Cry" by Crosby, Stills and Nash) and the lesser known "It's No Use." With the success of their first LP under their belts, the group would appear to offer more of the same with "Turn! Turn! Turn!" but Clark would emerge as an even more powerful force with compositions "Set You Free This Time," "She Don't Care About Time" and the hauntingly brilliant "The World Turns All Around Her!" Lesser known track "If You're Gone" would precede Clark's last songwriting credit on a Byrds recording with "Eight Miles High" on their "Fifth Dimension" LP. With Clark's departure, group members David Crosby and Roger McGuinn would be allowed to spread their wings and soar as celebrities and songwriters in their own right, and Crosby's ultimate departure would likewise permit bassist Chris Hillman to step forward before leaving to form The Flying Burrito Brothers, Souther, Hillman and Furay and the Desert Rose Band, then completing a musical full-circle by again reuniting with Clark and McGuinn for two releases and a brief tour. It having been common practice in the early to mid 1960's for session musicians to play on the company predicted hits, such would be the case with much of "Mr. Tambourine Man," but The Byrds would prove themselves to be competent enough musicians and capable performers that this would not be the case with subsequent releases. I love every line-up that's existed of The Byrds, from Gene Clark to Gram Parsons and John York to Clarence White and Skip Battin, with drummer Gene Parsons himself providing exceptional all-around musicianship and serving as a steadying force while the group forged its way into country-rock after a brief dalliance with psychedlic music. But again coming full-circle, it would be this cornerstone from the folk-rock years and the group's debut that holds the dearest place in my heart and serves as the best starting point for future Byrds fans.

In 1965 The Byrds released "Mr.Tambourine Man", creating a new jangle guitar sound influenced by the words of Bob Dylan. The Byrds transformed folk to a new electric guitar sound including Roger McGuinn's legendary 12-string Rickenbacker. The Byrds still remain one of America's finest rock bands and 'the proof is in the pudding' as Iggy Pop once said.

From the opening chords of "Mr.Tambourine Man", it is apparent that this album is a classic. Even Bob Dylan after he heard The Byrds' recording of "Mr.Tambourine Man" was surprised and didn't record his own version until later. "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better" was one of the few hits The Byrds had that wasn't written by someone else out of the band. Gene Clark's lyrics "I'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gone" represents an anti-romantic song that was rarely heard in songwritting in the 60's, it is one of The Byrds strongest singles. "Spanish Harlem Incident"(a Bob Dylan cover) was a good choice as the lyrics show the mystic-folk world of The Byrds. "You Won't Have To Cry" is an early tip off of The Byrds harmonizing vocals. "Here Without You" another great example of Gene Clark's talent at songwritting and singing. "The Bells Of Rhymney" show that Pete Seeger was another strong influence of The Byrds besides Dylan. Pete Seeger adapted the lyrics from a poem by Idris Davis about a coal mining disaster in Wales. The song is very moving and beautifully done, George Harrison said this song inspired his "If I Needed Someone." "All I Really Want To Do" returns as back to another classic Byrds cover of a Dylan song classic. Its a very strong single and always a great listen. "I Knew I'd Want You" was the b-side to the original "Mr.Tambourine Man" single and shows that The Byrds didn't just start with covering Dylan, it was Gene Clark's song. "It's No Use" has a heavier sound then the rest of the album and has hints of Pink Floyd type solos and such. "Don't Doubt Yourself Baby" is one of my favorite songs musically. "Chimes Of Freedom" is the core and best song on "Mr.Tambourine Man." This Bob Dylan song reflects greatly about the times during the 60's. David Crosby was about to leave the group and refused to sing this song but manager Dickson forced him to and the result was amazing. "We'll Meet Again" ends the album on an ironic note. The bonus tracks are: "She Has A Way", "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better(alternative version)", "It's No Use"(alternative version)", "You Won't Have To Cry(alternative version)" and "All I Really Want To Do(single version)."

"Mr.Tambourine Man" besides creating a new sound and setting new limits for rock, is an amazing album and may be The Byrds' best album. One thing is for sure, it's one of the best achievements in American music.

This debut album features Jim (Roger) McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke. The line-up of the Byrds changed regularly but some of these musicians also achieved success with other groups, too numerous to mention here. The style is generally described as folk-rock, but there is more to it than that.

The title track of this album was their first and biggest hit, going all the way to number one on both sides of the Atlantic. The follow-up, All I really want to do, was also a massive hit despite having to compete with a version of the same song by Cher. Both versions of the song made the UK top ten, though the Byrds' version charted higher. The single version of All I really want to do differed from the original album version, but both are included in this set.

The two hits are from the songbook of Bob Dylan, one of the finest songwriters of his generation. The Byrds recorded many of his songs during their career. This album contains two other Dylan songs, Chimes of freedom and Spanish Harlem incident. Don't doubt yourself babe is a song by Jackie De Shannon, another excellent songwriter, who was one of the first music professionals to recognize the Byrds' talent. The bells of Rhymney (about a Welsh mining disaster) is a cover of a song that Pete Seeger based on an Idris Davies poem. The most surprising inclusion is We'll meet again is the signature tune of Dame Vera Lynn, the British forces' sweetheart of World war two. Apparently, the song was featured at the end of the move, Dr Strangelove, and it was this that brought the song to their attention. Gene Clark wrote all the remaining songs here, often with the help of Roger McGuinn.

This was a fine album in its original form. The excellent bonus tracks make it more desirable than ever to anybody who enjoys sixties pop, rock and folk music.

As a band, The Byrds are one of the greatest and certainly one of the most influential bands in rock and roll history. Adding to that legacy, "Mr. Tamborine Man's" status as one of the greatest debut albums in rock history is almost without question. This band could do it all; country, folk, rock, jam, psychedelica, etc, etc. And this debut was perhaps the pinnacle of their achievements. Though they would venture into much more adventurous territory ("Notorious Byrd Brothers"), this was where the band was the most solid, the most tight collectively.

Dylan's influence is everywhere from the get-go; 4 of his songs span the album, including the title track which the Byrd's turned into his only #1 hit. Elsewhere, there are two other covers, but the songs with the best longevity are originals, mostly penned by Gene Clark. Witness the tortured romance of "I'll Feel a Whole lot Better" and "Here Without You" and tell me he wasn't a great songwriter. Roger McGuinn (or Jim, if you like) was quick about finding his signature nasally croon that would go on to influence Tom Petty, among others. Obviously, not everyone had found their place; songs by Chris Hillman and David Crosby are nowhere to be found. But "Mr. Tamborine Man" stand today every bit as tall as the early works of Dylan and the Beatles. This is the album that set the standard for folk-rock from then on, from Buffalo Springfield to REM to Toad the Wet Sprocket to the most current emo bands.

Overall: 10 out of 10.

During the early and mid sixties, albums contained one or two hit songs and a handful of fillers. When the Byrds debut LP Mr. Tambourine Man blasted onto the rock scene on June 21 1965, the formula was changed completely. The Byrds were the first American band to challenge the British Invasion (Which dominated the rock scene for most of 1963 and '64) and suprisingly they changed music greatly. Not only did they change the concept of an album but they also made rock music mature. During the early sixties bands of the British invasion mainly sang songs about girls but when the Byrds showed up they began writing and singing about the times of turmoil.

Fans who bought this album back in 1965 got 12 inches of excellent jangly folk rock music by Bob Dylan, Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn, Jackie DeShannon, Idris Davies, Pete Seeger, H.Parker and R.Charles. The album opens with the timeless Dylan tune MR.TAMBOURINE MAN which topped the singles charts and remains today a huge song of the sixties. After that is I FEEL A WHOLE LOT BETTER which showed Gene Clark's excellent song writing and happens to be a personal fave of mine. Next is another Bob Dylan cover THE SPANISH HARLEM INCIDENT followed by another lovely Gene Clark love ballad YOU WON'T HAVE TO CRY. Next is one of the finest Gene Clark ballads HERE WITHOUT YOU which also demonstrated the Byrds excellent harmony vocals as a unit. After that is THE BELLS OF RHYMNEY an excellent easy going rocker, followed by two Byrds b-side single hits ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO and I KNEW I'D WANT YOU. IT'S NO USE follows after and proves that the Byrds can play a good rocker, then things calm down again with the easy going yet catchy DON'T DOUBT YOURSELF BABE. The original album closes with another classic Dylan tune CHIMES OF FREEDOM followed by the beautiful WE'LL MEET AGAIN.

The bonus material is a real treat but will never be in the same league as the classic album. First is the pretty SHE HAS A WAY. Then a string of alternate versions of I FEEL WHOLE LOT BETTER, IT'S NO USE and YOU WON'T HAVE TO CRY which are good but will never replace the originals. The real single version of ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO is added and a rockin' instrumental by the name of YOU AND ME wraps it all up.

Mr.Tambourine Man became a top ten hit on the Billboard charts, peaking at #6. The album changed rock 'n roll music and became known as a folk-rock masterpiece. I recommend this album to anyone! It's a huge piece of music history and is a timeless piece of art. Get it and show it to everybody, your friends, your family, your kids, your girlfriend anybody because this album is awesome! Highly Recommended!

"Mr. Tambourine Man" is one of a handful of nearly perfect debut albums (other notables: Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Velvet Underground, The Doors) where a new group's sound and vision is almost fully developed from the beginning. The classic Byrds' sound of soaring three-part harmonies and ringing electric 12-string guitars is entirely assimilated by the group here in its infancy. It was, and still is, so potent a mix that for a number of years it defined "folk-rock" for all who played it. Few artists escaped its influence, including The Beatles ("Rubber Soul") and Bob Dylan. The sound is still with us in the work of such contemporary artists as Tom Petty and R.E.M. The historic title track, a milestone in rock music history because it effectively fused Dylan and The Beatles, opens the album. It is followed by a Byrds classic, "Feel A Whole A Lot Better" by chief songwriter Gene Clark, which is still gloriously infectious. Why was it never a single? In fact, all of the original material was written by Clark, though occasionally with Jim "Roger" McGuinn, and constitutes the only genuine romantic heart that this group ever had. "Here Without You", "I Knew I'd Want You" and "You Won't Have To Cry" are haunting ballads. The Byrds' reputation for covering and reinventing Dylan songs is at full blossom here. "Chimes of Freedom", "All I Really Want To Do" and "Spanish Harlem Incident" impressed Dylan himself when he saw that people could dance to his music. An early stab at the Pete Seeger catalogue pre-"Turn! Turn! Turn!" is the gorgeously sung "Bells of Rhymney", featuring one of McGuinn's most memorable guitar solos. The remastering by Sony is superlative; a crystalline purity of image makes McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker sound ethereal. The bonus tracks, mainly alternate takes, will be appreciated by Byrds aficionados. This is an important pop/rock album that still sounds incredible. It is a thinking-person's album to which one can also dance! I recommended it without any hestitation.

Few rock 'n' roll bands hit the ground running as full of new sound as The Byrds. Their 1965 debut welds folk's socially conscious sentiments to rock's driving backbeat, creating an electric spark that reverberates to this very day. The chiming Rickenbacker of the title tune and soaring harmonies of "Spanish Harlem Incident," "All I Really Want To Do" and "Chimes of Freedom" took Dylan's songs to a place he himself could never get. Gene Clark's original "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" serves as a template for nearly every lost-love jangle-pop song that ever followed, and though you could dance to its backbeat, The Byrds' arrangement of Pete Seeger's "The Bells of Rhymney" carries its disastrous subtext in the sublime drone of McGuinn's 12-string and the closing harmonies.

The band's originals, like "You Won't Have to Cry" and "It's No Use," show off the Beatles' heavy influence (albeit, filtered through The Byrds harmonic sensibilities), as well as the club-rock sounds breaking out along Los Angeles' Sunset Strip. Additional covers include Jackie DeShannon's "Don't Doubt Yourself Babe," with an odd off-and-on Bo Diddley beat, and a surprisingly fetching arrangement of the World War II era (by way of "Dr. Strangelove"), "We'll Meet Again."

Bonus tracks on this reissue include previously unissued versions of "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better," "It's No Use" and "You Won't Have to Cry," along with a version of Gene Clark's "She Has a Way" that was cut from the album's final song list. As interesting as it is to hear additional approaches the band made to these songs, their choices for the original release were all correct. The original 7" single mono recording of "All I Really Want To Do" features minor lyric changes and gains the punch typical of mixes destined for AM radio, and the closing "You and Me" is a nice instrumental backing that was apparently never used.

Columbia Legacy's remastering is crisp and clear, with good balance between the vocals and backings, and nicely arrayed stereo. At times the high end, particularly the tambourine, seems overly present, but this may simply be how the original was mixed. This is a tremendous, must-have presentation of one of rock's seminal albums.

The Byrds-the greatest American rock band? If not, they are up there with Beach Boys vying for that spot (with Creedence right behind them.) This is perhaps their greatest record-the first six are ALL classics in their own right. "Mr. Tambourine Man" introduced the Byrds to the world-a combination of Bach, Dylan and the Beatles. This CD remaster features an extended ending and much clearer background vocals. Other neat highlights include the instrumental (sounds like a backing track for an abandoned song)"You and Me" which features a great 12 string riff and rock backing. The alternate take of "Its No Use" includes some superb rhythm guitar work by Crosby. Ditto "Feel a Whole Lot Better" - listen to the left channel and concentrate on the rhythm guitar. Another great example of the rhythm work is evident on "Chimes of Freedom". Rock surely misses the electric rhythm guitar these days. The vocal blend is top notch- an innovative style, derived from the folk group style, and of course, the Beatles that in turn influenced tons of 60's rock groups. The record was great in 65 when it came out,likewise this CD. The CD remaster does the Byrds justice-nice booklet, nice bonus tracks-great care was given to these releases. Now Sony needs to give this treatment to the Dylan catalog.

This is a brilliant album, and one that must be in the collection of anybody who considers him/herself a rock n roll fan. There is no filler in this album, every song is a cherished gem worth listening to over and over. Except for the Beatles, nobody was putting out albums with this much great material in 1965. The title track is of course a classic, and the only song I'd heard from the CD before I bought it. This had me worried, but as soon as "Tambourine Man" slipped into "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better" I realized I had nothing to worry about. These are all great songs, and it doesn't matter that they haven't been played a billion times on Classic Rock radio.
I heard somewhere years ago that REM (my all-time favorite band) was heavily influenced by the Byrds, and now I can see the truth of that statement. It's not just McGuinn's "jangly" guitar that sent Peter Buck after a Rickenbacker, it's the whole package, a collection of near-weightless tunes (in the sense that they make you feel weightless, not that they're meaningless) that put you solidly in the year and month and minute that this record was made, the care and handling that these five men brought to their first record. It's exactly what makes REM so special. Like Stipe and company, McGuinn and company made music that is absolutely of its time but also absolutely timeless.
Too bad I missed 1965, but thank God they recorded some of it. Give this CD a try, it will become one of your favorites. I promise.

this cd sounds superior in mono. and it's a sacd too! enjoy!