# Talk:Mr. Tambourine Man

Yes we know the Bryds Mr. Tambourine Man was recorded by McGuinn and The Wrecking Crew, but which bassist from the Wrecking Crew regulars played bass that session?  That Bass line in the outro is so distinctive, my money is on Carol Kaye.

Larry Knechtel played bass on that session, so it was either him that came up with that distinctive bass part or producer Terry Melcher. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 11:15, 19 September 2023 (UTC)

Shatner? Artist? Really? Have any of you folks actually heard the Shatner version? It certainly has a glory all its own, but that's not necessarily a good thing. PJtP (talk) 19:33, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

YOU LISTED MANY COVER VERSIONS OF THE SONG IN YOUR ARTICLE    ONE YOU LEFT OUT IS WRANGLER JANES REDITION ON F TROOP    I THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT HISTORICALLY BECAUSE SHE SANG IT 100 YEARS BEFORE IT WAS WRITTEN  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.140.240.10 (talk) 18:20, 13 May 2015 (UTC) 

This video says Hal Blaine played drums on the Byrds version.  They call him by name at 5:18. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 00:36, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

He did, yes. The article does say that The Wrecking Crew played on the Byrds' recording of the song, but it doesn't mention any of the session musicians individually. I think naming all the musicians on the recording is maybe a bit too trivial for this particular article. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 14:46, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

The Byrds version was moved from the first paragraph to the second and then moved back. To avoid an edit war, can we discuss here, please? Personally, I think that any cover should be separated from the original, however famous or successful (see I Will Always Love You for example). This is particularly relevant where the two versions are in different genres as here - the spheres of influence of the two versions may be very separate. Btljs (talk) 11:48, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

Why do you skip over Bob Dylan to discuss The Byrds? I am not saying The Byrd's version isn't important. It is. So is the original artist. So what if The Byrds got a number 1 hit? It's not like the original was some obscure song. Bringing It All Back Home was a top 10 US album. They can coexist comfortably in the lead. I object to your revert. First Dylan is established, then the others. -SusanLesch (talk) 14:36, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

Nobody's skipping over anything. Nor am I wanting to diminish Dylan -- it is his song, after all. But the Byrds' version is at least as famous as Dylan's, and probably more so, due to it having been a #1 trans-atlantic hit in 1965. As the article says, the Byrds' cover was the first time that a Dylan song had ever gotten to number 1. It also created the template for the entire folk rock and jangle pop genres. So, clearly the Byrds' cover, being at least as well know as Dylan's original and also very influential, needs coverage in the lede. Remember, a lot of visitors to this article will only ever read the lede, and I think its obvious that a fair proportion of those visitors will be coming here because of the Byrds' version.
There's still plenty of coverage of Dylan's original in the lede: it states that it was written by him and released on Bringing it all Back Home in March 1965; it says about his live performances of the song and its inclusion on many Dylan compilations; and most of the last paragraph of the lede is about the song's composition and interpretation of what Dylan was singing about. That's plenty about Dylan and his recordings of the song, I think. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 14:36, 8 April 2019 (UTC)
Just to be clear: nobody is suggesting anything is removed from the lede. This is simply a case of a confusing first paragraph which needs splitting. Look at other examples of songs with different well-known versions. Btljs (talk) 08:25, 9 April 2019 (UTC)
I've suggested an alternate way to lay out the info in the Lead, below. Mick gold (talk) 08:58, 9 April 2019 (UTC)
I'm happiest with Mick Gold's revision below. To be clear, I'm not quibbling about the order of the lede or trying to diminish the importance of Dylan's version. It's just that the Byrds version -- by dint of its importance to the development of folk rock and jangle pop, and its mainstream popularity -- should be adequately covered in the lede as well. So yeah, Mick Gold's suggestion blow is the one that I'd be most in favour of. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 12:52, 9 April 2019 (UTC)
Nearly unanimous agreement. Amazing day for Wikipedia. (Kohoutek, I'm sorry, my "so what" was over the top.) -SusanLesch (talk) 14:21, 9 April 2019 (UTC)

I've been a Dylan fan since the early '60s, and I agree the current version places too much emphasis on The Byrds – their wildly popular version half a century ago notwithstanding – and perhaps on other artists' covers. After all it was Dylan who wrote and first pressed Tambourine Man, and without him none of the other versions ever would have appeared.
If I may be so bold as to offer an alternative version of the lede, try this:

"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written by Bob Dylan, released as the first track of the acoustic side of his seminal March 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The song has a bright, expansive melody and is known for its moody, surrealistic imagery. The lyrics call on the title character to play a song and the narrator will follow.Tambourine Man has been performed and recorded by many diverse artists, including The Byrds, Judy Collins, Odetta and Melanie. The Byrds' April 1965 folk-rock version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart, and was influential in popularizing the musical sub-genres folk rock and jangle pop. The song's popularity led to Dylan recording it live many times, and it has been included in Dylan and Byrds compilation albums. It has been translated into other languages, and has been used or referenced in television shows, films, and books.Interpretations of the lyrics have included a call to the singer's muse, a reflection of the audience's demands on the singer, or a paean to "recreational" drugs. Dylan's original has four verses, of which the Byrds only used the second for their recording. Dylan's and the Byrds' versions have appeared on various lists ranking the greatest songs of all time. 
In my view Shatner, better known as Captain Kirk, has no place in the (too short?) list of covers, as his woozy rendition can't be taken seriously as music. FWIW, I'm oddly charmed by this quirky live performance by Dr. Bob himself.
File:Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home.jpg

← Also, the album cover in the infobox should be this one.  
– Sca (talk) 18:08, 8 April 2019 (UTC)

We can't use the copyrighted album cover art for an article about a song on the album.  The album cover is appropriately displayed in the article about the album. Rlendog (talk) 15:49, 9 April 2019 (UTC)

I agree with SusanLesch that the current Lead seems to rush past the Dylan version with unseemly haste, in order to dwell on the importance of The Byrds' version. I would argue that Dylan version and Byrds version are equally important. Dylan version clearly has primacy as he wrote it and recorded it first, and it's an important composition in his very influential Nobel Prize winning song-writing career. Byrds version had a huge impact on 1960s pop music. I'm currently abroad with limited access to internet but this is my suggestion. First para is about Dylan composition. Second para is mainly about significance of The Byrds version. Third para compares the Dylan and The Byrds version. Fourth para outlines a cultural context for the song.

"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song by Bob Dylan, released as the first track of the acoustic side of his March 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The song's popularity led to Dylan recording it live many times, and it has been included in multiple compilation albums. It has been translated into other languages, and has been used or referenced in television shows, films, and books.
This song has been performed and recorded by many artists, including The Byrds, Judy Collins, Odetta, Melanie, and William Shatner. The Byrds released a jangle pop version in April of the same year as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart, as well as being the title track of their debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man. The Byrds' recording of the song was influential in popularizing the musical subgenres of folk rock and jangle pop, leading many contemporary bands to mimic its fusion of jangly guitars and intellectual lyrics in the wake of the single's success.
Dylan's song has four verses, of which The Byrds only used the second for their recording. Dylan's and The Byrds' versions have appeared on various lists ranking the greatest songs of all time, including an appearance by both on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 best songs ever. Both versions received Grammy Hall of Fame Awards.
The song has a bright, expansive melody and has become famous in particular for its surrealistic imagery, influenced by artists as diverse as French poet Arthur Rimbaud and Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. The lyrics call on the title character to play a song and the narrator will follow. Interpretations of the lyrics have included a paean to drugs such as LSD, a call to the singer's muse, a reflection of the audience's demands on the singer, and religious interpretations.
Mick gold (talk) 07:00, 9 April 2019 (UTC)
I am happy with above, save that I'd like song written by Bob Dylan in the lead. Clarifies the relationship with the song. I might be tempted to add Stevie Wonder instead of Shatner to give a depth perception of the artists that recorded the song, but no biggie. If my memory serves me well, Dylan wanted to stop the Byrds releasing their version, but was unable to do so because 'first rights' had already been used. (In the US a writer can stop people recording a song only up to the first release of the song). Dylan wanted it as his single. BTW, If you haven't heard the Odetta version, give it a listen, gives a totally different meaning to the song without changing a word!. --Richhoncho (talk) 10:00, 9 April 2019 (UTC)

Yes, this version is good. Btljs (talk) 11:45, 9 April 2019 (UTC)
Just reiterating what I just wrote above: I'm happiest with Mick Gold's proposed revision above. I also agree with Richhoncho that the first sentence should state that the song was "written" by Dylan, just to clarify.
On a side note to Richhoncho, Dylan was enthusiastic about the Byrds' version: he heard them rehearsing it in L.A. before they had a recording contract and, by all accounts, he loved their interpretation of his song. The Byrds and Columbia still wanted to formally secure his permission and blessing for the 1965 single release, and both had made contingency plans to release the B-side "I Knew I'd Want You" as the A-side instead had Dylan and his management objected to the band's cover. So maybe that's what you're thinking of? --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 12:59, 9 April 2019 (UTC)
Ok, Thanks. I've re-written as per my proposed text, and yes it's written by Bob Dylan. Mick gold (talk) 13:58, 9 April 2019 (UTC)

For an article about a single to include the track listing of the album it was part of is very strange.  Delete? Boscaswell talk 11:06, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

I believe having the full track listing of the parent album in the infobox is standard practice for articles about songs that are on albums where the majority of the other songs on said album have their own Wikipedia article. It's just a handy way to aid reader navigation -- the thought being that if you're reading about, say, "Mr. Tambourine Man", then you might be interested in reading about other songs on the album too. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 08:32, 4 March 2020 (UTC)
@Boscaswell the article is about the song, not the single. 90.249.6.186 (talk) 18:40, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
It is most definitely *not* standard practice to include an album’s track listing in a single song article and you can very easily check this, @Kohoutek1138. Sorry, but your assertion is ridiculous.  Just look up any Beatles song article. There are over 100 of them. Let me know how many have the parent album track listing.  Here’s a clue to the answer.  None.  And you can take it from me that those articles can be seen as the definitive quality single song articles. Boscaswell talk 20:22, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
Per this RfC, it is not a standard practice to include track listings as a separate section in song articles when the song was released as a single with an A-side and B-side (Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Music § Track listing). Tkbrett (✉) 20:46, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
@Boscaswelland @Tkbrett - this discussion was from March 2020, 18 months or so before that RfC on track listing sections in song articles was a thing. Back then, it was a fairly common sight to see album track lists in the infoboxes of song articles -- especially on Dylan songs because so many of his albums included songs that had their own Wiki articles. Also, in the past two years, the likes of Template:Bringing It All Back Home tracks have been deprecate and therefore have been removed.
The fact that there isn't an album track listing in this article anymore makes it a moot point anyway. I'm surprised you both bothered commenting on this now; it's almost like you didn't look at the article first or something? Also, not cool to brand another editor as "ridiculous", Boscaswell, just because he was following what used to be a fairly common formatting convention for infoboxes two years ago. Rules change all the time on Wikipedia and our editing habits change with them. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 15:42, 7 March 2022 (UTC)
Ah, whoops, I confused this discussion regarding infobox track-listings with those song articles that have separate sections for the track listings of single releases. Not sure why how old a discussion is would have any bearing though. Tkbrett (✉) 15:57, 7 March 2022 (UTC)
It only has a bearing insofar as album track listings in song infoboxes used to be something that was allowed back when I originally commented. That has since changed and as a result this article no longer includes one. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 16:10, 7 March 2022 (UTC)
Ah, okay. I guess it would help next time around if I actually talked about the subject at hand and not something completely irrelevant ... Thanks, Kohoutek1138. Tkbrett (✉) 16:37, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

"Tambourine Man" is slang for a person who's selling marijuana. If I dig for it, I could probably find a source for this . . . Here's maybe one source (I'm seeing a lot of them): https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/uptlsci

I've not heard the term before personally, but I strongly suspect that this slang term became popular after the release of Dylan and the Byrds' versions of the song. I wouldn't have thought that it was an existing phrase that Dylan took for his song, unless you can find a reliable source that says otherwise. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 16:32, 27 August 2020 (UTC)

Odetta did a version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" on her album Odetta Sings Dylan. Since this was released before the Byrds single or Dylan's album it would be the first record release of the song. Should that be stated in the article? PatConolly (talk) 06:25, 16 November 2022 (UTC)

It definitely should be stated in the artcle if you can find a reliable 3rd party source that supports the fact that Odetta's was the first recorded release of the song. Assuming that the January 1965 release date for Odetta Sings Dylan listed on the AllMusic website is correct, then the album would likely have been recorded mid-to-late 1964, and definitly prior to the Byrds' version (which was recorded January 1965). The article states that The Brothers Four also recorded a version before the Byrds, but it went unreleased at the time. So, I don't know how their version/recording might impact on Odetta's version being the first? Basically, I would urge you to do some research and if you can find some reliable inline references that support the claim about Odetta's version being the first recording of the song, by all means add it to the article. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 10:46, 17 November 2022 (UTC)
I've been reading all the 1965 issues of Billboard, Cash Box, and Record World, looking for earliest notice of songs in my home collection. I don't think I can find an explicit statement in those that  "Mr. Tambourine Man" first appeared on the Odetta album. These industry magazines really didn't care about things like that. To them, "Mr. Tambourine Man" was no more important than "This Diamond Ring". It's possible that some later book does make that statement, but it might take a long time to find one. E.g. the listing for the song in The Encyclopedia of Great Popular Songs, by Steve Sullivan, doesn't mention Odetta.
For now, in the section "Other recordings", after the sentence referring to the Brothers Four, I could add a separate sentence for Odetta saying that the song appeared on her album and find a contemporary cite showing a release month of January or February. Then readers could conclude for themselves that this was the first release. PatConolly (talk) 21:20, 17 November 2022 (UTC)
As it turns out, the Odetta album was released in early March, not January. By the way, I'm not talking about the first cover recorded, but the first version released. PatConolly (talk) 04:33, 18 November 2022 (UTC)

It might be worth mentioning that composer John Corigliano Jr. set the lyrics of “Mr Tambourine Man” to new modern classical orchestral music (without having heard Dylan’s  song) as part of his Grammy award-winning piece, Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan (2003) Jock123 (talk) 16:04, 9 January 2024 (UTC)

Please note the comments in the "Odetta - first released recording ?" section of this page.  I would normally put the following comments there but feel, especially for such an important song, that these details are significant enough to warrant a separate section.
And please correct my research where incorrect.
On Wikipedia, and other sources, there's a lot of confusion about the first release of this song.
I'm specifically discussing the first release, not the first recording.  "Release" and "recording" appear to have been conflated in this talk section (subsection "Odetta - first released recording ?") and elsewhere.
The article currently relies on an April 21, 1978 "The Straight Dope" newspaper column that says:

Meanwhile, the Brothers Four, a once beloved folk group that had fallen on hard times, had recorded a highly commercial cover version of the song–a guaranteed comeback.  But when Dylan's anticipated first version failed to appear, the group was caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place, unable to release their dynamite single.  It sat in the vaults until Dylan issued his approved version some months later-but in the meantime, the Byrds had recorded their cover version.
However, from my research, primarily from Billboard, the release (not recording) history of this song has Odetta as the first to actually release the song:

Odetta - Odetta Sings Dylan:
First mention in Billboard: March 6, 1965, New Album Releases section, page 38
The Brothers Four – The Honey Wind Blows:
First mention in Billboard: March 13, 1965, New Album Releases section, page 28
Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home:
Released March 22, 1965 - the release date given pretty much everywhere (including on Wikipedia).
[Edit] I was suspicious of this release date due to it being so far before the first mention in Billboard.  Others have expressed similar suspicions.  See the "I'm pretty sure March 22, 1965, is too early for release date" section of the Bringing It All Back Home talk page for more discussion.
First mention in Billboard: April 17, 1965, New Album Releases section, page 31
The Byrds:
Single: Columbia 4-43271, April 12, 1965
First mention in Billboard: April 24, 1965, Singles Reviews/Spotlights section, page 43
Album: Mr. Tambourine Man, Columbia CS 9172, June 21, 1965
Note that, of the above listed releases, only the version by The Byrds was released as a single before being released on an album (from my research).
The text from the "The Straight Dope" column specifically states that the release of The Brothers Four version was held up pending Dylan's first release.  (The Odetta release is not mentioned.)  But even the (near?)-universally given release date of Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home (March 22, 1965 per Billboard) is after the release of both Odetta's Odetta Sings Dylan (March 6, 1965 per Billboard) and the The Brothers Four's release (March 13, 1965 per Billboard).
Despite the legacy of the 1978 article in The Straight Dope, it seems that that information is incorrect.
All things considered, I would expect Billboard to be more accurate than a newspaper column, which, around 1978, probably relied, directly or indirectly, on publications like Billboard for it's information, and, back then, if they messed up, no one would likely notice before publication.
Wantnot (talk) 20:45, 18 May 2024 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure March 22, 1965 is too early for Bringing It All Back Home. See my writeup on
Talk:Bringing It All Back Home - Wikipedia
PatConolly (talk) 06:11, 8 December 2024 (UTC)
Yoinks.  That's quite a writeup.
I was suspicious of the Bringing It All Back Home release date given the first mention in Billboard is just short of a month after the widely-used release date.  It didn't affect the change I was commenting about so I didn't mention my doubt - though, in hindsight, I should have said something.
And goll dang, the conversation, and linked discussions, that your "I'm pretty sure March 22, 1965..." comment engendered was great to see.  Documenting sources like Honolulu Star-Bulletin and The Palo Alto Times for more details.  Are they more accurate?  Maybe yes.  Maybe no.  But these are important details for research.  I love it.
I'm big on accuracy on this site.  Partially, like you mentioned, for my own collection, but mostly because there's a lot of incorrect information all over the internet that is clearly based on details from this site - if not copy/pasted.  And this gets propagated.
If Wikipedia is going to be the be-all-and-end-all source of information for a big chunk of the web, it's got to be accurate.
I know there are others like me on this site but this is the first time I've crossed paths with them.
I very much appreciate your reply.  I'll update my comment with a link to your discussion.  Evidently, I need to gets me a decent source for "Record World" issues...
I completely stumbled on your comment.  Til now, I had assumed I'd get a notification for talk page replies.  Obviously not.  Unless I've been blind to it, that "subscribe" button seems pretty new.  I'm going to start using it.  I don't want to miss any more replies like yours.
Wantnot (talk) 10:26, 30 December 2024 (UTC)
And I just now saw your reply. Regarding a decent source for Record World (which you may have found by now anyway), the same website where I look up Billboard issues also has many Record World issues RECORD WORLD MAGAZINE: 1955 to 1956  - And I have no idea why that URL displays here as "1955 to 1956" when it's a link for the entire page 1955 to 1982. I'm glad you mentioned the "subscribe" links - I never noticed them before.
PatConolly (talk) 20:32, 24 February 2025 (UTC)
Thank you.  That link will be very helpful.
Wantnot (talk) 07:09, 11 March 2025 (UTC)