Talk:Mr. Tambourine Man

message: 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)
thread_title: Who Was the Bassist that came up with that iconic bass line in the outro

message: 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)
thread_title: Shatner

message: 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)
thread_title:  MR TAMBOURINE MAN 

message: 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)
replies: text: 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)
thread_title:  Hal Blaine on drums? 

message: 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)
thread_title:  Byrds version 

message: 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)
replies: text: 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)
thread_title: Suggestions

message: "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)
thread_title:  interpretations 

message: 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)
thread_title:  John Corigliano 

message: 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).
::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)
thread_title:  Release (not recording) details from Billboard (plus a bit more) for Major Early Releases (i.e., Odetta, The Brothers Four, Bob Dylan, The Byrds)