Mr. Tambourine Man

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's not overstating the case to contend that the Byrds' debut is the font from which all folk-rock spouts. The Bob Dylan-penned title track hit No. 1 two months before the album arrived, in the process heralding a new sound that braided involved lyrics with a driving beat, chiming guitars, and vaguely trippy harmonies. The album (and, indeed, it is an album, rather than a haphazard collection of songs, as was the standard of the day) followed through on the promise of the single. Four of the dozen songs on the original pressing were Dylan compositions, but the originals from Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn nearly matched their appeal, particularly "I Feel a Whole Lot Better", perhaps the quintessential Byrds tune. This 1996 reissue includes a half-dozen previously unreleased tracks. --Steven Stolder

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Customer reviews

review by: davethorn13 date: 2006-07-18 rating:
A seminal antique
Though not too obvious for many years, The Byrds' debut album can now be regarded as a huge influence on the development of rock music. 12-string playing in general during the last twenty years or so seems to take its cue from here, though no one has replicated those wonderful delicately-layered vocal harmonies. The Byrds and Bob Dylan owe a mutual debt, they for Bob providing them with ammo, Bob for having his material popularised. It's already clear here though that Gene Clark was a fine writer in his own right. Dylan has the words, but Clark has the dynamic tunes, not only 'Feel A Whole Lot Better', but the faintly Beatlesque 'You Won't Have To Cry' and 'It's No Use'. 'Here With You' has a great moodiness to it too. I can forgive them 'We'll Meet Again', though I usually skip it and, besides, 'She has A Way' is a great bonus track. Though only forty-five minutes, including nearly ten of alternative versions, 'Mr Tambourine Man' packs quality.

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review by: date: 2005-02-23 rating:
Wonderful music, bargain price - Timeless Flight!
This box is a bargain: the three first Byrds albums, all remastered with extra tracks, detailed liner notes and photographs. Here is some of the most joyous and uplifting music ever produced - particularly the songs of Gene Clark which grace the first two collections. Also listen to the singing: Clark's especially. Soulful as well as beautifully harmonious. Here is where the sixties really took off. Enjoy the Timeless Flight!

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review by: date: 2004-07-21 rating:
Jangly guitars rule OK
The price of the 3 CD box set gets this purchase off to a good start. Before buying the set I was familiar with the usual tracks that made the charts but was interested in hearing other album material that was so far unknown to me. In general terms the tracks seem very similar to one another with jangly 12 string electric guitar up front in the mix and the characteristic Byrds harmonies with the beguiling gap in the middle of the harmony. Sometimes this works to great effect and one of my favourite tracks is "I knew I'd want you" which was the B side to "Mr Tambourine Man". However for me this sound formula starts to grate and when one considers the variety of music that the Beatles were producing at the same time, it seems odd that the Byrds stuck to the same formula for so many of the songs. For me I'll probably extract the handfull of tracks that are worth listening to and burn them to a CD and forget the rest. So in the end you get what you pay for.

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review by: date: 2004-03-13 rating:
Byrds
What can i say?
You NEED these albums, these are there best albums done by the byrds with Mr Tambourine Man and Turn, Tuwn, Turn being the more stronger albums. The Bryds are very underated, kind of tucked away for the more appealing bands from that era.
BUY BUY BUY!


review by: Pete the music fan date: 2004-02-25 rating:
Classic debut album
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.

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