How “Mr. Tambourine Man” Gave Rise to the Folk Rock Genre
The Byrds melded the music of Bob Dylan and The Beatles
Somewhere between the acoustic/lyrical nature of folk and the electric instrumentation of rock lies the genre known as “folk rock.”
This magical melding of two opposing musical styles is often said to have started in the mid-Sixties with Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Dylan released the song in March 1965 on the acoustic side of his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. Dylan’s version of the song is done in the traditional pared-down folksinger style with guitar and harmonica.
In April 1965, an adaptation of “Mr. Tambourine Man” was released by The Byrds as their debut single on Columbia Records, Dylan’s label. The version by The Byrds was decidedly different. The Byrds up-tempoed Dylan’s song, shortened it by several stanzas and added three-part harmonies, electric guitars and drums (much like The Beatles). That created what, at the time, was an entirely new sound, soon to be labeled “folk rock.” Reportedly, Dylan heard the group rehearsing “Mr. Tambourine Man” in late 1964 and liked the rendition so much that it influenced him to use electric instrumentation for several of the songs on Bringing It All Back Home.
