Mr. Tambourine Man

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For The Byrds' album of the same name, see Mr. Tambourine Man (album).

"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song, written and performed by Bob Dylan, and featured on his 1965 album, Bringing It All Back Home, produced by Tom Wilson. It was a number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 by The Byrds, recorded on January 20, 1965, before the release of Dylan's own version. The single arrived in the shops on April 12, 1965, later included on their debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man, released around the time the single topped the charts. The album brought the folk-rock sound into mainstream American consciousness.

Two earlier recordings by Dylan of the song, one live at New York's Philharmonic Hall dating from October 31st 1964, and one recorded with Ramblin' Jack Elliott on backing vocals during sessions for Another Side of Bob Dylan (also 1964), have recently been given official releases; they are available on ' (2004) and ' (2005) respectively.

Structurally, the song is notable for the fact that it begins with an iteration of the chorus, rather than following the conventional pop song structure, which typically employs a brief instrumental introduction that leads into the first verse.

There are many theories about the meaning of the song. One interpretation is that the song allusively recounts Dylan's early experiences with LSD, and this is supported by the prominent use of the word "trip" in the first line of the second verse.

The 1995 film Dangerous Minds takes the approach that the song is about a drug deal. Dylan himself claims that the song was inspired by the image of a session musician shaking a tambourine and partly by a trip he took from Los Angeles to New York. He mailed packages of marijuana to post offices along the route so that he would not be caught with the drug.

Bruce Langhorne, the great Greenwich Village folk guitarist, may well have been an inspiration for the song by way of the giant Turkish tambourine-like frame drum he was often known to play in the time leading up to the song's composition;[link][link] he also recorded using the instrument with Richard and Mimi Fariña. The electric guitar accompaniment on the album version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" is among Langhorne's numerous credits on Bob Dylan's recordings.

On the master recording Dylan is playing an acoustic guitar in dropped D tuning, capoed at the third fret. An electric guitar plays a counter melody to back up Dylan's vocals.

On the List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, The Byrds' version of this song placed at number seventy-nine and Dylan's version placed at number 106. It was one of three songs to place twice, with "Walk This Way" by both Aerosmith and Run-DMC with Perry and Tyler, and "Blue Suede Shoes" by both Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley.

Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson requested the song be played at his funeral while his ashes were shot out of a cannon and also dedicated Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to Dylan because of the song.

The song was also covered by Judy Collins in 1965 on Judy Collins' Fifth Album. Many indie bands have also covered this song, notably the Cincinnati experimental group Nevada Smith.

"Mr. Tambourine Man" was also covered in a spoken-word recitation by William Shatner on his 1968 album, The Transformed Man, to considerably less critical acclaim.

The song was translated and sang in Russian by Olga Arefieva as Mister Beliy Grib[link].

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[Lyrics and sound clips]

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