Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" vs. the Byrds?

what does this even mean? i didn't say "write"!

Byrds. Presumably One Of The Most Important Records Ever.

It is possible to appreciate both in their different ways.

But on reflection, Dylan's version doesn't do that much for me.

"Bells Of Rhymney"

Madonna's "American Pie"

LB's "Jealous Guy"

DJ Sammy "Boys Of Summer"

Dylan wins by a mile.

i like dylan's slightly more. the byrds' version is as pristine and beautiful as their other hits, but dylan's performance is extraordinary. it's one of his ugliest-sounding vocals - he practically belches a few lines - but he really conveys the 'trip' of the song in a way that the byrds don't even try to.

(cue a million weirdos telling me i am a fool and that that is a MYTH.)

Byrds' 'Lay Lady Lay' is elemental, that harpsichord-esque guitar seems to scan broad circles high above a stationary earth as the sun soaks the pristine innocence of a 60's I never lived in

Others I give to the Byrds: Bells Of Rhymney, All I Really Wanna Do

Dylan wins Chimes Of Freedom and Mr Tambourine Man

FITE!

(For those of you who thought you had me nailed, I was BROUGHT UP on this stuff + a lot of American rock, and this debate is quite an interesting one to me)

love them both -- my fave version might be Dylan live in 1966. Who else has done this song (aside from Shatner)?

this thread makes me so mad. geir should be banned from the internets. maybe someone should take him for a walk or something.

i was right seven years ago.

byrds acoustic version of "tambourine man" on that Royal Albert Hall live disc is pretty ace. kind of splits the diff betw. the original byrds version and dylan. i think it's just mcguinn and clarence white.

i need to hear that! thanks.

never dylan, ever

My gushing about Dylan upthread still sells his version short. This was such a critical song and critical recording for me as a teenager. Twenty years on and I can still remember being in my bedroom listening to my parents' copy of Greatest Hits in the morning before school and being so drawn into this thing, it sounded like nothing I'd heard before.

The cuts for length by the Byrds are understandable given their goals but they cripple the song - not so much the specific lyrics they leave out, but simply the idea of making this song into a diverting 2:18 pleasantry. Sonically it was just as much of a bombshell but it totally loses the unhurried sense of Dylan's, which perfectly fits the narrative of the hazy, pleasantly-bleary, maybe-a-dream morning drift in the tambourine man's wake.

the thing about the byrds version is that, as good a recording as it is, it could basically be any song. it doesn't even really feel like the same composition as dylan's song. i like the byrds track because i like basically everything they did in that era, but the quips way upthread about dylan's song being a "demo" for the byrds version are so far off it's ridiculous.

i'd contrast that w/ hendrix's "all along the watchtower" where hendrix really seems to be determined to get across the dread and terror in dylan's song, despite how different his version sounds from the original.

deems otm

Dylan's versions of his songs are better than the covers in nearly ever case, but especially this one

the fact that geir preferred the byrds version makes me think that the superiority of the dylan version ought to be an official fact, like put it in the britannica or something

dylan's tambourine man is a song, the byrds tambouring man is a record

Not trying to duck the question--I think they're both incredible, as are these clips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeP4FFr88SQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUSeJtqHIKE

I only barely think of them as the same song anymore.