On this date 50 years ago The Byrds recorded "Mr. Tambourine Man." That band wasn't the first to do it—Bob Dylan wrote the original version of the song and recorded it just five days prior to The Byrds entering the studio with it—but it would end up that the latter ended up more famous than the first. The song reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been cited as the birthplace of "folk rock" (fans of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and everything to follow are thankful). Many acts have gone on to cover the track (aside from The Byrds) so Music Times gathered a few of the more famous versions and ranked them accordingly.
06) William Shatner (1968)
Everyone who knows of William Shatner's music career knows that he's not renowned for his crooning. Rather, the Star Trek actor performs in a rather spoken word style, seemingly contemplating the lyrics of standards as he goes along, or taking melodramatic turns with the material. Everything is in play on his recording of "Mr. Tambourine Man," which was paired with "Theme from Cyrano" on Shatner's original album, The Transformed Man, an experimental record combining pop lyrics with Shakespearean prose. The actor addresses the titular musician, seemingly recalling the Enterprise when he mentions the "magic swirling ship," and then he ends the song by screaming "Mr. Tambourine Man" as if he was yelling at Khan.
05) Frankie Valli The Four Seasons (2014)
Some critics will give the benefit of the doubt, that at least he was trying to be humorous with his over-the-top interpretations of '60s pop classics (although the actor himself has not admitted to such). Either way, it was humorous. There's certainly nothing wrong with trying new styles with previously recorded songs, but we feel the way you receive "Mr. Tambourine Man" as performed by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons depends on how much you enjoy that group to begin with. Released during 2014 on The Classic Albums Box, a collection featuring nearly 200 tracks from the vocal group, the inimitable falsetto of Valli's backing men just doesn't do anything for us in the context of this song. There's some degree of psychedelic lyricism going on here that our grandfather's pop sensibility just doesn't mesh with.
04) Stevie Wonder (1966)
If any record label could turn out great new renditions of previously recorded songs, it was Motown. And indeed, this early release from Stevie Wonder off of his 1966 Down To Earth album passes muster but it doesn't touch the original, or some of the better covers that exist. Plus it reminds us too much of the R&B star's 1964 single "Hey Harmonica Man" (at least in theme), which had more success on the charts. The backing soul vocals work better than The Four Seasons however and Wonder brings piano into the mix, which sets this version apart.
03) The Byrds (1965)
Now we court controversy, as The Byrds' version of events has typically been the most praised by American audiences, at least in terms of chart success. But was it really? No doubt it was the most relevant, having kickstarted folk rock and all but we'd argue that the quiet vocal delivery of the song's lyrics takes away from the headstrong fashion in which the track's originator, Dylan, normally performed. Undoubtedly that take on the approach helped sell it to the masses but we'll take Dylan's voice any day. The major factor separating this from the original: The Byrds cleaved the song nearly in two, bringing it down to a much more manageable length for a pop single. That's dangerous work when dealing with Dylan.
02) Bob Dylan (1965)
As we just mentioned, Dylan's original take on "Mr. Tambourine Man" stretched well beyond the five-minute mark, meaning it wasn't quite the Hot 100-topping track that The Byrds transformed it into. That hasn't taken away from any of the rest of the folk icon's discography however. Can you imagine a rendition of "Like A Rolling Stone" where the covering performer cut out a verse or two to save time? Of course not. This is an entirely different animal of course, but we listen to Dylan for the narrative and we'll take everything he can give us, including all the extra text left out of every version to come. That said, we'll play the devil's advocate to our own advocacy and suggest that another version of the slimmed-down track was even better, doing a better job of what The Byrds intended.
01) The Beau Brummels (1966)
The Beau Brummels have been unjustly cast by the wayside in the history of American folk, and perhaps some of our bias came into play when ranking the trio's version of "Mr. Tambourine Man." The group was playing the same folk rock employed by The Byrds around the time Beau Brummels '66 came into play but the band was working its way toward the signature sound of its acclaimed "psychedelic folk" album Triangle during 1967. The group's appreciation for Dylan's trippier moments during "Tambourine Man" can be heard in the voice of Sal Valentino and the folk atmosphere of the band's instrumentals kept the folk rock element in play as well.
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