Bob Dylan Wrote This Classic In 1964 — The Byrds Turned It Into A No. 1 Hit One Year Later

Two big folk-rock happenings occurred in 1964: Bob Dylan added to his live set list a brand-new song he wrote called "Mr. Tambourine Man," and the Byrds formed in Los Angeles. In the following year, the Byrds covered that Dylan song as its initial single, and it propelled them to great success and significantly increased the profile of its composer. Dylan may be a rock legend with zero No. 1 hits on the Hot 100, but the Byrds took the musician's "Mr. Tambourine Man" all the way to the top.

"Mr. Tambourine Man," a shimmering, vibrating, and powerful tune propelled by Roger McGuinn's electric 12-string guitar and prominent harmony vocals from David Crosby is a No. 1 song that proves 1965 was the decade's best for folk music. It also preceded years of hits for the Byrds and brought attention to Dylan when he was just on the verge of superstardom. Here's how a band took a song written by someone else and made it into their most successful and signature track.

Bob Dylan has a habit of shopping his works. Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" is so iconic that the biggest names in music couldn't resist covering it in the 1990s, mirroring the 1960s response to "Mr. Tambourine Man." As for how the Byrds came to cover it, Jim Dickson was a player in the Los Angeles folk scene of the era, and after he obtained a copy of Dylan's rough cut of "Mr. Tambourine Man," he persuaded his associates in the Byrds to cut a demo. When Columbia Records signed the band, Dickson helped oversee production of the Byrds' first album, but lacking the resources to capture a completely new recording of "Mr. Tambourine Man," studio musicians bolstered Roger McGuinn on guitar and lead vocals and David Crosby and Gene Clark on backup. In June 1965, "Mr. Tambourine Man" became the No. 1 song in the U.S.

Dylan recorded "Mr. Tambourine" for 1965's "Bringing It All Back Home," which started selling after the Byrds took flight. A month after "Mr. Tambourine Man" reached the apex, Dylan entered the Hot 100 for the first time with "Like a Rolling Stone," eventually his biggest pop hit ever with a No. 2 peak. He never harbored animosity about missing out on the No. 1 spot. Dylan said in 2015 in his MusiCares Person of the Year speech (via Billboard) that along with the Turtles and Sonny & Cher, the Byrds "made some of my songs Top 10 hits, but I wasn't a pop songwriter, and I really didn't want to be that, but it was good that it happened."