Song of the Day 7/27: Bob Dylan, “Mr. Tambourine Man”

One of the pleasures of the internet is the easy access to historical footage, and I always get a kick out of early performances of now-classic music. I remember when the CD of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie’s 1945 Town Hall concert came out, the most amazing moment wasn’t the music, as great as it was — it was hearing Diz tell the audience the next song was “Salt Peanuts” and getting no reaction, because the audience had never heard it before.

I was reminded of this clip by Joni Mitchell’s Newport Folk Festival appearance on Sunday. This was the year before Dylan’s infamous 1965 set on which he “went electric,” and months before the song was released on “Bringing It All Back Home.” But Dylan had written it earlier in 1964 and recorded two versions, one with Ramblin’ Jack Elliot singing harmony, the other as a publisher’s demo.

He’s clearly played it live before, as a few in the crowd applaud when he announces it, but not so often that he doesn’t stumble over the lyrics once in delivering it. The future Nobel laureate was 23 years old.

Dylan’s own version was soon overshadowed by the jangle-pop arrangement Roger McGuinn gave the song for the Byrds, who released their single the month after Dylan’s LP dropped. It went to No. 1 and established the template for the thousands of folk rock bands that followed.