The Byrds Play Dylan

Barnes & Noble

He had the songs, they had the sound. Together they invented folk-rock, and the foundation of the genre can be found here in its glorious flowering and eventual fruition. The Byrds became both stars and rock icons with their 1965 recording of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man." Over the next six years, the band would record more of Dylan's classic songs, all of which are collected in this historically significant compilation. Amazingly, the Byrds got the new sound down from the start; early interpretations of "Chimes of Freedom," "Lay Down Your Weary Tune," "Spanish Harlem Incident," and "All I Really Want to Do" perfectly mate Beatles-pop with Dylan's literate message, all carried along by Roger McGuinn's trademark 12-string guitar lines and the group's soaring vocal harmonies. Later renditions possess similar power, from the brilliant transformation of "My Back Pages" and the proto-country-rock kick of "You Ain't Going Nowhere" and "Nothing Was Delivered" to the rockish drive of "Positively 4th Street" and "This Wheel's on Fire." The Byrds certainly carved their own identity apart from Dylan, but the combination of the two consistently produced sonic gold. Steve Futterman

Rolling Stone

Lots of folks cover Bob Dylan, but nobody plays him like the Byrds did.... [Their] early symbiotic relationship with Dylan was integral to his becoming the poet laureate of popular music. Mark Kemp