The Byrds: David Crosby (guitar, vocals); Jim McGuinn (12-string guitar, vocals); Chris Hillman (bass, vocals); Gene Clark (tambourine, vocals); Michael Clarke (drums). Reissue producer: Bob Irwin. Recorded between January 20, 1965 and April 22, 1965. Includes original liner notes by Billy James, and new liner notes by David Fricke and Johnny Rogan. Few debut singles in the history of rock and roll have had the immediate and overwhelming impact of The Byrds' version of Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man. Marrying a Beatles-like electric jangle to Dylan's insight and folky melody (in many ways, breaking Dylan to the pop market), it not only forecast the band's influence on the future of pop music but reestablished an American rock and roll presence in the face of the British Invasion. The album of the same name, released in June of '65, was a shotgun blast before the cannon roar that Dylan's HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED (released just two months later) would become. Much as Bob Dylan was an overwhelming influence on the young Byrds--four of the twelve tracks on MR. TAMBOURINE MAN were Dylan songs--his contributions were only a part of what made the band special. All by its lonesome, the chiming sound of McGuinn's 12-string guitar was the group's backbone, characterizing The Byrds' presence in a way few rock instrumentalists had done until then. Gene Clark proved to be a mighty songwriter in his own right--I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better has stood the test of time better than any other track here. Yet, what distinguished The Byrds and MR. TAMBOURINE MAN most was that they couldn't be easily pigeonholed. Combining disparate musical backgrounds (three folkies, a bassist raised on bluegrass, and a jazzbo drummer) and openly reconstructing everything from a British war-time standard (We'll Meet Again) to a Jackie DeShannon pop tune (Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe) in their own open-minded image, The Byrds kicked down the door to a new rock and roll. Many would soon follow.