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acoustic guitar artists Arts & Entertainment folk guitar folk music

Dylan Cover: Mr. Tambourine Man


Bob Dylan wrote and recorded the original version of “Mr. Tambourine Man,” but The Byrds’ electrified folk-rock version shot it to #1 on both the US and UK charts. The song hadn’t been released when The Byrds learned it from a demo Dylan gave to their manager, Jim Dickson.

Dylan released Tambourine Man in March 1965 on his Bringing It All Back Home album.

What is “Mr. Tambourine Man” about? On the surface, this tambourine man is a wandering musician whose music has captured Dylan under its spell. The song is considered by many to be about drug experiences, with lines like “Take me for a trip upon your magic swirling ship” and “Take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind.” Phrases like these suggest a marijuana or LSD trip. Dylan is famously close-lipped about explaining his songs, but in his 1985 Biograph compilation album, he revealed that “Mr. Tambourine Man” is not about drugs. Instead, he said the song was inspired by a backup folk musician named Bruce Langhorne, who played a large tambourine in one of Dylan’s recording sessions.

To me, the song’s poetic images are like impressionist paintings. The melody is haunting and mesmerizing. The song stands alone as a true work of art. Here’s my version.

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artists Arts & Entertainment folk music music

Dylan Cover: My Back Pages


“Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

These lyrics and the refrain popped into my head a few mornings ago. This sort of thing has been happening to me frequently these days: Long-forgotten songs resurfacing. It may be a function of the aging process, or it might be the universe talking to me. I kind of hope it’s the latter.

In the 1970s, a group called the Bryds covered a few Bob Dylan songs. They made songs like Mr. Tambourine Man and this one popular. The Bryds’ cover of Mr.Tambourine Man went to number one on the US charts, and their cover of My Back Pages went to thirty. I may have never listened to My Back Pages had it not been for The Byrds. By the way, Roger McGuinn and The Byrds are credited with starting the Folk Rock Revolution. And they inspired Bob Dylan to go electric.

In 1964, Dylan released his fourth album, “Another Side of Life.” Around this time, he began to distance himself from his earlier songs. He claimed his earlier work was not about politics. Instead, it was about universal themes and not individual political issues. In “My Back Pages,” Dylan lambasts himself for his authoritarianism and arrogance.

Moving forward, Dylan’s music focused more on individual consciousness and personal freedom. He is remembered more for his music from 1965-1970 than his earlier work.

To me, the lyrics at the top infer that we tend to think we know it all at a young age. I know that I did. As we age, we gain more wisdom and realize that we know less than we thought we did. This understanding opens us to learning more when we admit that we know little in comparison to what is out there. To be open to learning without imposing pre-existing ideas is to become more pliable and, therefore, young.

Here’s my cover of this powerful song.

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artists Arts & Entertainment folk guitar music

Simple, Honest, Transparent, Beautiful


In a ten-year career tragically cut short by Leukemia, Kate Wolf wrote and performed over 200 songs. Her music is poignant, straightforward, honest, and beautiful. She performed at venues throughout her native state of California. Since her passing in 1986 at the age of 44, Kate’s audience has grown steadily as people like me discover her music. “September Song” (recorded on Kate’s 1979 album “Safe at Anchor”) is one of my favorites.

The song is replete with images. I particularly like the image conjured in the second verse illustrated below:

“The ghost of a frontier lady walks through the tall rooms/Of an old Ontario farmhouse under the full moon.”

Here’s my cover of “September Song.”

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acoustic guitar artists Arts & Entertainment music

Jefferson Airplane: Comin’ Back to Me


Jefferson Airplane was one of the premiere psychedelic rock bands of the nineteen-sixties. The Airplane epitomized the subversive love and drug culture that emerged from psycho-active drugs like LSD, Marijuana, Mescaline, and Peyote. The band came to prominence in San Francisco in 1965. The original group of six, featuring lead singer Grace Slick, had a seven-year run. Later incarnations of the group lasted until 1990, but the original group spawned the songs that mattered. “Comin’ Back to Me” is one of those hits. The piece appeared on the band’s second album, Surrealistic Pillow.

The story behind “Comin’ Back to Me” goes like this. While sharing a joint of righteous Marijuana with blues guitarist and harpist Paul Butterfield, Marty Balin wrote the song in five minutes. “It just popped out,” Balin said in an interview. He immediately went to the studio to record the song with any available musicians there. Jerry Garcia happened to be one of them.

In addition to being one of the Airplane’s greatest hits, the song was covered by major recording artists like Richie Havens, and versions of it appear as background music in several Hollywood feature films.

Here’s my cover of the song.