Mr. Tambourine Man

Dylan began it in February 1964 after Mardi Gras in New Orleans and finished it in March or April. Judy Collins says he finished it at her home, while Al Aronowitz says it was at Dylan's. He recorded it on 15 January 1965 at Columbia's New York studio, with Tom Wilson producing, on acoustic guitar and harmonica, with Bruce Langhorne on electric guitar.

The Byrds recorded their version on 20 January 1965 with Terry Melcher producing, and released it on 12 April 1965. It reached number one in both the US and UK. Dylan has denied that the song is about drugs. He cited Fellini's La Strada as an influence, and Langhorne inspired the image of the tambourine man.

Live

He may first have played it at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 17 May 1964. He played it at a Newport workshop on 24 July 1964 and at Philharmonic Hall on 31 October 1964, a recording released as Bootleg Series Vol. 6. His acoustic return at Newport on 25 July 1965 included it. The Manchester version of May 1966 is on Bootleg Series Vol. 4, and he played it at the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh. setlist.fm logs 939 performances.