walking upstream…
The Byrds
The Byrds took Bob Dylan's songwriting and Beatles-inspired amplification and welded them to Roger McGuinn's chiming twelve-string Rickenbacker, more or less inventing folk rock with 1965's "Mr. Tambourine Man." They kept moving fast from there, pioneering raga rock, psychedelia, and eventually country rock before the decade was out. Almost every jangly guitar band of the following sixty years owes them a debt, whether they know it or not.
the sound in question
1965
Mr. Tambourine ManThe Byrds
walk the tributaries ↓
Bob Dylan1960s · Folk / Folk rock / Rock
The Byrds' breakthrough single was, quite literally, Bob Dylan's own "Mr. Tambourine Man" — a folk song from Bringing It All Back Home turned electric, harmonized, and sped into the record that effectively created folk rock as a genre.
listen: upstream & here
1965
Mr. Tambourine ManBob Dylan
1965
Mr. Tambourine ManThe Byrds
listen forPlay Dylan's spare, harmonica-led original of "Mr. Tambourine Man" back to back with the Byrds' jangling, harmony-stacked electric version — same words, same melody, a completely different genre by the time the Byrds were through with it.
Pete Seeger1950s · Folk
"Turn! Turn! Turn!" is Pete Seeger's own adaptation of the Book of Ecclesiastes, written years before the Byrds turned it electric and rode it to a number-one hit — one of the clearest possible lines from folk-revival songwriting straight into 1960s rock radio.
listen: upstream & here
1962
Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)Pete Seeger
1965
Turn! Turn! Turn!The Byrds
listen forListen to Pete Seeger's hushed, acoustic "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" next to the Byrds' chiming, drum-driven version — identical words and melody, transformed entirely by amplification and harmony.
The Beatles1960s · Rock / Pop rock
Roger McGuinn has said watching George Harrison play a Rickenbacker twelve-string in A Hard Day's Night was what sent him out to buy his own — the single guitar decision that defined the Byrds' entire sound.
listen: upstream & here
1964
A Hard Day's NightThe Beatles
1965
I'll Feel a Whole Lot BetterThe Byrds
listen forHear the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" next to the Byrds' "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" — that same ringing, unmistakable twelve-string chime opens both songs before the band even properly starts.