The musician that David Crosby called “the archetype”
When David Crosby first saw Bob Dylan play a set at Gerde’s Folk City, he needed to sneak in because he couldn’t afford a ticket. After slipping into the gig, his first takeaway was that Dylan was “reasonably good-looking” but that he could sing better than the freewheelin’ troubadour. But the initial bravado melted away when he heard the lyrics. Indeed, Dylan’s words scored Crosby his first taste of success with The Byrds when his band covered ‘Mr Tambourine Man’.
Although their personalities significantly differed, Crosby being infamously volatile and Dylan more subdued and mercurial, they built up a friendship based on mutual respect over the years. Crosby clearly admired Dylan both on and off stage and heralded the songwriter as “the archetype” musicians should follow, owing to the fact he was “mysterious” but “extremely fucking good in what he did”.
While The Byrds’ covers of Dylan’s material were an extension of Crosby’s reverence for him, they also profoundly impacted Dylan himself – at least, according to Crosby. “It was a crucial moment in [Dylan’s] life,” said Crosby of their 1965 album Mr. Tambourine Man.
“I don’t think he had heard anyone play his stuff electric before that,” he told Stereogum. “I’m pretty sure we were the first ones. When we played ‘Tambourine Man’ for him, you could hear the gears going in his head, man. He was watching intensely. He went straight out and got himself an electric band. Right away. Like, the next day. He knew what that was – he knew what we did.”
The two were each pioneers in their own right, but Crosby’s brand of individuality often lent itself to bitter feuds. He would have been wise to take a leaf out of Dylan’s book, who was equally eccentric but more effusive than Crosby. “He’s not an easy guy,” insisted Crosby, who was often accused of the same tricky behaviour. “To this day, he’s not an easy guy. He doesn’t welcome you in with open arms and show you who Bob is. He likes being mysterious. He likes being oblique. And he’s smart enough to pull it off.”
Dylan shared Crosby’s attitude, taking to this 2004 memoir, Chronicles: Volume One, to outline his thoughts on Crosby’s character. “Crosby was a colourful and unpredictable character, wore a Mandrake the Magician cape, didn’t get along with too many people and had a beautiful voice,” wrote Dylan.
But what united them was that they always believed that artistry was more important than personality. With that in mind, Dylan acknowledged his often unstable moods, praising him as an “architect” of harmonies. “He was tottering on the brink of death even then and could freak out a whole city block all by himself, but I liked him a lot,” he wrote.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.