US and Them: American Rock's Reconquista

Abstract

This paper will examine the role of a single record, Mr Tambourine Man by the Byrds, in the fight back against the British Pop Invasion. It will suggest that this short work incorporates and assimilates musical discourses from both the American tradition (including Greil Marcus's “old, weird America”) and the British pop phenomenon (the Searchers, the Beatles) to create an example of bricolage par excellence. The paper will draw on both academic and music industry sources, including interviews conducted by the writer, to construct a rounded and illuminating point of view.

Notes

1. He tells the story in his solo gigs, as witnessed by the author, passim; see also McGuinn's CD Live from Mars, track 18.

2. In a review of Dylan's The Bootleg Series Volume 6: Live 1964—Concert at Philharmonic Hall, Word magazine, April 2004, 144.

3. See Live from Mars, track 20.

4. Information available from a number of sources but confirmed to author in a personal interview at Porthcawl Pavilion, South Wales, on 8 June 2001.

5. Even though McGuinn was part of the City Surfers, who put out “Beach Ball” in 1963.

6. Sometimes, however, a guitar is just a guitar: “I guess when I play it I feel like Roger McGuinn….I'll never sell mine. Not just because of the associations with McGuinn and the Byrds, although that's important; it's also because it is such a beautiful instrument to look at and hold” (Ryan and Peterson 96).

7. From Peter, Paul and Mary to Sonny and Cher, The Turtles and the man himself.