Bob Dylan Made David Crosby Want to Permanently Quit Music

With The Byrds, David Crosby covered a number of Bob Dylan songs. The band changed Dylan’s perception of how his music could sound, and the covers brought them a good deal of success. Crosby often spoke about his appreciation for Dylan. When he first heard the other artist, though, he wasn’t exactly impressed. After listening a bit more, though, Crosby wondered if he should quit music altogether.

David Crosby shared his favorite Bob Dylan song

Dylan loved The Byrds’ cover of “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Fittingly, this was Crosby’s favorite Dylan song.

“Appropriately enough, my favorite is ‘Mr. Tambourine Man,’” Crosby told Stereogum. “Our manager knew Bob’s manager [when I was in the Byrds], and got an early tape of Bob singing this thing with another folk singer. It was really terrible, it was a really bad demo. They were out of tune and they were all screwed up. It was absolutely nonsense. But we heard these words. ‘To dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free.’ We were entranced.”

Crosby appreciated the beauty of Dylan’s lyrics, even in his simplest songs.

“Bob is a freaking wonderful poet,” Crosby said. “He’s a really skillful, inspired poet. His handling of words at that point in his life, is about as good as anybody is, period. That’s what really struck me. Musically, it’s a really simple old tune. It’s no problem. But the lyrics are stunning. You’ve read ’em, didn’t they stun you? That’s the case over and over again with his songs.”

David Crosby wasn’t too impressed when he first heard Bob Dylan

When Crosby first heard Dylan, though, he wasn’t all that impressed. Dylan’s voice can be an acquired taste, and all Crosby could think was that he was a more talented singer.

“The first time I saw Bob, I was still a folk singer and Bob was still a folk singer,” Crosby recalled. “He was playing at one of the big clubs in the Village. He was playing there and I snuck in. I sat there and I listened to him and I said, ‘Well, s***, I can sing better than that.’”

As he listened more, though, Crosby grew increasingly impressed.

“Then it penetrated to me what he was singing,” he said. “I listened to the words. Then I thought seriously about just quitting the business and taking up another line of work. I knew I couldn’t match that.”

Dylan should be grateful Crosby didn’t quit music

Luckily for Dylan, Crosby didn’t quit. By the time The Byrds covered “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Dylan had grown tired of the acoustic folk music that had lifted him to success. Hearing their electric version of the song opened up a world of possibility for him.

“When we played ‘Tambourine Man’ for him, you could hear the gears going in his head, man,” Crosby recalled. “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.”

Would Dylan have eventually electrified his sound had he not heard The Byrds’ cover? Probably, but the band provided him with much-needed inspiration. Had Crosby quit music, Dylan wouldn’t have received this.