My Back Pages
Encyclopedia
"My Back Pages" is a song written by Bob Dylan
and included on his 1964 album
, Another Side of Bob Dylan
. It is stylistically similar to his earlier folk
protest song
s and features Dylan's voice with an acoustic guitar
accompaniment. However, its lyrics—in particular the refrain
"Ah, but I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now"—have been interpreted as a rejection of Dylan's earlier personal and political idealism, illustrating his growing disillusionment with the 1960's folk
protest movement
with which he was associated, and his desire to move in a new direction. Despite having been written in 1964, the song was not performed live by Dylan until 1988.
"My Back Pages" has been covered
by artists as diverse as The Byrds
, The Ramones, The Nice
, Steve Earle
, and The Hollies
. The Byrds' version, which was initially released on their 1967 album Younger Than Yesterday
, was also issued as a single in 1967, and proved to be the band's last Top 40 hit
in the U.S.
of "Ancient Memories", and was the last song to be committed to tape
for the album. The song was partly based on the traditional folk song
"Young But Growing
" and has a mournful melody
similar to that of "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
" from Dylan's previous album, The Times They Are a-Changin'
. As with the other songs on Another Side, Dylan is the sole musician on "My Back Pages" and plays in a style similar to his previous protest songs, with a sneering, rough-edged voice and a hard-strumming acoustic guitar accompaniment.
In the song's lyrics, Dylan criticizes himself for having been certain that he knew everything and apologizes for his previous political preaching, noting that he has become his own enemy "in the instant that I preach." Dylan questions whether one can really distinguish between right and wrong, and even questions the desirability of the principle of equality. The lyrics also signal Dylan's disillusionment with the 1960s protest movement and his intention to abandon protest songwriting. The song effectively analogizes the protest movement to the establishment it is trying to overturn. One of the song's most famous lines is the refrain:
Music critic Robert Shelton has interpreted this refrain as "an internal dialogue between what he [Dylan] once accepted and now doubts." Shelton also notes that the refrain maps a path from Blakean
experience to the innocence of William Wordsworth
. The refrain has also been interpreted as Dylan celebrating his "bright, new post-protest future."
Dylan's disenchantment with the protest movement had previously surfaced in a speech he had given in December 1963 when accepting an award from the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (ECLC) in New York. Author Mike Marqusee
has commented that "No song on Another Side distressed Dylan's friends in the movement more than 'My Back Pages' in which he transmutes the rude incoherence of his ECLC rant into the organized density of art. The lilting refrain ... must be one of the most lyrical expressions of political apostasy ever penned. It is a recantation, in every sense of the word."
In an interview with the Sheffield University Paper in May 1965, Dylan explained the change that had occurred in his songwriting over the previous twelve months, noting "The big difference is that the songs I was writing last year ... they were what I call one-dimensional songs, but my new songs I'm trying to make more three-dimensional, you know, there's more symbolism, they're written on more than one level." In late 1965, Dylan commented on the writing of "My Back Pages" specifically during an interview with Margaret Steen for The Toronto Star: "I was in my New York phase then, or at least, I was just coming out of it. I was still keeping the things that are really really real out of my songs, for fear they'd be misunderstood. Now I don't care if they are." As Dylan stated to Nat Hentoff
at the time that "My Back Pages" and the other songs on Another Side of Bob Dylan were written, "There aren't any finger pointing songs [here] ... Now a lot of people are doing finger pointing songs. You know, pointing to all the things that are wrong. Me, I don't want to write for people anymore. You know, be a spokesman."
Dylan did not play "My Back Pages" in concert
until June 11, 1988, during a performance in Mountain View, California
. The arrangement
that Dylan used eliminated some of the song's verses and included an electric guitar
part performed by session musician
G. E. Smith
. Since 1988, Dylan has played the song in concert many times in both electric and semi-acoustic versions, and sometimes as an acoustic encore
. At the 30th Anniversary Tribute Concert to Dylan at Madison Square Garden
in 1992, Dylan performed "My Back Pages" with George Harrison
, Eric Clapton
, Tom Petty
, Neil Young
, and Roger McGuinn
. This performance, which featured vocals from all six musicians, along with guitar solo
s by Clapton and Young, was released on The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
album in 1993.
In addition to its initial appearance on Another Side of Bob Dylan, "My Back Pages" has also appeared on a number of Bob Dylan compilation album
s. In the United States and Europe, it appeared on the 1971 album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II
(aka More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits) and on the 2007 album Dylan
. In Australia, the song was included on the 1994 compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 3.
band
The Byrds
released a recording of "My Back Pages" on February 6, 1967, as part of their fourth album, Younger Than Yesterday
. The title of Younger Than Yesterday was itself directly inspired by the song's refrain of "Ah, but I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now." "My Back Pages" was subsequently issued as a single
by The Byrds on March 13, 1967, with the version included on the single being a radio edit
that omitted the song's second verse, in order to reduce the playing time from 3:08 to 2:31. The single reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100
but failed to chart in the United Kingdom. "My Back Pages" was the last single by The Byrds to reach the Top 40 of the U.S. charts.
The song was initially suggested as a suitable vehicle for the band by their manager Jim Dickson. Lead guitar
ist Jim McGuinn
felt that it would make an effective cover version
, but David Crosby
, the band's rhythm guitar
ist, felt that covering another Dylan song was formulaic. The Byrds had already released a total of six Dylan covers on their first two albums, Mr. Tambourine Man
and Turn! Turn! Turn!
, enjoying particular success with their recordings of "Mr. Tambourine Man
" and "All I Really Want to Do". In spite of Crosby's objections, "My Back Pages" was recorded by the band between December 5 and December 8, 1966, during the recording sessions
for their fourth album. Upon its release, "My Back Pages" was received well by the critics and is today regarded as one of The Byrds' strongest Dylan interpretations. Following its release on Younger Than Yesterday, the song would go on to become a staple of The Byrds' live concert
repertoire, until their final disbandment in 1973. On December 4, 1968, a later line-up of The Byrds re-recorded an excerpt of "My Back Pages" as part of a medley
that was included on their 1969 album, Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde
. The song was also performed live by a reformed line-up of The Byrds featuring Roger McGuinn
, David Crosby, and Chris Hillman
in January 1989.
In addition to its appearance on the Younger Than Yesterday album, The Byrds' original version of "My Back Pages" also appears on several of the band's compilations
, including The Byrds' Greatest Hits
, History of The Byrds
, The Byrds Play Dylan
, The Original Singles: 1967–1969, Volume 2
, The Byrds, The Very Best of The Byrds
, The Essential Byrds
, and There Is a Season
. In 1996, a previously unreleased alternate version of "My Back Pages" (which had been considered for release as a single in 1967) was included as a bonus track on the Columbia/Legacy
reissue of Younger Than Yesterday.
, The Hollies
, The Nice
, Eric Johnson
, The Box Tops
, Carl Verheyen
, Marshall Crenshaw
, Keith Jarrett
, Steve Earle
and La Mancha de Rolando. Austrian singer-songwriter
Wolfgang Ambros
recorded a version of the song named "Alt und Jung". In 1995, the German rock musician Wolfgang Niedecken
recorded a German-language cover of the song with the title "Vill Passiert Sickher" for his album Leopardefell. In addition, a Japanese-language cover by The Magokoro Brothers is included in the soundtrack of the Dylan film Masked and Anonymous
.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and included on his 1964 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Another Side of Bob Dylan
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Another Side of Bob Dylan is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released August 8, 1964 by Columbia Records....
. It is stylistically similar to his earlier folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
protest song
Protest song
A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
s and features Dylan's voice with an acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
accompaniment. However, its lyrics—in particular the refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
"Ah, but I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now"—have been interpreted as a rejection of Dylan's earlier personal and political idealism, illustrating his growing disillusionment with the 1960's folk
American folk music revival
The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
protest movement
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
with which he was associated, and his desire to move in a new direction. Despite having been written in 1964, the song was not performed live by Dylan until 1988.
"My Back Pages" has been covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by artists as diverse as The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, The Ramones, The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
, Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
, and The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
. The Byrds' version, which was initially released on their 1967 album Younger Than Yesterday
Younger Than Yesterday
Younger Than Yesterday is the fourth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in February 1967 on Columbia Records . The album saw the band continuing to integrate elements of psychedelic rock into their music, a process they had begun on their previous LP...
, was also issued as a single in 1967, and proved to be the band's last Top 40 hit
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
in the U.S.
Writing, recording and performance
Bob Dylan wrote "My Back Pages" in 1964 as one of the last songs—perhaps the last song—that he composed for his Another Side of Bob Dylan album. It was recorded on June 9, 1964, under the working titleWorking title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
of "Ancient Memories", and was the last song to be committed to tape
Magnetic tape sound recording
The use of magnetic tape for sound recording originated around 1930. Magnetizable tape revolutionized both the radio broadcast and music recording industries. It did this by giving artists and producers the power to record and re-record audio with minimal loss in quality as well as edit and...
for the album. The song was partly based on the traditional folk song
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
"Young But Growing
The Trees They Grow So High (folk song)
"The Trees They Grow So High" is a British folk song. The song is known by many titles, including "Daily Growing", "Young But Daily Growing" and "Bonny Boy is Young ". It first appeared in print in 1792 as "Lady Mary Ann". The subject of the song is an arranged marriage of a young girl by her...
" and has a mournful melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
similar to that of "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" is a topical song written by the American musician Bob Dylan. Recorded on October 23, 1963, the song was released on Dylan's 1964 album The Times They Are a-Changin and gives a generally factual account of the killing of 51-year-old barmaid Hattie Carroll by...
" from Dylan's previous album, The Times They Are a-Changin'
The Times They Are a-Changin'
The Times They Are a-Changin opens with the title track, one of Dylan's most famous songs. Dylan's friend, Tony Glover, recalls visiting Dylan's apartment in September 1963, where he saw a number of song manuscripts and poems lying on a table. "The Times They Are a-Changin'" had yet to be recorded,...
. As with the other songs on Another Side, Dylan is the sole musician on "My Back Pages" and plays in a style similar to his previous protest songs, with a sneering, rough-edged voice and a hard-strumming acoustic guitar accompaniment.
In the song's lyrics, Dylan criticizes himself for having been certain that he knew everything and apologizes for his previous political preaching, noting that he has become his own enemy "in the instant that I preach." Dylan questions whether one can really distinguish between right and wrong, and even questions the desirability of the principle of equality. The lyrics also signal Dylan's disillusionment with the 1960s protest movement and his intention to abandon protest songwriting. The song effectively analogizes the protest movement to the establishment it is trying to overturn. One of the song's most famous lines is the refrain:
- Ah, but I was so much older then
- I'm younger than that now
Music critic Robert Shelton has interpreted this refrain as "an internal dialogue between what he [Dylan] once accepted and now doubts." Shelton also notes that the refrain maps a path from Blakean
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
experience to the innocence of William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
. The refrain has also been interpreted as Dylan celebrating his "bright, new post-protest future."
Dylan's disenchantment with the protest movement had previously surfaced in a speech he had given in December 1963 when accepting an award from the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (ECLC) in New York. Author Mike Marqusee
Mike Marqusee
Mike Marqusee is an American-born writer, journalist and political activist in London. His partner is the barrister Liz Davies.Marqusee, who describes himself as a "deracinated New York Marxist Jew" has lived in Britain since 1971...
has commented that "No song on Another Side distressed Dylan's friends in the movement more than 'My Back Pages' in which he transmutes the rude incoherence of his ECLC rant into the organized density of art. The lilting refrain ... must be one of the most lyrical expressions of political apostasy ever penned. It is a recantation, in every sense of the word."
In an interview with the Sheffield University Paper in May 1965, Dylan explained the change that had occurred in his songwriting over the previous twelve months, noting "The big difference is that the songs I was writing last year ... they were what I call one-dimensional songs, but my new songs I'm trying to make more three-dimensional, you know, there's more symbolism, they're written on more than one level." In late 1965, Dylan commented on the writing of "My Back Pages" specifically during an interview with Margaret Steen for The Toronto Star: "I was in my New York phase then, or at least, I was just coming out of it. I was still keeping the things that are really really real out of my songs, for fear they'd be misunderstood. Now I don't care if they are." As Dylan stated to Nat Hentoff
Nat Hentoff
Nathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....
at the time that "My Back Pages" and the other songs on Another Side of Bob Dylan were written, "There aren't any finger pointing songs [here] ... Now a lot of people are doing finger pointing songs. You know, pointing to all the things that are wrong. Me, I don't want to write for people anymore. You know, be a spokesman."
Dylan did not play "My Back Pages" in concert
Rock concert
The term rock concert refers to a musical performance in the style of any one of many genres inspired by "rock and roll" music. While a variety of vocal and instrumental styles can constitute a rock concert, this phenomenon is typically characterized by bands playing at least one electric guitar,...
until June 11, 1988, during a performance in Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
. The arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
that Dylan used eliminated some of the song's verses and included an electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
part performed by session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
G. E. Smith
G. E. Smith
George Edward "G. E." Smith is an American guitarist. He was the lead guitarist in the band Hall & Oates and the musical director of Saturday Night Live. Smith was lead guitarist of Bob Dylan's touring band from June 7, 1988 to October 19, 1990...
. Since 1988, Dylan has played the song in concert many times in both electric and semi-acoustic versions, and sometimes as an acoustic encore
Encore (concert)
An encore is an additional performance added to the end of a concert, from the French "encore", which means "again", "some more"; multiple encores are not uncommon. Encores originated spontaneously, when audiences would continue to applaud and demand additional performance from the artist after the...
. At the 30th Anniversary Tribute Concert to Dylan at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in 1992, Dylan performed "My Back Pages" with George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, and Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
. This performance, which featured vocals from all six musicians, along with guitar solo
Guitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
s by Clapton and Young, was released on The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration is a live double-album release in recognition of Bob Dylan's 30 years as a recording artist. Recorded on October 16, 1992 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it captures most of the concert, which featured many artists performing classic Dylan songs,...
album in 1993.
In addition to its initial appearance on Another Side of Bob Dylan, "My Back Pages" has also appeared on a number of Bob Dylan compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s. In the United States and Europe, it appeared on the 1971 album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II , also known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits, was the second compilation album released by Bob Dylan. With Dylan not expected to release any new material for an extended period of time, CBS Records president Clive Davis proposed issuing a double LP compilation of...
(aka More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits) and on the 2007 album Dylan
Dylan (2007 album)
Dylan is a greatest hits collection by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The collection was released on October 2, 2007 by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings with worldwide distribution through Sony BMG...
. In Australia, the song was included on the 1994 compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 3.
The Byrds' version
The American rockRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
released a recording of "My Back Pages" on February 6, 1967, as part of their fourth album, Younger Than Yesterday
Younger Than Yesterday
Younger Than Yesterday is the fourth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in February 1967 on Columbia Records . The album saw the band continuing to integrate elements of psychedelic rock into their music, a process they had begun on their previous LP...
. The title of Younger Than Yesterday was itself directly inspired by the song's refrain of "Ah, but I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now." "My Back Pages" was subsequently issued as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
by The Byrds on March 13, 1967, with the version included on the single being a radio edit
Radio edit
In music, a radio edit is a modification to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form...
that omitted the song's second verse, in order to reduce the playing time from 3:08 to 2:31. The single reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
but failed to chart in the United Kingdom. "My Back Pages" was the last single by The Byrds to reach the Top 40 of the U.S. charts.
The song was initially suggested as a suitable vehicle for the band by their manager Jim Dickson. Lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
ist Jim McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
felt that it would make an effective cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
, but David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
, the band's rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
ist, felt that covering another Dylan song was formulaic. The Byrds had already released a total of six Dylan covers on their first two albums, Mr. Tambourine Man
Mr. Tambourine Man (album)
Mr. Tambourine Man is the debut album by the American folk rock band The Byrds and was released in June 1965 on Columbia Records . The album, along with the single of the same name, established the band as an internationally successful rock act and was also influential in originating the musical...
and Turn! Turn! Turn!
Turn! Turn! Turn! (album)
Turn! Turn! Turn! is the second album by the folk rock band The Byrds and was released in December 1965 on Columbia Records . Like its predecessor, Mr. Tambourine Man, the album epitomized the folk rock genre and continued the band's successful mix of vocal harmony and jangly twelve-string...
, enjoying particular success with their recordings of "Mr. Tambourine Man
Mr. Tambourine Man
"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, which was released on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The Byrds also recorded a version of the song that was released as their first single on Columbia Records, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and...
" and "All I Really Want to Do". In spite of Crosby's objections, "My Back Pages" was recorded by the band between December 5 and December 8, 1966, during the recording sessions
Studio recording
The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.-Studio cast recordings:...
for their fourth album. Upon its release, "My Back Pages" was received well by the critics and is today regarded as one of The Byrds' strongest Dylan interpretations. Following its release on Younger Than Yesterday, the song would go on to become a staple of The Byrds' live concert
Rock concert
The term rock concert refers to a musical performance in the style of any one of many genres inspired by "rock and roll" music. While a variety of vocal and instrumental styles can constitute a rock concert, this phenomenon is typically characterized by bands playing at least one electric guitar,...
repertoire, until their final disbandment in 1973. On December 4, 1968, a later line-up of The Byrds re-recorded an excerpt of "My Back Pages" as part of a medley
Medley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
that was included on their 1969 album, Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde
Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde
Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde is the seventh album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in March 1969 on Columbia Records . The album saw the band juxtaposing simple country rock material with harder-edged psychedelia, giving the album a stylistic split-personality that was alluded to in...
. The song was also performed live by a reformed line-up of The Byrds featuring Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
, David Crosby, and Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
in January 1989.
In addition to its appearance on the Younger Than Yesterday album, The Byrds' original version of "My Back Pages" also appears on several of the band's compilations
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, including The Byrds' Greatest Hits
The Byrds' Greatest Hits
The Byrds' Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in August 1967 on Columbia Records . It is the top-selling album in The Byrds' catalogue and reached #6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart but failed to break into the UK Albums Chart...
, History of The Byrds
History of The Byrds
History of The Byrds is a budget priced, double album compilation by the American rock band The Byrds and was released on May 18, 1973 by CBS Records . The compilation was released exclusively in Europe and the UK, peaking at #47 on the UK Albums Chart, but it was also available in the United...
, The Byrds Play Dylan
The Byrds Play Dylan
The Byrds Play Dylan is the name of two compilation albums by the American rock band The Byrds, one released in 1979 and the other issued in 2002. As their titles suggest, each compilation consists of interpretations of Bob Dylan penned songs, which The Byrds recorded at different stages of their...
, The Original Singles: 1967–1969, Volume 2
The Original Singles: 1967–1969, Volume 2
The Original Singles: 1965-1967, Volume 2 is a compilation album by American rock 'n' roll band The Byrds. Originally released in 1982, it offered, for the first time, all of the mono single versions of the Byrds' singles released between 1967 and early 1969...
, The Byrds, The Very Best of The Byrds
The Very Best of The Byrds
The Very Best of The Byrds is a compilation album by the American rock band The Byrds, released by Columbia Records in 1997. Initially the compilation was only released in Europe but as of 2006, the album has seen some release in the U.S...
, The Essential Byrds
The Essential Byrds
-Disc one:#"Mr. Tambourine Man" – 2:31#"I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" – 2:32#"All I Really Want to Do" – 2:04#"Chimes of Freedom" – 3:51...
, and There Is a Season
There Is a Season
There Is a Season is a four-CD box set by the American rock band The Byrds that was released on September 26, 2006 by Columbia/Legacy. It comprises 99 tracks and includes material from every one of the band's twelve studio albums, presented in roughly chronological order...
. In 1996, a previously unreleased alternate version of "My Back Pages" (which had been considered for release as a single in 1967) was included as a bonus track on the Columbia/Legacy
Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings is Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division. It was founded in 1990 by CBS Records under the leadership of Jerry Shulman, Richard Bauer, Gary Pacheco and Amy Herot to handle reissues of recordings from the vast catalogues of Columbia Records, Epic Records and associated...
reissue of Younger Than Yesterday.
Other covers
The song has been covered by numerous artists, including The Ramones, Po!Po!
Po! was an indie rock band formed in Leicester, England in 1987, with releases dating up to 1998 on Rutland Records.-History:Po! was originally formed by Ruth Miller , with Julian Glover and Mark Fuccio . Usually subsumed under the C86 or twee pop headings - which is not essentially to...
, The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
, The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
, Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson is an American guitarist. Though he is best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, gospel and country and western music into his recordings...
, The Box Tops
The Box Tops
The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...
, Carl Verheyen
Carl Verheyen
-History:Verheyen has authored many instructional books, including Improvising Without Scales, as well as Studio City, a collection of articles written for the magazine Guitar for the Practicing Musician from 1996-1999...
, Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...
, Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
, Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
and La Mancha de Rolando. Austrian singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Wolfgang Ambros
Wolfgang Ambros
Wolfgang Ambros is an Austrian singer-songwriter, most famously known for setting the then-new trend in the 1970s known now as Austropop. He is most famous for his song "Da Hofa" and "Schi foan"....
recorded a version of the song named "Alt und Jung". In 1995, the German rock musician Wolfgang Niedecken
Wolfgang Niedecken
Wolfgang Niedecken is a German singer, musician and visual artist. He founded the Kölsch speaking rock group BAP at the end of the 1970s. He soon became famous with BAP all over Germany. He is the lead singer and only remaining founding member of BAP.- Life :Niedecken attended boarding school in...
recorded a German-language cover of the song with the title "Vill Passiert Sickher" for his album Leopardefell. In addition, a Japanese-language cover by The Magokoro Brothers is included in the soundtrack of the Dylan film Masked and Anonymous
Masked and Anonymous
Masked and Anonymous is a 2003 comedy-drama film directed by Larry Charles, who is better known for his writing on successful TV sitcoms, Seinfeld and Mad About You and for executive producing episodes of The Tick and Dilbert. The film was written by Larry Charles and Bob Dylan, the latter under...
.
External links
- My Back Pages lyrics from Dylan's website