“David Crosby said, ‘I don't like it, man. That folky 2/4 time never gonna play on the radio’”: The Byrds needed a hit or they’d be dropped. Releasing a cover of Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man as their first single was a gamble that paid off

American musician and frontman for The Byrds on set for the band's performance on Ready Steady Go!, August 6, 1965, in London, United Kingdom.

The Byrds were famously one of the first rock ’n’ roll band to be signed to Columbia Records – no mean feat considering the label's longstanding love affair with jazz and classical Broadway show tunes, especially at the time.

An audition tape that landed in the hands of Miles Davis' agent – plus a little coaxing from the jazz trumpeter himself – led the quintet to secure their first deal with Columbia – and guitarist (and frontman) Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker 360 12-string would serve as the secret sauce that helped make their debut single stand out from the flurry of releases.