“Both Sides Now”: Folk-Rock Authorship, Interpretation, and the Cover Version

Abstract

ABSTRACTMany 1960s folk-rock hits were not original, but neither were they referred to as cover versions. Cover versions were “inauthentic,” but folk-rock repertoire was defined by songs by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, interpreted by performers like the Byrds and Judy Collins. “The House of the Rising Sun” exemplifies adaptation via “trad. arr.”; “Mr. Tambourine Man” demonstrates “folk process” blending with Tin Pan Alley; and “Both Sides Now” highlights early rock critics’ questioning of folk values via discussion of interpretive women folksingers. The way each song was framed within contemporary cultural discourse highlights how “folk” or rock as “folk culture” acted as an ideological smokescreen for competing versions of rock music.KEYWORDS: 1960s folk rockauthenticityauthorshipcover versionsethnicitygender Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. Or, as Hans Weisethaunet and Ulf Lindberg put it, the tension between folkloric authenticity and authenticity as self-expression (469–72).2. Some of the better-known examples (not mentioned elsewhere in this essay) include Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower;” the Byrds’ “Chimes of Freedom,” “Spanish Harlem Incident,” “Lay Down Your Weary Tune,” “The Times They are a-Changin’,” “My Back Pages,” and “You Ain’t Going Nowhere;” Sam Cooke’s “Blowin” in the Wind” and Stevie Wonder’s version of the same song; Manfred Mann’s “If You Gotta Go, Go Now” and “Mighty Quinn;” Van Morrison and Them’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”; The Band’s “I Shall Be Released;” and Nina Simone’s “I Shall Be Released” and “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”3. Oral transmission via media is referred to as “secondary orality” by Ong (1971).4. Plasketes refers to the Byrds “covering” Dylan (145).5. The version with Elliott was not released until 2005, on No Direction Home: The Soundtrack, as “Mr. Tambourine Man (Alternate Take).”6. The Coen Brothers’ film Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) derives much of its black comedy from the contrast between the New York folk scene’s idealism and the reality of dealing with music publishers, who are the main source of income.7. According to Joni Mitchell’s website, https://jonimitchell.com/, “Both Sides Now” has been covered 1,499 times, Dylan’s song around 300, although the latter is a cultural benchmark (Bellware).8. “Eastern Rain” was released on What We Did on Our Holidays (1969); “I Don’t Know Where I Stand” and “Chelsea Morning” on the group’s eponymous debut (1968). “Both Sides Now” was the first song they recorded in a studio, though it was not released (Thompson 30). The other tracks were recorded at B.B.C. sessions.9. A notorious early promotion for Joni Mitchell referred to her as “90% virgin” (Unterberger, Eight Miles High 253).10. I’ll Keep It with Mine (Bonus Track) video.11. Dylan recorded a demo in 1964, released by Columbia in 2010 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964.12. Aretha Franklin’s transformative covers of “Respect,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and “The Long and Winding Road,” among others, which offer radically new arrangements, are another interesting example here.13. A similar argument could be made about Linda Ronstadt, who was frequently attacked by the authenticity critics (Marsh, “Linda” 434–35; Marsh, Heart 308; Christgau, “Joy” 272–73).14. When I looked on Spotify on 10 July 2023, Judy Collins’s “Both Sides Now” had about 23 million plays, the Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man” about 99 million, and the Animals track 812 million.