The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #97248   Message #1917097
Posted By: pdq
22-Dec-06 - 07:31 PM
Thread Name: Origins: He Was a Friend of Mine
Subject: RE: Origins: He Was a Friend of Mine
The Grateful Dead used to do this song until the mid 1970s.

Here is what they say (subject to the vagaries of time and mind):

Rolf Cahn and Eric Von Schmidt, Rolf Cahn and Eric Von Schmidt, 1961
Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger, Dave Van Ronk, 1963
The Folk Blues Of Eric Von Schmidt, Eric Von Schmidt, 1963
Turn! Turn! Turn!, The Byrds, 1965
Hey Joe, Leaves, 1966
Fred Pike, Bill Rawlings and the Twin River Boys, 1967
Inside Dave Van Ronk, Dave Van Ronk, 1969
Ain't Nothing But the Blues, Judy Roderick, 196?
Best of the Byrds: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, The Byrds, 1972
Return Of, The Byrds, 1976
Play It Like It Is, The Country Gentlemen, 197?
The Byrds Box Set, The Byrds, 1990
Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3, Bob Dylan, 1991
20 Essential Tracks from the Byrds Box Set (1965-1990), The Byrds, 1992
Monterey International Pop Festival Box Set, Various Artists (Byrds), 1992
Friend Of Mine, Bill Morrisey, 1993
Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Boom, 1950-1970, Various Artists (Dave Van Ronk), 2001


Recorded by Dylan, on Nov 11, 1961, for his first album but not used until issued on the Bootleg Series in 1991. Dylan has said that he adapted it from a song he learnt from Blind Arvella Gray, a Chicago street singer.

Roger McGuinn used the Dylan arrangement but rewrote the lyrics for the Byrds version. Writing credits are sometimes given on recordings to Bob Dylan or Roger McGuinn.
It should be noted that there is substantial variation between some of these versions of the song.