David Crosby ‘nearly quit’ music after he realised he ‘couldn’t match’ Bob Dylan on one thing

David Crosby says he “nearly quit” making music after believing he “couldn’t match” the talent of Bob Dylan.

The veteran songwriter, who died in 2023 at the age of 81, was part of The Byrds and later Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. His hits include Almost Cut My Hair, Eight Miles High, and a cover of Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man. Despite success as a solo artist and a member of The Byrds, Crosby was close to quitting music as he believed his talents were nowhere close to that of Dylan’s. In a roundup from Stereogum where artists shared their favourite songs from Dylan, Crosby confirmed he had nearly given up making music when both were folk artists.

Crosby, thankfully, did not give up writing music and instead went on to cover Mr. Tambourine Man with The Byrds, which topped the charts just a month after Dylan’s version released. He shared his first encounter with Dylan while praising the song which marked a hit for The Byrds. Crosby said: “The first time I saw Bob, I was still a folk singer and Bob was still a folk singer. 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, shit, I can sing better than that.’ Then it penetrated to me what he was singing. 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.”

Crosby later claimed to have had some influence on Dylan, suggesting The Byrds’ performance of Mr. Tambourine Man to Dylan while in a Los Angeles studio prompted the Desolation Row songwriter to go electric. Crosby said: “When we played Mr. Tambourine Man for him, you could hear the gears going in his head, man. 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. He understood how well it communicated. He got the whole picture. He’s a very bright guy. He was very deeply moved by it because he knew he could communicate with more people if he could do that.”

Crosby and Dylan would later become friends, something the I’d Swear There Was Somebody Here songwriter spoke about with Stereogum. He suggested it is “very interesting” to be friends with Dylan and added the veteran songwriter was “not an easy guy” to converse with.

Crosby said: “He’s friendly, but he’s not out front. He doesn’t let you in. You’ll say, ‘Bob, where do you live?’ And he’ll say, ‘Well, you’re looking at a man that has no home.’ He’d be telling you about life instead of telling you he lived in Malibu. He’s not an easy guy. To this day, he’s not an easy guy.

“He doesn’t welcome you in with open arms and show you who Bob is. He likes being mysterious. He likes being oblique. And he’s smart enough to pull it off. He’s a very interesting guy to be friends with. Very interesting.”