Fans say one thing would improve The Beach Boys’ cover of Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’

A cover of the classic Bob Dylan track The Times They Are A-Changin’ by The Beach Boys could be improved with one minor adjustment.

That is what fans believe, anyway, with listeners suggesting the fake “party” heard on Beach Boys’ Party! is a detriment to their classy cover work. The Brian Wilson-featuring band were pressed to release an album in time for Christmas, and the result was a faux party atmosphere which featured repeats of their own work and cover songs of contemporary artists. One such cover was of Dylan, whose album, The Times They Are A-Changin’, had been released just a year before this cover. Some fans love The Beach Boys’ take on the song, others remained indifferent and suggested a minor change which could make all the difference to the song.

An upload of the song to YouTube saw many listeners in agreement, backing a suggestion that could have made The Beach Boys’ cover of the classic folk song a hit of its own. One listener fumed: “Somebody actually said that this was ‘a break from the stress of recording!’ Are you for real? This fake party’ was fully 100% a studio creation, not some intimate gathering of The Beach Boys and some 60s hipsters and Don Draper types!”

Another added: “This version would be so much better if it weren’t at a party, seriously, all these people are ruining it.” Though the party atmosphere was a hit at the time, it now acts as a distraction from what could have been a very strong cover of Dylan’s classic song. Listeners believe removing the laughter and breaks from the song, making it a straight cover rather than an attempt at bringing a party atmosphere to the record, would work.

One wrote: “Find the session versions, at least those don’t have the post-recorded laughter and chatting.” Another added: “Many resent that the Beach Boys did this with a party background diluting the message, but I think it makes it better than Dylan’s so-fucking-hip version.”

It is not just The Beach Boys who tackled The Times They Are A-Changin’. While many artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and famously The Byrds, would cover the song, it’s The Beach Boys’ which has another story running parallel to it.

While Wilson was beginning to piece together an album which would ultimately become Pet Sounds, Capitol Records, The Beach Boys’ label at the time, requested an album from the band in time for the Christmas market. It was recorded just a few short months after the release of Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!).

Stemming from both The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album and Beach Boys Concert, the band decided it would blur the live and festive album experience with a party album. Alongside a cover of Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ are covers of The Beatles’ Tell Me Why and The Everly Brothers’ Devoted to You. You can listen to The Beach Boys’ Dylan cover below.