in the form of an open letter to a friend, by Columbia Records' publicist Billy James. In addition, the back cover also featured a black and white photograph, taken by the Byrds' manager Jim Dickson, of the band on stage with Bob Dylan at Ciro's nightclub in L.A. Release and reception Mr. Tambourine Man was released on June 21, 1965, in the United States (catalogue item CL 2372 in mono, CS 9172 in stereo) and August 20, 1965, in the UK (catalogue item BPG 62571 in mono, SBPG 62571 in stereo). It peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, during a chart stay of 38 weeks, and reached number 7 in the United Kingdom, spending a total of 12 weeks on the UK albums chart. The preceding single of the same name was released on April 12, 1965, in the U.S. and May 15, 1965, in the UK, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. A second single taken from the album, "All I Really Want to Do", peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, but fared better in the United Kingdom, where it reached number 4. Upon release, critical reaction to the album was almost universally positive, with Billboard magazine noting that "the group has successfully combined folk material with pop-dance beat arrangements. Pete Seeger's "The Bells of Rhymney" is a prime example of the new interpretations of folklore." In its July 1965 issue, Time magazine praised the album, stating: "To make folk music the music of today's folk, this quintet has blended Beatle beats with Lead Belly laments, created a halfway school of folk-rock that scores at the cash box if not with the folk purists." In the UK, NME described the band and its debut album by noting that "They look like a rock group but are really a fine folk unit. They play their stringed instruments with great skill and invention against the rock-steady drumming. Their voices merge well ... As the first group to bridge the gap between beat and folk, they deserve to be winners." The UK publication Music Echo was also enthusiastic about the album's contents, concluding that the record was "an album which easily lives up to the promise of their great knock-out singles". However, not all reviews of the album were positive. Record Mirror in the UK awarded the