Folk Rock

Listen To
Donovan

Donovan 'Catch The Wind'

Folk Rock – simply stated is the merging

of Folk with Rock, much it originating

from the time Bob Dylan went ‘electric’

in July 1965 and from then so many

bands putting his lyrics to Rock music,

most famously of which perhaps being

the Byrds. This phenomenon soon

spread with the 'politicisation' and

’folkisation’ of Rock by many other

artists. Possibly the most prominent of

whom, apart from Dylan himself, was

John Lennon and Donovan, among

others. Some even argue that Folk Rock

was a synthesis of Lennon and

'Dylanesc' styles. Either way Folk

Rock well qualifies as an essential

ingredient of modern Pop music.

RM Radio
Coming Soon

Bob Dylan

The Background

The phenomenon of Folk Rock was deeply embedded in the tumultuous politicised

1960s. As one observer noted: ‘The 1960s were turbulent, troublesome, exciting, tragic,

and revolutionary. Much was gained, much was lost. We probably must wait for future

historians blessed with the greater perspective of further intervening decades, to provide

a final evaluation of the 1960s. Indeed, some of the changes initiated in the 1960s are

still unwinding, and we cannot be sure whether the eventual effects on human society

will be for better or for worse.'

Many political issues fed the growing Folk movement in the late 1950s and early 60s,

including – the Cold War, the nuclear threat accompanying a possible new world war,

the Vietnam War and the associated draft, growing threats to the environment,

population growth and the negative threats of industrialisation and drugs, the role of

alternative ideologies, lifestyles (hippies) and religions. There also was a growing sense

of caring for community balanced by concerns for self development – human rights and

civil rights, including racial and female equality. Further, many in the Peace Movement

began to realise that perhaps resorting to violence – political violence, was the only

way to achieve their ends. All these issues began to be reflected in the Folk music of the

era.

The Byrds - Mr Tambourine Man

Music was thus a central ingredient in the 1960s social and political landscape. The

music of the 1960s reflected much of society’s concerns and feelings, but in addition it

reinforced attitudes and beliefs and helped modify important value systems, spreading

political and social changes to an ever –widening segment of the population. As always,

many were motivated by music to act. As one observer noted: 'If one considers such

statements might be possible exaggerations, perhaps one should ask someone who was

part of the 1960s youth generation (and can remember it) what the times would have

been like without the music. Just try and imagine no Beatles, no Dylan, no Stones; no

Soul music, no Acid Rock. The possibility is so bewildering that it is difficult to

formulate a coherent answer.'

The Emergence

Bob Dylan was extremely important in

the emergence of Folk Rock. The youth

movement in the early 60s closely

identified with the Folk music styles of

the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul, and

Mary. These serious socially conscious

youth at the time shunned Rock n Roll as

being mindless commercial junk. The

result seemed to be an irrepairable split

between the ‘Folkies’ and the ‘Rockers’.

Bob Dylan - Blowing In The Wind

But from within the Folk movement came a singer who brought together the two

cultural and musical factions and as such had an important if not 'revolutionary impact'

on the nature of Rock n Roll. This singer of course was Bob Dylan, who needs no

introduction and his story is elsewhere on this site. But it was Dylan, the Byrds and

then later to a large extent also John Lennon who were able to fuse the two and

produce global Folk Rock.

By the mid 1960s, Dylan was a Folk hero

and a giant in the genre with his mix of

hard politics and romantic lyrics.

Modelling himself after Woody Guthrie,

among many others, Dylan wrote a

number of politicised youth albums, 'The

Times They Are A Changing' and

'Masters of War' for example. In 1963

Dylan reached his Folk zenith. In the

summer of that year, Dylan appeared at

the Newport Folk Festival. Introduced

by Joan Baez, he brought the crowd to an

emotional climax with ‘Blowin In The

Wind’. Then joining Baez, Peter, Paul

and Mary, Pete Seeger, Theodore Bikel,

and other Folk stars, he sang the civil

rights anthem 'We Shall Overcome’.

Bob Dylan - The Times They Are Changing

Bob Dylan At The Newport Folk Festival

Following this, Dylan was firmly viewed as the messiah of the young-Folk movement.

However over the next few months, he changed direction subtly with his lyrics causing,

many to wonder what he was actually on about and where he was headed musically

and even politically, with some of his lyrics more about love than protest. But then in

1965, he released ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’. This work surprised many of his

protest-orientated followers. While it only rose to number 39, it nevertheless started a

ripple that became a tidal wave within months. This time it was not the lyrics that

upset the 'die-hards', it was the music. It used drums and electric guitars; in fact, it

sounded suspiciously like Rock. In fact, the album, 'Bringing it All Back Home', used

electric instruments on half of its songs.

The Folkies worst fears were thus

confirmed this time at the July 1965

Newport Folk Festival. Dylan’s much-

anticipated appearance created a near riot

as he wandered on stage with an electric

guitar and then began to perform backed

by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. But

amongst the boos and hisses, few realised

a new genre of music was now being

born. It was ‘Folk Rock’. To Dylan’s

horrified followers, including Pete Seeger

(who it was reported first threatened to

turn the power off, but then hid in a car

with his ears covered) this was anethema

to what Folk was supposed to be about,

and Dylan appeared to have 'sold out' -

but hardly so! As if to further confound

his fans, Dylan released another

electrified single called ‘Like A Rolling

Stone’ in August 1965. This six minute

song became his first major hit and broke

the radio industry’s usual two and a half

minute airplay protocol.

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues

Who Was First?

Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’

hit the charts first; but the Byrds hit

number 1 with 'Tambourine Man',

whereas Dylan’s barely cracked the Top

40. So let's say the Byrds and Dylan

developed Folk Rock at about the same

time and can both claim the credit.

Dylan

Lennon

Together

‘Like A Rolling Stone’

was Rock music with

Folk-like lyrics. Therein

lay the basis of the new

Folk Rock style. Dylan’s

next album, 'Blonde on

Blonde' continued the

new trend and the rest is

history. John Lennon

further ingrained this

genre with his own Folk

Rock style combining

social and political

messages with Rock after

first being influenced by

Dylan – or so it's

claimed.

Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone

John Lennon - Give Peace A Chance

Dylan's influence on Folk Rock and its artists cannot be questioned. According to

Zsatmary. ‘By the end of 1965, various Folk Rockers had recorded 48 different Dylan

songs, most of them concerned with topics other than protest. According to 'Newsweek'

'healthy, cheap, moral or venal’, Folk Rock is what’s happening at this moment in the

dissonant echo chamber of Pop culture’.'

All in all, it must be said that the Folk Rock explosion in the US perhaps best

epitomized by the Byrds was also heavily influenced by the Beatles. Folk Rock was

Lennon and Dylan mixed together. However, 'it was the Byrds who grafted the bouncy,

jangling harmonies of the Beatles onto Dylanesque Folk, and therefore as with other

Folk rockers, the Byrds reflected the pervasive influence of the Beatles who were

conquering the US at that time and changing the sound of Rock n Roll.'

The Major Players

Bob Dylan

The Byrds

John Lennon

Simon & Garfunkle

The Mamas & Papas

Sonny & Cher

Donovan

The Doors

Plus Many, Many, Many Others

Other groups became successful with the

Folk-Rock formula of electric renditions

of Dylan songs sung in harmony. In 1965,

the Turtles, a band that switched from

Surf Music to Folk the year before, hit the

Top 10 with “It Ain’t Me Babe’. The

same year, Sonny & Cher released the

top selling, Dylan sounding ‘I Got You

Babe,’ and Cher also scored a hit with

Dylan’s “All I really Want To Do’.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were

another famous duo that scored big with

Folk Rock. In 1964 after being influenced

by the Folk boom, they re-emerged with

an album of soft harmonies, 'Wednesday

Morning-3 am'. The album showcased

Dylan’s ‘Don’t Think Twice’ and Paul

Simon’s composition, ‘Sounds of Silence’

which soon became a huge hit.

The Turtles - It Aint Me Babe

Sonny & Cher - I Got You Babe

Simon & Garfunkel - The Sounds Of Silence

The Byrds

Apart from Dylan, the Byrds need serious

attention as co-originators of Folk Rock. As

one observer argued: 'In the early to mid 60s,

many groups added vocal harmonies to

Dylan’s electrified Folk sound and sometimes

used his songs to create what critics called

what we now know as ‘Folk Rock’. The

Byrds, probably the premier Folk Rockers of

all time formed in 1964, with many members

coming from a Folk background. In 1965,

after obtaining a test pressing of Dylan’s ‘Mr

Tambourine Man’, they hit the top of the

charts with a version of the song that featured

bouncy vocal harmonies and a twelve string

guitar. The group followed with electrified,

harmony-rich versions of Dylan’s ‘Spanish

Harlem Incident’, ‘All I really Want To Do’

and ‘Chimes of Freedom’, as well as ‘Turn,

Turn, Turn,’ a song adapted by Peter Seeger

from the Book of Ecclesiastes.

The Byrds

The Byrds - 'Turn! Turn! Turn!

There is little doubt that the Byrds

were one of Rock’s most talented

and creative bands. They co-founded

Folk Rock with Dylan, and they led

the way to the Country Rock sound

that became popular in the 1970s

with '8 Miles High'.

The Mamas and The Papas

Just as we can and have observed with many genres of music, Folk Rock is a vague and

generalised term. Following the example set by the Byrds and Dylan, many, many Folk

Rock groups suddenly appeared. For most part, such groups were the Folkies of the

early 1960s, who added drums and converted to electric guitars and called themselves

Folk Rockers. One of the most successful of these groups could be considered The

Mamas and the Papas. While the Byrds blended Folk with a harder Rock-sound, the

Mamas and the Papas tended towards a softer Rock style. In the 2 year period

from early 1966 through late 1967, they had 9 singles in the Top 40, including 6 Top

Ten hits.

The Mamas And The Papas - California Dreaming

Donovan was yet another major Folk Rocker. Across the Atlantic, Donovan

mimicked Dylan and wanted to be Europe’s and primarily Britain's version, if not

answer, to Dylan. Donovan performed Folk music in clubs throughout Britain and on

TV. He eventually made it big with such Folk Rock songs as ‘Catch The Wind ‘ which

in style resembled Dylan’s ‘Blowin in the Wind’. In 1966, amid the Folk Rock boom,

Donovan scored his first American success with the electrified sound of the chart

topping ‘Sunshine Superman;’ and ‘Mellow Yellow’.

Donovan - The Universal Soldier

Donovan - Sunshine Superman

Other Folk Rockers

As one observer noted: 'To accommodate the wide variety of post-1965 Folk Rockers

the definition of the term Folk Rock must be very generalised indeed. After all, the

Mamas and the Papas, Dylan, and Simon & Garfunkle do not sound alike. Each artist

who melded the lyrical profundities and tunefulness of Folk music with the

electrification, bass line, and hard beat of Rock found a unique recipe to achieve the

combination. And as always, the high priests on both sides were rightly indignant.' The

pure Folkies felt their music was corrupted by the crass commercialisation and

and mindless noise of Rock; while the pure Rockers resented the invasion of their basic

good-time music by the self-conscious 'profundities' of the Folkies. But, in between, a

vast new audience relished the opportunity to have somewhat more thought-provoking

and intelligent lyrics dished up to them in a musical context they enjoyed.

Joan Baez

Judy Collins

Buffalo Springfield

James Taylor

As a consequence, many successful Folk Rockers, too many great acts to list here,

emerged from 1965 onwards, even Joan Baez became considered as a Folk Rocker, as

did Buffalo Springfield and Judy Collins, among many others, including James Taylor.

Most considered themselves influenced in some way by Dylan. The Loving Spoonful,

which in the mid 1960s hit the top Ten in the US with ‘Do You Believe in Magic’, ‘You

didn’t have to be so nice’. ‘Daydream’, and ‘Summer In the City’,’ also attributed their

sound to Bob Dylan.

Some Further Great Examples of Folk Rock

Van Morrison - And It Stoned Me

Don McLean - American Pie

The Young Bloods - Get Together

Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown

The Doors - The End

Wrap Up

By 1968, the Folk Rock explosion had faded. Dylan was recuperating from his

motorcycle accident; the Byrds were turning towards Country Rock; the Mamas and

the Papas were disbanding; Buffalo Springfield moved away from Folk Rock and then

disbanded; Donovan had gone psychedelic and Sonny and Cher had turned more

toward commercial Pop Rock. Only the sounds of Simon and Garfunkle lingered on.

But in its 2 to 3 year heyday, Folk Rock brought together two important and seemingly

antithetical styles of music. Some excellent and incredible new music was produced.

And from these beginnings grew some important trends in the subsequent decade –

namely the singer-songwriter trend and the Country Rock trend.

Before leaving Folk Rock, we

should again emphasize Dylan’s

most significant contribution to

the history of Folk Rock. His

lyrics, with their symbolism,

internal ironies, sarcasm, thought

provoking messages, dry wit,

surrealism, and graceful flow

were the most influential and

sophisticated since the

beginning of Rock n Roll.

Bob Dylan - Knocking On Heaven's Door

Through Dylan's influence on the Beatles, especially John Lennon, the 'Dylanesque'

lyric found its way into the very heart of 1960s Rock especially via Folk Rock.

Want To See

More Of Rock

Mountain