Folk Rock

Folk Rock developed around 1964 and then peaked in 1965 and 1966 when many rock & roll groups adopted folk and blues music elements into a newer form of rock music simple called “folk rock”. In turn, many folk music artists, that is, strictly acoustic folk musicians started to play and incorporate electrified mixes of rock & roll in their music. The music was changing and in 1965 it seemed to come from a newer generation (that of the “baby boomers”) where “rock & roll” turned (or split) into “rock” and “soul”.

Folk rock may have started that fateful night when Dylan turned on the Beatles at the Hotel Delmonico in September 1964. They were already showing signs of profound influence and counter-influence between both Bob Dylan and the Beatles culminating in fantastic musical output in both album and song in 1965.

Some say “folk rock” started with The Byrds from Los Angeles with the release of the Dylan authored “Mr. Tambourine Man”. The Byrds were a supergroup where the members were very active in the folk music scene with other folk music acts. In many ways, the Byrds started a folk-rock volley with the Beatles using Bob Dylan songs as well as their own originals.

Or maybe folk rock started early in 1965 when Bob Dylan first went electric on the A-side of his influential “Bringing It All Back Home” album. Bob Dylan had a huge influence on the Byrds and their first few hits and their first four albums. In fact, Bob Dylan would have a direct and indirect influence on almost everyone involved in the “folk rock” scene, including the Beau Brummels, the Turtles, the Band, the Beatles, the Stones, the Who and the many others.

Later on, in 1965 Simon & Garfunkel would also go number one, epitomizing the folk rock sound and ushering a wave of new “folk rock” groups that would go on to shape rock in the 60s. Groups like the Lovin’ Spoonful, the Mamas & the Papas, Jefferson Airplane and The Band among many others with acoustic leanings rose up and gave us a new genre “Folk Rock”.

Folk Rock would later go on to assimilated itself within popular rock music within the subgenres of light rock, country rock and much of radio-friendly soft rock.

 

 

Bob Dylan

In folk rock, you should first start off with Bob Dylan and his knowledge of an eclectic mix of Americana music. Bob Dylan possessed an internal library of music which included major forms of country music, western music, Blues, European styles with a keen knowledge of rare vintage R&B songs.

Dylan claimed to have done a lot of traveling, which is very evident in his music. He had regional forms from Nashville, Atlanta, Lubbock and Bakersfield, he knew forms of “honky-tonk”, “western swing”, “bluegrass”, “jug band” and other “close harmony” styles. He knew fingerpicking styles, a whole assortment of “western music”, the “blues” and other “European folk” forms (jigs and ballads). Due to his travels as a true “troubadour”, absorbing styles and techniques from all over, he was the last embodiment of the true Americana travelin’ musician.

Dylan has a vast library of styles on display on his first album, “Bob Dylan”, his hitless debut album. To me, Bob Dylan’s first album is absolute gold, with amazing gems of songs that would become sixties mythology. The evidence is on the many songs and arrangements on the album that would be covered later on by many bands and artists of the 60’s. Most notably on the album are versions of “House of the Rising Sun” and “In My Time of Dying”, later to be covered by the Animals and Led Zeppelin respectively.

One of the biggest and most controversial events in creating “Folk Rock” as a genre, was the moment Dylan plugged into an amplifier and jammed with a rock band. This event immortalized at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where folkies were so upset that the myth of the “Judas” taunt first surfaced. His output in 1965 and 1966 had him at the head of the folk-rock movement. The releasing of his first, “plugged in” (as into an amplifier), with a live rock & roll band really started to make “folk rock” as a genre take off as a new sound. Bob Dylan would go on to release three masterpiece albums that would stand the test of time, “Bringing It All Back Home”, “Highway 61” and “Blonde On Blonde”.