Folk Rock Week: Part 1
Being a hybrid of
folk music and
rock music,
folk rock is yet another genre of music that developed in the mid-1960s. An ancestor of this genre came from the
American folk music revival, which, interestingly, was influential on the music of The Beatles and other British Invasion bands (their
beat music). Also, pre-British Invasion American rock 'n' roll from the late 1950's, like some tunes by Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, affected the development of folk rock as well. Folk rock is known for its clear vocal harmonies and a generally "clean" (distortion-free) guitar sound, especially influenced by the jangly ringing of Beatle George Harrison's 12 string
Rickenbacker guitar.
One of the first big hits of a folk rock song was the revolutionary single from 1964, "The House of the Rising Sun," by the British
blues/rock band The Animals. Originally an 18th century American folk song, "The House of the Rising Sun" was actually recorded by folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (pictured above) in 1961, however, when he later heard The Animals' version on the radio, he jumped out of his seat since he liked it so much and gracefully withdrew his recording from the singles charts! With the combination of the famous electric guitar arpeggio intro by Hilton Valentine, Eric Burdon's soulful lead vocals, and Alan Price's pulsating organ part, the song was a trans-Atlantic chart-topper and is included on the list of
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Recorded in only one take in May of '64, here's the song that helped shape rock 'n' roll history.
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Another group that contributed to the developing folk rock sound was The Beatles with "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" from their 1965
Help! album. Interestingly, The Beatles were fascinated by Bob Dylan, and this song was John Lennon's attempt at sounding like Dylan with a slightly more raspy voice and writing the song in folkish form with mainly acoustic instruments and light percussion. (Side note: while The Beatles were on their
first tour in America in '64, they met Bob Dylan who actually introduced them to, you know, cannabis, which eventually had an impact on their future songwriting, ahem.) With the incorporation of the tenor and alto flutes, this was the first Beatles' song to feature an outside musician. This clip comes from The Beatles' hilarious (well, I think so), second film, also titled
Help!, and was inspired by the Marx Brothers classic
Duck Soup, as well as a parody of James Bond films.
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The first folk rock smash hit that ignited the explosion of the genre in the 1960's was "Mr. Tambourine Man," the debut single in April 1965 by The Byrds. Although it was written and originally recorded by Bob Dylan (who actually endorsed The Byrd's cover), the term "folk rock" was first coined by U.S. music press to describe The Byrd's sound. The band was the first to combine the elements of the rock beat, the 12-string guitar jangle (inspired by The Beatles), and poetic/socially observant lyrics, which became the successful template for folk rock music throughout the 60's and still continues to influence bands (ya know, like Tom Petty and the Heartbreaks and R.E.M.). With Jim McGuinn singing lead vocals, and backed by Gene Clark and David Crosby (yeah, that guy that later formed
Crosby, Stills & Nash), McGuinn attempted to modify his singing style to fill in the gap between John Lennon's and Bob Dylan's sound. Another song featured on that
500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, here's a great performance with another audience of too many crazy girls.
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And so who's this Bob Dylan guy I keep talking about? Initially a folk-singer, the American singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan, was extremely influential in the development of folk rock, as well as the direction of rock 'n' roll in the 1960's. Considered the #1
greatest song of all time by
Rolling Stone magazine, Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" from July 1965 was his transition from folk to folk rock with the use of electric instruments. At the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where Dylan "went electric" premiering this song, the crowd even booed him because of his "betrayal" of folk music, however, it was a important turning point in Dylan's career, as well as rock history. Significant in the protest-song/anti-establishment movement, Dylan was a true poet in this "put-down toward a down-and-out society girl" song, with the unique, cynical sound in his voice. Why, oh, why it is so hard to find a live performance of this song on YouTube, I do not know. So, "how
does it feel?"
Check back soon for MANY more folk rock songs to come!
This past December, the music world lost two more talented (and quite contrasting) performers of the 1960s. The day after Christmas, St. Louis R&B singer Fontella Bass passed away after complications of a heart attack at the age of 72. She was best known for her 1965 hit single, "Rescue Me," which reached #1 on the R&B chart, #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #11 in the UK. Although songwriter credit is given to Raynard Miner and Carl William Smith at Chess Studios in Chicago, many sources also credit Bass herself as a co-writer. Recorded in just three takes, the call-and-response sounds of "umm, umm" were unintentional and were in place of forgotten lyrics during the taping. This song also included Maurice White, later of Earth, Wind & Fire, on drums. With her fantastic vocals on this soul/pop tune, here's the late Fontella Bass performing on Shindig! in 1965.
Harrison became interested in Indian classical music, bought a sitar, and used it to record the song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". This led to Indian music being used by other musicians, thus creating the raga rock trend and impacting psychedelic music. In 1966, Harrison went to India for six weeks to study the sitar with Shankar, an association which greatly increased Shankar's popularity, making him "the most famous Indian musician in the world." In 1967, he won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for West Meets East, and performed at the Monterey Pop Festival where he was introduced to new generation of music fans. Here's an excerpt from his four-hour performance (whow!) at the Pop Festival, as captured for the historic D. A. Pennebaker documentary (Shankar appears at about 7:00 into the clip). 
