The Folk Music Revival Was Spearheaded By:
The Folk Music Revival was spearheaded by a number of artists in the late 1950s and early 1960s. These artists brought folk music back to the mainstream and helped to shape the sound of popular music for years to come.
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet, formed in 1948 in New York City. They are best known for popularizing traditional folk songs, such as “Goodnight, Irene” and “On Top of Old Smokey”. The Weavers helped to spearhead the folk music revival in the United States in the 1950s.
Formed in 1948
The Weavers were one of the most successful and influential groups of the Urban Folk Revival movement of the 1950s. Formed in 1948, they popularized many older folk songs, such as “On Top of Old Smokey” and “Midnight Special”, as well as becoming known for their original material, including “Kisses Sweeter than Wine” and “Wasn’t That a Time”. The group was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era for their left-wing political beliefs, but continued to tour and record throughout the 1950s and 1960s. They were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Folk Music Hall of Fame in 1997.
Had a top-ten hit with “Goodnight, Irene” in 1950
The Weavers were an American folk music revive group, originally formed in the late 1940s by Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Pete Seeger. They are best known for their 1950 hit recording of Lead Belly’s “Goodnight, Irene”, which topped the charts for thirteen weeks in 1950. The group was one of the most successful and influential groups of the folk music revival movement and proved to be highly influential in spreading leftist political ideas.
The Kingston Trio
The folk music revival was a music movement in the United States that began during the late 1950s and peaked in popularity in the early 1960s. The revival Components of the folk revival were the rediscovery and performance of traditional folk music and the creation of new folk music. The Kingston Trio was a musical group that helped spearhead the folk music revival.
Formed in 1957
The Kingston Trio was an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk music revival of the late 1950s to early 1960s. They started with a traditional repertoire, but as their popularity grew, they began to branch out into more modern, pop-oriented material.
The Trio was formed in 1957 by Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds, and Dave Guard, who were all students at San Francisco State University. They took their name from a local restaurant called the Kingston Cafe. The Trio’s first album was released in 1958 and was followed by a string of successful releases.
The Trio’s popularity waned in the mid-1960s as tastes changed and folk music fell out of fashion, but they remained active until disbanded by Guard in 1967. The group reformed in 1972 with new member John Stewart and continued to tour and record until Stewart’s death in 2008.
Had a number one hit with “Tom Dooley” in 1958
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk music revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. They had a number-one hit with “Tom Dooley” in 1958. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act in 1957, but it was not until two years later when they signed with Capitol Records and recorded Tom Dooley that they became successful.
The Kingston Trio was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.
Bob Dylan
The folk music revival of the early 1960s was spearheaded by artists like Bob Dylan. Dylan was born in Minnesota in 1941, and his music was deeply influenced by the folk and blues music he heard growing up. In the early 1960s, Dylan began to experiment with electric instruments and rock-and-roll, which helped to bring folk music to a wider audience. The folk music revival helped to revive interest in traditional folk songs and sparked a new generation of singer-songwriters.
Formed in 1961
Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, artist and writer. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal chronicler and a reluctant figurehead of the American civil rights movement. A number of his songs, such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1963) and “The Times They Are a-Changin’
(1964), became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements. His most recent studio album, Modern Times (2006), released at the age of 65, entered the UK chart at number one and peaked at number three in the US. The album was Dylan’s first number-one album in Britain since New Morning in 1970. In 2007, Dylan received the Pulitzer Prize for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture…marking the start of a new literary branch.” In May 2012, Dylan received Kennedy Center Honors.
Had a number one hit with “Like a Rolling Stone” in 1965
The song was released as a single on July 20, 1965, reaching number two in the UK and number one in the US, where it became Dylan’s first chart-topping single. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) subsequently included it in their list of Songs of the Century, at number 97. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song number one in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band was a pioneering force in the folk music revival of the 1960s. The band released their debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man, in 1965 to critical and commercial success. The album featured the band’s signature sound of electric guitars and harmonized vocals, and helped to popularize the genre of folk rock. The Byrds continued to release successful albums throughout the 1960s and 1970s, before breaking up in 1973.
Formed in 1964
The Byrds were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band lasted for ten years until 1974 and released a total of eight studio albums, with their greatest commercial success occurring between 1966 and 1968. For most of their career, the band comprised five members: Jim (later Roger) McGuinn (lead vocals, lead guitar), Gene Clark (tambourine, vocals), David Crosby (rhythm guitar, vocals), Chris Hillman (bass guitar, vocals), and Michael Clarke (drums).
The Byrds are credited with helping to pioneer the musical genre of folk rock, and their signature sound – which incorporates elements of both folk and rock music – proved immensely influential on subsequent generations of musicians. The band’s 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo is often regarded as one of the most influential works in the history of country music, while their cover version of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” helped bring Dylan’s work to a wider audience. Crosby, Hillman, and McGuinn went on to join forces with Graham Nash and Stephen Stills in the hugely successful supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Had a number one hit with “Mr. Tambourine Man” in 1965
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (aka Jim McGuinn) being the sole consistent member. Although they only managed to attain the huge commercial success of contemporaries like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones for a short period in the mid-1960s, the Byrds Catalogue has since been recognized as very influential on popular music.
The folk music revival was spearhead by: The Byrds.
Simon and Garfunkel
The folk music revival of the 1960s was marked by a renewed interest in traditional folk music and the emergence of a number of successful folk rock bands. Among the most successful and influential of these bands were Simon and Garfunkel, who helped to popularize folk rock with a series of successful albums.
Formed in 1964
The folk music revival was spearheaded by artists like Simon and Garfunkel. The duo signed with Columbia Records in 1964 and released their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., the following year. The album was a commercial failure, but it did spawn the hit single “The Sound of Silence.”
The duo’s follow-up album, Sounds of Silence, was released in 1966 and was a massive success, reaching the top of the charts and spawning the hits “I Am a Rock” and “Homeward Bound.” Simon and Garfunkel continued to release successful albums throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966), Bookends (1968), Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), and Greatest Hits (1972).
Had a number one hit with “The Sound of Silence” in 1966
The folk music revival was a movement in the late 1950s and early 1960s that saw a resurgence of interest in folk music in the United States and Britain. The genre was spearheaded by artists like Simon and Garfunkel, who had a number one hit with “The Sound of Silence” in 1966. Other leading lights of the movement included Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul and Mary.
