The Best of 60s Folk Music
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If you’re looking for the best of 60s folk music, look no further. This blog has everything from classic hits to hidden gems.
The Best of 60s Folk Music
The 1960s were a great time for folk music. Many of the biggest names in the genre released some of their best work during this decade. The list below includes some of the best folk albums of the 1960s.
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band in history. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several genres, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements in innovative ways. In 1963, their enormous popularity first emerged as “Beatlemania”; as the group’s music grew in sophistication following their debut album, led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the band were integral to pop music’s evolution into an art form and to the development of the counterculture of the 1960s.
The Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, together since 1958, went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Bestbefore asking Starr to join them in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional actmd producer George Martin enhanced their musical potential. Influenced by 1950s rock and rolland rhythm and bluesafter seeing Chuck Berryin concert in July 1957), they began developing their own sound.
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first hit with “Hey Schoolgirl”. As Simon and Garfunkel, they released four studio albums between 1964 and 1970. Their often fragile harmonizing ability earned them numerous comparisons to the Everly Brothers.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, United States) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, visual artist, writer and Nobel Prize laureate who has been a major figure in popular music for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin'” became anthems of the US civil rights and anti-war movements. His career was interrupted by a long battle with drug addiction in the 1970s but he made a successful comeback in the 1980s with albums such as Infidels (1983) and Oh Mercy (1989). In 2016, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.
The Best of 60s Folk Music
The 1960s was a decade of great change and Folk music was a huge part of that. Some of the biggest and most influential artists of all time came out of the Folk scene in the 60s. This list will countdown the best of the best when it comes to 60s Folk music.
The Byrds
The Byrds were one of the most popular and influential American bands of the 1960s. Formed in Los Angeles in 1964, the group was initially associated with the city’s burgeoning folk-rock scene. The Byrds’ signature sound – jangly 12-string guitars, close harmonies, and singer Roger McGuinn’s distinctive lead vocals – quickly set them apart from their peers, and their debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man (1965), became a surprise hit. Thanks to their mastery of both folk and pop forms, the Byrds were able to cross over to the mainstream audience without sacrificing their artistic integrity, and they had a string of Top 40 hits throughout the rest of the decade, including “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season),” “Eight Miles High,” and “Mr. Spaceman.” The band’s lineup changed frequently over the years (most notably with the departure of singer/guitarist Gene Clark and the addition of Gram Parsons), but they remained one of America’s most popular groups until their breakup in 1973. In 1988, the Byrds were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were a supergroup consisting of four of the most successful and influential musicians of their time. David Crosby was a member of the Byrds, Stephen Stills was a founding member of Buffalo Springfield, and Graham Nash was a member of the Hollies. Neil Young was originally not part of the group but joined after Buffalo Springfield dissolved. The group released two studio albums, ‘Deja Vu’ (1970) and ‘4 Way Street’ (1971), and an live album, ‘Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur’ (2007). They are widely considered to be one of the most successful folk rock groups of all time.
Joan Baez
As a influential member of the 1960s folk music scene, Joan Baez helped to propel the genre into the mainstream. A master of both guitar and vocals, Baez’s music is marked by its beautiful melodies and thoughtful lyrics. Often tackling important social issues in her songs, Baez’s music continues to inspire and provoke nearly 60 years after she first burst onto the scene.
