The Folk Music Revival of the 1960s

The Folk Music Revival of the 1960s was a time when people were interested in traditional and contemporary folk music. This was a cultural movement that started in the United States and spread to other countries.

The Origins of the Folk Music Revival

The folk music revival of the 1960s was a direct result of the work of a few pioneers in the field of folk music. These pioneers, including Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Lead Belly, among others, brought the music of the people to the mainstream and gave birth to a new genre of music.

The Weavers and the Folk Music Scene of the 1950s

The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They popularized many songs of the 1930s and 1940s, including “Goodnight, Irene” (a 1950 hit for Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter), “On Top of Old Smokey”, and “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena”. The Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era.

In the early 1950s, after theWeavers had disbanded following their blacklisting, Pete Seeger helped found the folk music magazine Sing Out! and revived the Newport Folk Festival. In 1953–54, he wrote articles for Sing Out! defending Woody Guthrie against charges of plagiarism for his song “This Land Is Your Land”. Guthrie had been accused by George Parkyns, editor of Songwriter’s Monthly Review, of plagiarizing from an earlier song by Barry Graves called “God Bless America For Me”.

The Kingston Trio and the Folk Music Boom of the Late 1950s

The Kingston Trio’s album Folk Songs from the Mountains, released in early 1958, was a watershed moment in the history of folk music. The album, which featured traditional folk songs performed in a style indebted to both jazz and country music, was an instant success, reaching the top of the Billboard chart and selling over a million copies. The Kingston Trio’s success helped to spark a folk music boom in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as a new generation of musicians rediscovered and popularized the music of their grandparents’ generation.

The folk music revival of the 1960s was more than just a commercial phenomenon; it was also an important political and cultural movement. The civil rights movement was gaining momentum in the early 1960s, and many young people saw folk music as a way to express their support for the cause. Folk musicians such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul & Mary became important voices in the movement, using their songs to advocate for social change.

The folk music revival had a lasting impact on American culture. The popularity of folk music helped to spread awareness of traditional American musical styles, particularly those from the Appalachian region. Folk music also had a significant influence on the development of popular musical genres such as rock ‘n’ roll and country music. Many of the most famous musicians of the 1960s started out as folk musicians, including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Young.

The New York Folk Scene

The folk music revival of the 1960s began in the area around Greenwich Village in New York City. A mixture of the old and the new, the music scene was a vibrant and creative time for many young people. In this article, we’ll take a look at the New York folk scene and how it influenced the music of the time.

The Greenwich Village Folk Scene

The Greenwich Village folk scene was a major center for the American folk music revival of the 1960s. Located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, the scene grew out of the urban folk music scene of the 1950s and featured performances by such artists as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Peter, Paul & Mary, and Tom Paxton.

The Newport Folk Festival

The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in July 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival. Located at Fort Adams State Park, the historic roadstead in Newport’s Outer Cove, the festival presents a wide variety of folk musicians from the United States and abroad performing traditional and contemporary folk music.

The British Folk Scene

In the 1960s, there was a revival of interest in traditional British folk music. This was led by a group of young musicians who were influenced by the music of American folk singers such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. The British folk scene that developed in the 1960s was very different from the American folk scene, and it had a profound influence on the development of popular music in the UK.

The Skiffle Craze

The skiffle craze was a British folk music revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s, led by artists such as Lonnie Donegan, the Vipers Skiffle Group, and the Quarrymen (later, of course, to become the Beatles). The name skiffle comes from a West African style of music that uses everyday objects as instruments, and the style quickly caught on with British teenagers who were looking for something different from the trad jazz of their parents. The skiffle craze only lasted a few years, but it had a tremendous impact on the British music scene, paving the way for the Beatles and other British Invasion bands.

The Rise of Folk-Rock

In Britain, the folk music revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s began to take on a new form with the rise of groups like Fairport Convention and Pentangle who began to infuse traditional songs with electric instruments and rock & roll rhythms. This new style, known as Folk-Rock, would have a profound influence on later generations of British musicians.

The Legacy of the Folk Revival

The American Folk Revival of the 1960s was a time when traditional forms of folk music were rediscovered and popularized by a new generation of performers. The legacy of the folk revival can still be seen today in the work of contemporary folk musicians.

The Impact of the Folk Revival on Popular Music

The folk music revival of the 1960s had a profound impact on popular music. The songs of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, as well as those of other folk artists, were discovered and popularized by a new generation of musicians. These musicians, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul and Mary, went on to become some of the most popular recording artists of the 1960s and beyond. The folk revival also helped to launch the careers of many singer-songwriters, such as James Taylor and Carole King.

The popularity of folk music in the 1960s was part of a larger trend known as the “youthquake,” which saw young people rejecting the traditional values of their elders in favor of a more grassroots, DIY approach to life. The youthquake was also evident in fashion, politics, and other areas of popular culture. In music, it led to the rise of genres like rock ‘n’ roll and pop.

While the folk revival may have had its roots in protest music and social activism, it also contributed to a more general feeling of optimism and hope among young people during a time of great upheaval. The songs of the folk revival era often celebrate simple pleasures and everyday life, in contrast to the more complicated issues that dominated the news at the time. In this sense, they continue to resonate with listeners today.

The Influence of the Folk Revival on Contemporary Folk Music

The folk music revival of the 1960s was a time when musicians rediscovered and renewed interest in the traditional and regional music of the United States. This time period is often credited with helping to launch the careers of some of the most influential folk musicians, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Simon and Garfunkel. The legacy of the folk revival can still be felt in contemporary folk music. Many contemporary folk musicians were influenced by the music of the 1960s folk revival and continue to perform and record traditional and regional songs.