Folk-Rock
Michael Baryshnikov
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Folk rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and rock music.
In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in
the United States and Canada around the mid-1960s. The sound was epitomized by
tight vocal harmonies and a relatively "clean" (effects- and distortion-free)
approach to electric instruments epitomized by the jangly sound of the Byrds'
guitarist Roger McGuinn. The repertoire was drawn in part from folk sources,
but even more from folk-influenced singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan.
This original folk rock directly led to the distinct, eclectic style of
Electric folk (a.k.a. British folk rock) pioneered in the late 1960s by
Pentangle and Fairport Convention. Starting from a North-American style folk
rock, Pentangle, Fairport and other related bands deliberately incorporated
elements of traditional British folk music. At the same time, in Brittany, Alan
Stivell began to mix his Breton roots with Irish and Scottish roots and with
rock music. Very shortly afterwards, Fairport bassist Ashley Hutchings formed
Steeleye Span in collaboration with traditionalist British folk musicians who
wished to incorporate electrical amplification, and later overt rock elements,
into their music.
This, in turn, spawned several other variants: the self-consciously English
folk rock of the Albion Band and some of Ronnie Lane's solo work, and the more
prolific current of Celtic rock, incorporating traditional music of Ireland,
Scotland, Cornwall, and Brittany. Through at least the first half of the 1970s,
Celtic rock held close to folk roots, with its repertoire drawing heavily on
traditional Celtic fiddle and harp tunes and even traditional vocal styles, but
making use of rock band levels of amplification and percussion.
In a broader sense, folk rock includes later similarly-inspired musical genres
and movements in the English-speaking world (and its Celtic fringes) and, to a
lesser extent, elsewhere in Europe. As with any genre, the borders are
difficult to define. Folk rock may lean more toward folk or toward rock in its
instrumentation, its playing and vocal style, or its choice of material; while
the original genre draws on music of Europe and North America, there is no
clear delineation of which folk cultures music might be included as influences.
Still, the term is not usually applied to rock music rooted in the blues-based
or other African American music (except as mediated through folk revivalists),
nor to rock music with Cajun roots, nor to music (especially after about 1980)
with non-European folk roots, which is more typically classified as world
music.
Folk rock arose mainly from the confluence of three elements: urban/collegiate
folk vocal groups, singer-songwriters, and the revival of North American rock
and roll after the British Invasion. Of these, the first two owed direct debts
to Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and the Popular Front culture of the 1930s.
The first of the urban folk vocal groups was the Almanac Singers, whose
shifting membership during the late 1930s and early 1940s included Guthrie and
Seeger and Lee Hays. In 1947 Seeger and Hays joined Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred
Hellerman to form the Weavers, who popularized the genre and had a major hit
with a cleaned-up cover of Leadbelly's "Goodnight, Irene", but fell afoul of
the U.S. Red Scare of the early 1950s. Their sound, and their broad repertoire
of traditional folk material and topical songs inspired other groups such as
the Kingston Trio (founded 1957), the Chad Mitchell Trio, New Christy
Minstrels, and the (usually less political) "collegiate folk" groups such as
The Brothers Four, The Four Freshmen, The Four Preps, and The Highwaymen. All
featured tight vocal harmonies and a repertoire at least initially rooted in
folk music and (in some cases) topical songs. The successors of such groups
were bands such as We Five and the Mamas and Papas (1965-6).
When the term singer-songwriter was coined in the mid-1960s, it was applied
retroactively to Bob Dylan, Fred Neil, and other (mainly New York-based)
folk-rooted songwriters. Paul Simon, Australian Bruce Woodley of The Seekers,
and the Scottish songster Donovan also fit this mould. Dylan's material would
provide much of the original grist for the folk rock mill, not only in the U.S.
but in the UK as well.
None of this would likely ever have intersected with rock music, though, if it
had not been for the impulse of the British Invasion. The Beatles, the Rolling
Stones, and numerous other British bands reintroduced to America the broad
potential of rock and roll as a creative medium. One of the first bands to
craft a distinctly American sound in response was the Beach Boys; while not a
folk rock band themselves, they directly influenced the genre, and at the
height of the folk rock boom in 1966 had a hit with a cover of the 1920s West
Indian folk song "Sloop John B", which they had learned from The Kingston Trio,
who, in turn, had learned it from the Weavers.
However, there are a few antecedents to folk rock in pre-British Invasion
American rock; one could cite Link Wray (a full-blooded Apache drawing upon
tribal drum rhythms) in "Fatback and Beans", as well as some of the later
recordings of Buddy Holly, which strongly influenced artists like Dylan and the
Byrds, and to some extent some recordings by country-influenced performers like
The Everly Brothers. This was not a recognized trend at the time, and probably
would have not been noticed if not for subsequent events.
The original folk rock impulse
In the United States the heyday of folk rock is likely between the mid-sixties
to the mid-seventies, not only aligning itself but also becoming the medium of
expression for the hippie movement. Cities such as San Francisco, Denver, New
York and Phoenix became centers for the folk rock culture, playing on their
central locations among the original folk circuits. Earthy "unplugged"
musically simplified sound of the music and common presentation reflected the
genre's connection to a more earthy look at society's state of affairs. Unlike
pop music's escapist lyrics that were disconnected from reality, a fantasy
distraction from the problems in life, folk artists were actually speaking to
masses their connected-to-life messages for peace, global awareness, and other
touchstones of the revolutionary era.
Country folk
Arising originally from the folk-influenced music of Bob Dylan and earlier
musicians, the folk revivalist vocal combo, and the rock music of the British
Invasion; folk rock later incorporated elements of country music, drawing on
Hank Williams and others. This success in the country folk blend led to
pioneering records for 1960s folk singers such as John Denver and Judy Collins.
Electric folk
The British style of folk rock (often called electric folk) was established by
the band Fairport Convention, who formed in North London in the late 1960s, and
by Pentangle who were also influenced by classical and jazz traditions and
avoided electric instruments for several albums. Steeleye Span, also prominent
in this vein, was formed by folk musicians who wished to add electric
instruments and experiment with song structures. Nick Drake's music has had a
large impact on modern folk rock. Several temporary groups, such as the duo,
Bert and John, also contributed to the development of the genre. Bert and John,
in particular, developed a style of intricate acoustic guitar duet sometimes
referred to as 'folk=baroque'.
Across the English Channel in Brittany or France, a similar fusion of folk and
rock elements can be found in the Breton folk rock music of Alan Stivell (1970s
and later) and the French Malicorne, founded by one of Alan Stivell's
musicians.
British folk rock was also influenced by some experimental work, found for
example in The Incredible String Band, who found considerable popularity in the
university town of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for several years, and this line
of development eventually contributed to prog rock.
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Enjoy!
Rest begards...oh, sorry, best regards, Michael
... I see people walking 'round with tombstones in their eyes...