AN ELECTRIFYING PERFORMANCE
Music fans who headed to Rhode Island’s Newport Folk Festival on July 25, 1965, didn’t expect to witness a major tectonic shift of the musical landscape. But they did.
As one of the headliners, Bob Dylan, at 24 already a folk music legend, presented a traditional acoustic set of original, well-known works. He then took a break, and when he returned, he was joined by five other musicians who hauled onstage— horror of horrors!—electrified instruments! Before a slack-jawed crowd, Dylan cast aside both his folk roots and his reputation, plugged in a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar and proceeded to rock out. Hard.
He powered through three tunes: “Maggie’s Farm,” a work-in-progress tune called “Phantom Engineer” and what would one day become his signature song, “Like a Rolling Stone.” In doing so, Dylan mixed folk music with rock ’n’ roll to create a new sound—folkrock—that soon would be ubiquitous.
Everyone in attendance that night seemed to have a different reaction to the unexpected performance. Some cheered, while others booed. Some danced, while others headed for the exits. Backstage, folk purist Pete Seeger supposedly grumbled to the audio technicians, “If I had an ax,
I’d chop the microphone cable right now.”
Peter Yarrow (of Peter,
Paul and Mary fame) worked frantically to soothe the unruly crowd. Eventually a scowling Bob Dylan sauntered back on stage, acoustic guitar in hand. With eyes rolling, he offered “Mr. Tambourine Man” and one other original song to make sure his message got through: “It’s All Over Now,
Baby Blue.”
In high school, Bob Dylan was a fan of rhythm and blues, and of Little Richard in particular.
RANDAL C. HILL writes about music from his home in Bandon, OR.