Genre story · Rock
Folk Rock
Folk melodies and stories finding new power through an electric rhythm section.
Folk rock developed especially quickly in the United States during the mid-1960s. The Byrds drew on Bob Dylan's songwriting and the electric twelve-string guitar vocabulary of the British Invasion, while Dylan himself brought amplified instrumentation into his own recordings and concerts. The movement did not depend on one artist alone. British groups subsequently approached the meeting point from another direction, working with local traditional material rather than primarily with contemporary American songwriters.
Old songs in new settings
An electric guitar can sharpen an old melody, while bass and drums give a narrative ballad a different forward motion. Harmonized vocals remain important to many American examples. In the British tradition, fiddle and arrangements adapted from traditional dance music may play central roles alongside Rock instruments. This range shows why the style cannot be reduced to either acoustic music with a drum kit or conventional rock with historical lyrics.
Distinct related traditions
Folk Rock precedes Indie Folk and is not an offshoot of Folk Punk. It has regional forms with their own stories. Fairport Convention's work in the late 1960s is essential for understanding how the British approach differed from the early Byrds or Dylan recordings.
Essential recordings
- 1965The ByrdsMr. Tambourine ManElectric twelve-string guitar and folk-rooted songwriting.
- 1965Bob DylanBringing It All Back HomeAn important moment in the move between acoustic and electric writing.
- 1969Fairport ConventionLiege & LiefTraditional British material performed with a rock band's physical drive.