Folk-Rock Artists: Bob Dylan can be credited for pushing folk music forward into the rock world when he went electric at a folk festival (unheard-of at the time). The 1970s were the real advent of Folk Rock artists like The Mamas & the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel and Neil Young. More recently, folks like Dan Bern, Ryan Adams and Eddie From Ohio are keeping the folk-rock scene thriving.
Folk-Rock Instruments of Choice: Like with Singer/Songwriters, Folk Rockers tend to center their songs around an acoustic guitar. Generally, they also feature a full Rock band, which includes electric guitar, electric bass and drums. Some bands also incorporate bluegrass instruments like fiddle and mandolin into their line-up, while others use blues instruments like harmonica and lap steel.
Starter CDs: Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (Columbia, 1966). The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man (Columbia/Legacy 1965). Paul Simon - Graceland (Warner Bros., 1987).
Background Info on Folk-Rock : Folk Rock was born in the 1960s when artists like Bob Dylan and the Byrds - undoubtedly two of the biggest frontrunners of the evolution of the genre - began to respond to the British Invasion of creative rock bands like The Beatles and The Who, using their folk influences. These young intellectuals and politicaly savvy songwriters had grown up influenced by the folksingers of the 1930s and ‘40s like Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie.
It could be argued that Bob Dylan created folk rock when he pulled out his electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, offending folk music’s staunchest traditionalists. Later, bands such as The Mamas & The Papas, Peter Paul & Mary, The Turtles, and Crosby Stills Nash & Young would help the folk rock movement along even further, having been influenced by the likes of Dylan and British singer/songwriter Donovan.
The 1970s saw the real advent of folk-rock artists like The Mamas & the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, and Neil Young. More recently, folks like Dan Bern, Ryan Adams, and Hammel on Trial are keeping the folk-rock scene thriving.
