Chapter 9 – Folk, Folk-Rock, and Singer/Songwriters

“The tradition of folk music was always political… Folk music became the liturgy of the consciousness of change in America”

Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Folk Music

Folk music traditionally takes liberal political positions – against racism and war

College students in the sixties concerned about the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War related to statements made in folk songsSense of equal rights for all races seen as fairU.S. involvement in Vietnam seen as a problem because of great numbers of American deaths by middle sixties, and required draft that came to be seen as a death sentence. (The Vietnam military was not all made up of volunteers…)

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Folk Music, continuedTraditional folk music came from Britain and other parts of Europe, old songs

continued to be sungSuch songs collected and published in such books as Folk Song U.S.A. (1947) Folk singers often sang traditional songs, accompanied by acoustic instruments… avoided amplification and drumsFolk groups such as the Hutchinson Family Quartet (19th century) wrote new folk-styled songs about political concerns of their times:

destructiveness of alcoholneed to abolish slaverywoman’s right to vote

The Almanac Singers (started by Pete Seeger in 1941) sang about:development and support for strong labor unionscivil rightsneed to end war

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Woody Guthrie

(1912-1967), member of the Almanac Singers, songwriter, singer, guitarist most famous for songs:“This Land is Your Land”“So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You”Travelled the country singing in support for organization of workers’ unionsEarly fifties, hospitalized with Huntington’s chorea, degenerative disease of the nervous system

Some other folk singers performed traditional folk material, John Jacob Niles and Burl Ives

New folk-styled songs by the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Joan Baez, and others

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Bob Dylan

(1942- ) Follower of Woody Guthrie, visited Guthrie in the hospitalFolk song texts and messages mean more than melodiesDylan’s first album, Bob Dylan (1962) contained mostly traditional songsSecond album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) gave him a protest-singer reputationMany songs more popular when covered by more commercial sounding groups such as Peter, Paul, and Mary

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Bob Dylan, continuedFolksinger Joan Baez sang some Dylan songs and toured with

him in 1963Dylan refused appearance on Ed Sullivan TV show because of

song choices1965 Newport Folk Festival introduced new sound for Dylan –

singing with electric instruments and drums played by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band– this shocked folk-purist fans

Dylan began to have pop-chart hits when he used rock instruments – the sound called Folk-Rock

Late sixties, country influences in Dylan’s soundLate seventies/early eighties, fundamentalist Christian songsLater music continued based on songs in support of working

people and general social and political issues

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Listening Guide

“Blowin’ in the Wind” by Peter, Paul, and Mary (1963)Tempo: 78 beats per minute, 2 beats per barForm: 8-bar phrases organized into verses with 4 phrases each.

Verses ask questions, then end with the answer is “Blowin’ in the Wind”

Features: Three singers accompanied by two acoustic guitars and string bass8-bar instrumental introduction establishes a smooth, gentle rhythmString bass plays on the beats, often with pickupsMary sings alone in some verses, Peter and Paul do in others

Lyrics: The song foreshadows both the civil rights and antiwar movements in the immediate years to come.

Charts: Pop, #2, British hits, #13

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Folk-Rock music

Folk-styled singing and songs accompanied by rock instrumentationThe ByrdsThe Mamas and the PapasSimon and GarfunkelBarry McGuireJanis IanCrosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

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Listening Guide

“Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan (1965)Tempo: 168 beats per minute, 4 beats per barForm: 4-bar instrumental introduction

10 verses vary in length, first two repeat as a refrainFeatures: Vocals by Dylan

Instrumentation includes strummed acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and harmonicaNo accent on backbeatsRecording lasts 5 minutes and 30 seconds

Lyrics: Series of surrealistic images, generally seen as drug influenced and “Mr. Tambourine Man” as the dealer

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Listening Guide

“Mr. Tambourine Man” by the Byrds (1965)Tempo: 122 beats per minute, 4 beats per barForm: Only four of Dylan’s verses are sung, the first two repeated at the endFeatures: Group sings refrain in close harmony, McGuinn sings verses alone.

A second voice sometimes heard above the melody, a style used in country musicInstruments include twelve-string electric guitar, electric bass, tambourine, drums, and a thickly layered backgroundStrong backbeat by the drums and tambourineRecording lasts 2 minutes and 14 seconds (3 minutes 16 seconds shorter

than Dylan’s version)Lyrics: Hints about drug use remain from Dylan’s version, but many of the

images are missingCharts: Pop, #1, British hits, #1

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Listening Guide

“Sounds of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel (1965)Tempo: 108 beats per minute, 4 beats per barForm: 1-bar instrumental introduction, 5 verses, most of which are 15 bars

longMelodies repeat, with some variations to fit text

Features: Electric guitars play using folk-style picking patterns (picking across the strings instead of strumming)

Electric bass guitar and drums enter in second verseDrums accent backbeatSimon and Garfunkel sing in harmony

Lyrics: Singers are Old Testament prophets claiming that commercialism has led people astray resulting in general alienation and inauthentic human relationships

Charts: Pop, #1 for two weeks

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Listening Guide

“Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire (1965)Tempo: 118 beats per minute, 4 beats per barForm: 6-bar introduction: 2 bars on timpani imitating bombs, then 4 bars of

strummed acoustic guitarVerse and refrain lengths are either 10 or 12 bars

Features: Even beat subdivisionsStrummed acoustic guitars provide most of the accompanimentStrong backbeat in drumsHarmonica used at ends of refrainsMcGuire sings verses with speech-like inflections and gruff, forceful vocal timbre

Lyrics: Events of the summer of 1965, seeming leading to destruction: border skirmishes on the Jordan River, civil rights marches, violent backlash in Selma, Alabama, an ongoing cultural evolution in “Red China,” and a 4-day Gemini space mission.

Charts: Pop, #1

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Listening Guide

“Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1970)Tempo: 80 beats per minute, 4 beats per barForm: 8 bar instrumental introduction played by solo guitar, drums enter at

3rd bar, bass and lead guitar enter at 5th barAfter introduction, songs follows ABCABCA form with sections of 4 or 8

barsFeatures: Even beat subdivisions

Backbeat in drumsBass on beats 1, 3, and 4Singers in unison at beginning, then in harmony

Lyrics: An antiwar demonstration at Kent State University in Ohio, at which four students were shot to death by the National Guard sent to

the campus by the state’s governorCharts: Pop, #14

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Folk-Rock Singer/Songwriters

By late sixties and early seventies, many folk singers moved from songs on political matters to more personal statements

Title “singer/songwriter” stresses that the singer is singing about own feelings, life, and relationships in a very personal way

Some important singer/songwriters of the seventies include:James TaylorCarole KingJoni MitchellCarly Simon

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Listening Guide

“Fire and Rain” by James Taylor (1970)Tempo: 76 beats per minute, 4 beats per barForm: 4-bar introduction on acoustic guitar, piano joins at bar 3

8-bar verses with choruses from 8 to 9 barsFeatures: The mood is gentle and plaintive

Bowed string bass added to guitar and piano at first verseDrums enter at first chorus playing a soft backbeat

Lyrics: Verse 1, Taylor’s reaction to the death of a friend, Verse 2, Taylor’s return to America from England with an aching body, desperate to overcome a drug problem, Verse 3, the breakup of Taylor’s first band, the Flying Machine

Charts: Pop, #3, British hits, #42

Listening Guide

“Help Me” by Joni Mitchell ( 1974)Tempo: 168 beats per minute, 4 beats per barForm: 4-bar introduction, followed by 4 verses with instrumental extensions

after each one in an AABA formatA jazz instrumental group plays extensionsAll A sections begin with the words “help me”

Features: Mitchell strums an acoustic guitar, drums enter at bar 4Jazz instrumental group, the L.A. Express play saxophone, guitar, keyboards, bass, and drumsA female vocal group inserts responses to Mitchell’s vocal lines

Lyrics: The singer laments her tendency to chase after bad men who have no intention of sticking around, but ends the song with t he

suggestion that she herself really does not want a permanent relationship either

Charts: Pop, #7

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Discussion Questions

Is folk music at its best when expressing controversy and hard times, or is it music for all time?

Why were many young adults listening to Bob Dylan instead of pop or soul music during the early sixties?

Why were traditional folk musicians offended when Dylan began to use amplified instruments? Is acoustic folk music more “authentic” and folk-rock too commercial to also be heard as authentic?

Frank Zappa criticized singer/songwriters for being too personal and too quick to dump their problems and feelings on their listeners, who are already burdened with their own problems. Is the widespread popularity of music by singer/songwriters an indication that he was wrong, or did he make a valid point?

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