Folk rock

Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It typically combines elements of folk and rock music together, it arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers such as Bob Dylan and the Byrds—several of whose members had earlier played in folk ensembles—attempted to blend the sounds of rock with their pre-existing folk repertoire, adopting the use of electric instrumentation and drums in a way previously discouraged in the U.S. folk community. The term "folk rock" was initially used in the U.S. music press in June 1965 to describe the Byrds' music.

The commercial success of the Byrds' cover version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and their debut w:album of the same name, along with Dylan's own recordings with rock instrumentation—on the albums Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965), and Blonde on Blonde (1966)—encouraged other folk acts, such as Simon & Garfunkel, to use electric backing on their records and new groups, such as Buffalo Springfield, to form. Dylan's controversial appearance at the Newport Folk Festival on 25 July 1965, where he was backed by an electric band, was also a pivotal moment in the development of the genre.

Quotes about folk rock

• To define folk rock is a paradoxical task, given that the genre's purpose is to take elements from various sources — traditional folk, blues, rock 'n' roll, pop — and fuse them into a new sound.
  • Allison Rapp of Ultimate Classic Rock (August 28, 2024)

• In America, two developments had taken place by the mid-‘60s that helped [further] separate rock from country. On the pop-rock side of the equation, genres like soul, girl-group pop, garage rock and surf music had joined with the British Invasion to dominate the singles charts. Only folk-rock, which had a strong bluegrass influence thanks to Roger McGuinn’s banjo-like 12-string electric guitar playing with the Byrds, kept the country roots in rock.
  • Dave Lifton of Ultimate Classic Rock (December 16, 2016)