Electric Dylan controversy
1965 music controversy in the United States involving the use of an electric guitar by Bob Dylan
In 1965, Bob Dylan, the leading songwriter of the American folk music revival, began recording and performing with electric instruments, generating controversy in the folk music community.
The response to his albums The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and The Times They Are a-Changin' led the media to label him the "spokesman of a generation". In March 1965, Dylan released his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. Side one features him backed by a rock band, while side two features him accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. In June of that year, Dylan began recording his next album, Highway 61 Revisited, which featured a more fully integrated folk rock sound. After recording a few of the songs, Dylan took a six-week break.
On July 20, 1965, he released his single from that album, "Like a Rolling Stone." Five days later, he took the main stage at the Newport Folk Festival, and performed his first concert with electric instruments: one song from Bringing It All Back Home and two songs from Highway 61 Revisited. He was joined on piano/organ by Barry Goldberg and three members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band: guitarist Mike Bloomfield, bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay, and also with Al Kooper playing organ or bass—he played bass on "Like a Rolling Stone" while Goldberg played organ.
Some sections of the audience booed the performance. Members of the folk movement, including Irwin Silber and Ewan MacColl, criticized him for moving away from political songwriting and for performing with a rock band.
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