Just after World War II a Folk music revival started in the USA that included acts like Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, and Pete Seeger. Come the 1960s a whole new breed of Folk singers were on the scene like Peter Paul & Mary, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan.
Meanwhile The Beatles and other British groups invaded America in the early 1960s creating much interest in electric instruments as opposed to the acoustic ones used by the Folk acts. One of these bands was The Searchers and they released a cover of Jackie DeShannon’s When You Walk In The Room using a Rickenbacker 12-string (actually the Rose Morris model 1993) in 1964. The Byrds who had just started to use electric guitars picked up on that jingle-jangle sound that the 12 strings produced. In 1965 Roger (or Jim as he was then) McGuinn went into the studio, the rest of The Byrds were not at the recording session, and recorded an electric version of Bob Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man. And almost overnight it was number 1 in the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1965 The Animals toured the USA. According to John Steele of The Animals, Bob Dylan told him he had been influenced by The Animals use of electric guitars in their version of House Of The Rising Sun, and recorded an album called Bringing It All Back Home, or Subterranean Homesick Blues depending which side of the Atlantic you were on. The opening track being Subterranean Homesick Blues a raucous heavily amplified rock song.
Fans of Folk music were a conservative bunch, and when Dylan had the audacity to play the 1965 Newport Folk Festival using an electric guitar he was booed. Then at a gig in the UK in Manchester at the Trade Hall in May 1966 one fan was so greatly offended by this electric guitar that he shouted “Judas” at Bob Dylan.
None of this stopped the uptake of this new electrified version of Folk that became known as Folk Rock and soon existing, and new Folk acts were turning on the electricity.
To celebrate the growth of Folk Rock Strawberry Records has released a 3 CD compilation with 74 tracks giving us over almost 4 hours of music.
The collection’s opening track is, of course, The Byrds and Mr Tambourine Man, which is followed by Subterranean Homesick Blues from Bob Dylan. They set the mark by which the other selections should be measured, which is a pretty high mark. Some make it, others maybe don’t, but this is an excellent introduction to the genre. Included are tracks from big name artists like The Byrds, Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Judy Collins, Dion, The Lovin’ Spoonful and The Mamas and Papas. Added to the mix are some forgotten gems from the likes of Dan Hicks, Bob Lind, Melanie, Gordon Lightfoot, and The Beau Brummels. Strawberry has even managed to squeeze in some really rare tracks of an early recording by Cass Elliot when she was in The Mugwumps, a band that also included Denny Doherty, The Lovin' Spoonful’s Zal Yanovsky and John Sebastian. But wait there’s more from Linda Ronstadt with the Stone Poneys, Grace Slick with the Great Society, and Janis Joplin with Big Brother & the Holding Company.
I was actually surprised by the additions of some of those acts, but even more surprised by one from Johnny Winter, yes the Blues man, singing Birds Can't Row Boats and also Sonny (Bono) who features with his solo outing Laugh At Me.
The informative booklet included is a mine of information, so I think you will find this compilation an excellent addition to your collection whether you are familiar with the Folk Rock genre or it is new to you.
You can hear some tracks from the collection in The Groove Yard visit 154
For a full track listing and other information go to the Cherry Red Records website.
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