Newport Folk Festival
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| Newport Folk Festival | |
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| Logo of the 2006 festival | |
| Location(s) |  Newport, Rhode Island |
| Years active | 1959-1971?[citation needed] 1985-present |
| Date(s) | currently early August |
| Genre(s) | Folk, Country, Blues, Folk rock |
| Website | |
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959.
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[edit] History
The Newport Folk Festival was founded in 1959 by Theodore Bikel, Oscar Brand, Pete Seeger and George Wein, founder of the already-well-established Newport Jazz Festival, and his partner, Albert Grossman.
The Festival is renowned for introducing a number of performers who went on to become major stars, most notably Joan Baez (who appeared as an unannounced guest of Bob Gibson in 1959), and Bob Dylan (managed by Grossman), whose first Newport appearance in 1963 is generally regarded as his premiere national performance. Dylan became the artist most famously (and infamously) associated with the festival. In 1963 and 1964, Dylan was accompanied by Joan Baez (who in turn had been one of the first discoveries of the first Newport Folk Festival, in the company of Chicago musician Bob Gibson).
The festival draws on folk music in a wide and loosened sense. For instance, in the 1960s there were famous performances by Johnny Cash and Howlin' Wolf, artists usually described as representing country music and blues respectively. The festival was associated with the 1960s Blues Revival, where artists "lost" since the 1940s (e.g. Delta blues singers) were "rediscovered".
Concerts have been a rich source of recordings (see "Albums recorded at the festival"). Murray Lerner directed the 1967 film Festival based on the 1963-1965 festivals.
[edit] The Electric Dylan Controversy
- Main article: Electric Dylan controversy.
His 1963 and 1964 performances had made him popular with the Newport crowd, but on July 25, 1965 Dylan was booed by some fans when he played alongside an electric blues/rock and roll band while headlining the festival. It is usually said that the reason for the crowd's hostile reception was Dylan's 'abandoning' of the folk orthodoxy, or poor sound quality on the night (or a combination of the two). This incident, Dylan's first live 'plugged-in' set of his professional career, marked the shift in his artistic direction from folk to rock, and had wider implications for both styles of music.
[edit] Recent years
The Newport Folk Festival fell on hard times in the later 1960s, even closing its doors for a number of years, beginning in 1971, but was revived in 1985, and has since become one of the major folk music festivals in the United States, alongside the Philadelphia Folk Festival, which began in 1960.
The festival has run without interruption ever since 1985, although in a different form from its 1960s heyday; the event has gone from not-for-profit to for-profit, the crowd has shrunk from 20,000 to 10,000 and evening concerts have been canceled.[1] Furthermore, major sponsors have included Ben & Jerry's and Dunkin' Donuts (it is currently named the 'Dunkin' Donuts Newport Folk Festival'). In recent years, a multi-act bill, only loosely centered around folk music, has toured the US under the 'Newport Folk Festival' moniker.
[edit] See also
[edit] Albums recorded at the festival
- The Newport Folk Festival, 1959 [3 Volumes] - Vanguard Records
- The Newport Folk Festival, 1960 [2 Volumes] - Vanguard Records
The Following Albums were Issue by Vanguard Records after the 1963 Newport Folk Festival:
- Newport Broadside (Topical Songs) - VRS-9144 (Mono) and VSD-79144 (Stereo)
Joan Baez, Bob Davenport, Bob Dylan, The Freedom Singers, Jim Garland, Sam Hinton, Peter La Farge, Ed McCurdy, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger
- Blues At Newport - VRS-9145 (Mono) and VS-79145 (Stereo)
Rev. Gary Davis, John Hammond, John Lee Hooker, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry, Mississippi John Hurt
- Country Music and Bluegrass At Newport - VRS-9146 (Mono) and VSD-79146 (Stereo)
Clarence "Tom" Ashley, Clint Howard, Jim and Jesse and The Virginia Boys, Tex Logan, The Morris Brothers, The New Lost City Ramblers, Fred Price, Doc Watson, Mac Wiseman, and The Country Boys.
- Old Time Music At Newport - VRS-9147 (Mono) and VSD-79147 (Stereo)
Clarence "Tom" Ashley, Doc Boggs, Maybelle Carter, Jenes Cottrell, Dorsey Dixon, Clint Howard, Fred Price, Doc Watson
- Evening Concert At Newport, Vol. 1 - VRS-9148 (Mono) and VSD-79148 (Stereo)
- Evening Concert At Newport, Vol. 2 - VRS-9149 (Mono) and VSD-79149 (Stereo)
- Festival: The Newport Folk Festival 1965 (album) [1]
- Ben & Jerry's Newport Folk Festival '88 Live [2]
- Ben & Jerry's Newport Folk Festival, Vol. 2 (1990) [3]
[edit] Not to be confused with
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ CNN: "Newport Folk Festival features Willie Nelson, Natalie Merchant", retrieved January 10, 2006
| American roots music |
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| African American music | Appalachian/old-time | Blues (Ragtime) | Cajun music | Country (Honky tonk and Bluegrass) | Folk music revival (1950s/'60s) | Jazz (Dixieland) | Native American | Spirituals and Gospel | Swamp pop | Tejano | Zydeco |
