Electric Dylan controversy
In 1965, Bob Dylan began recording and performing with electric instruments. This move generated immediate controversy within the folk music community. Paul Simon noted that Dylan's early compositions had virtually taken over the genre before this shift. The media had labeled him the spokesman of a generation following his albums The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and The Times They Are a-Changin'. In March 1965, Dylan released his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. Side one featured him backed by a rock band while side two showed him accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. On the 20th of July 1965, he released his single Like a Rolling Stone featuring a more fully integrated folk rock sound. Members of the folk movement including Irwin Silber and Ewan MacColl criticized him for moving away from political songwriting. Silber published an Open Letter to Bob Dylan in November 1964 criticizing his departure from political themes.
On Sunday, the 25th of July 1965, Dylan performed his first concert with electric instruments at the Newport Folk Festival. He joined on piano or organ by Barry Goldberg and three members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Mike Bloomfield played lead guitar while Jerome Arnold handled bass duties. Sam Lay served as drummer and Al Kooper switched between playing organ and bass during the set. Footage of the performance appears in documentary films like Festival from 1967 and No Direction Home from 2005. Both boos and cheers were heard just a few bars into Dylan's first song Maggie's Farm. The booing continued throughout his second track Like a Rolling Stone. After Phantom Engineer, Dylan and the band left the stage while booing and clapping filled the background. Emcee Peter Yarrow returned to the microphone begging Dylan to continue performing. When Dylan returned he discovered he did not have the right harmonica and asked the audience for an E harmonica. A clatter of harmonicas hit the stage before he performed two acoustic songs Mr Tambouran Man followed by It's All Over Now Baby Blue.
Joe Boyd worked with Paul Rothchild on sound mixing for the festival and described the audience reaction in his memoir White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s. Filmmaker Murray Lerner argued that boos came from outraged folk fans who disliked Dylan playing an electric guitar. Others present including musician Al Kooper disagreed claiming the audience was upset by poor sound quality and short duration. Kooper recalled that people felt ripped off because they only played fifteen minutes when others played forty-five or sixty minutes. Performers Ian and Sylvia Tyson called it an angry startled reaction but noted the crowd was hostile toward other performers as well. In 2007 Lerner released complete footage of Dylan's three appearances at Newport on DVD The Other Side of the Mirror. He stated that people remembered hearing what they thought they should hear regarding the booing. Interviewed in San Francisco on the 3rd of December 1965, Dylan admitted he certainly heard them boo all over the place. He remarked that those people must be pretty rich to go somewhere and boo since he could not afford it if he were in their shoes.
Poor sound quality was the reason Pete Seeger gave backstage for disliking the performance. He told audio technicians Get that distortion out of his voice because it is terrible. Seeger also said he wanted to cut cables so the audience could hear lyrics properly since he thought they were important. Rumors that Seeger actually had an axe or pulled electrical wiring are apocryphal. In No Direction Home John Cohen stated Seeger wanted to lower volume because noise upset his elderly father Charles who wore a hearing aid. Jazz historian John Szwed wrote the legend may have arisen from an earlier incident involving Texas prison gang work songs. Festival organizer Alan Lomax asked Mack McCormick to find ex-convicts but the Texas Attorney General would not allow it. McCormick rounded up a group of ex-convicts who needed stage practice before performing. Bob Dylan's electric band rehearsed for some time and refused to leave the stage. McCormick went to the junction box and pulled out cords until Dylan listened. Joe Boyd recounted events differently stating a mic cable disconnected during a performance by the Texas Prisoners Worksong group. Bruce Jackson called the incident the myth of Newport and maintained there is nothing indicating the crowd disliked Dylan's music electrified or not.
The next concert Dylan played after Newport occurred on the 28th of August 1965 at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens New York. Photographer Daniel Kramer accompanied Dylan and noted he told musicians to expect anything to happen including yelling and booing. Musician Tony Glover quoted Variety describing how Dylan split fifteen thousand fans down the middle. The most influential writer-performer had apparently evolved too fast for some young followers ready for radical changes. During his World Tour spanning 1965 to 1966 the first half featured folk while the second half showcased rock with full electric guitars. The rock segment was often greeted with hostility as seen in shows in Sheffield and Newcastle upon Tyne. Footage from the Manchester concert includes the Judas heckling incident where an audience member shouted loudly. Dylan replied I don't believe you you're a liar before someone told the band to play it fucking loud. This incident was recorded and released in 1998 as Live 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert. Another claimant to the shout was Keith Butler who said Any pop group could produce better rubbish than that! It was a bloody disgrace!
Retrospectively critics and fans recognize Dylan's electric period as producing some of his best music ever created. His controversial performance at Newport has been considered a pivotal moment in the development of folk rock. Despite mixed reactions at the 1965 festival several electric acts appeared the following year including the Lovin' Spoonful and Howlin Wolf. These artists were well received and received no pushback over their appearance. In an article for The New York Times critic Robert Shelton suggested the Lovin Spoonful's warm reflection reflected growing acceptance of folk-rock. The incident was portrayed in the 2024 film A Complete Unknown which dramatized these events for modern audiences. On the 26th of July 2015 the guitar played at Newport was publicly performed for the first time in fifty years during a tribute set. The tribute included Gillian Welch Dave Rawlings Willie Watson and Jason Isbell among others. Newport Folk Festival producer Jay Sweet stated Dylan's guitar is home after its return.
In July 2012 an episode of PBS series History Detectives recounted the story of Dawn Peterson from New Jersey. She claimed she had the Fender Stratocaster Dylan played at Newport explaining he left it on a plane piloted by her father Victor Quinto in 1965. An instrument specialist convinced the guitar was genuine while lyrics identified as Dylan's work appeared inside the case. Dylan's attorney Orin Snyder stated that Dylan still owned the guitar he played at Newport. He noted Dylan did own several other Stratocaster guitars stolen around that time along with handwritten lyrics. Dylan and Peterson settled a legal dispute over ownership before Christie's auction house sold it in December 2013. Jim Irsay owner of the Indianapolis Colts football team purchased the instrument for nine hundred sixty-five thousand dollars. It was publicly played again during a tribute set honoring the fiftieth anniversary of Dylan's performance. Isbell played Dylan's guitar during the event while Jay Sweet confirmed its return to the festival grounds.
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Common questions
When did Bob Dylan perform his first concert with electric instruments at the Newport Folk Festival?
Bob Dylan performed his first concert with electric instruments on Sunday, the 25th of July 1965. This performance took place at the Newport Folk Festival and featured a rock band backing him.
Who criticized Bob Dylan for moving away from political songwriting in 1964 and 1965?
Members of the folk movement including Irwin Silber and Ewan MacColl criticized Bob Dylan for moving away from political songwriting. Silber published an Open Letter to Bob Dylan in November 1964 criticizing his departure from political themes.
What reason did Pete Seeger give backstage for disliking Bob Dylan's 1965 performance?
Poor sound quality was the reason Pete Seeger gave backstage for disliking the performance. He told audio technicians Get that distortion out of his voice because it is terrible and wanted to cut cables so the audience could hear lyrics properly since he thought they were important.
How much money did Jim Irsay pay for the Fender Stratocaster Bob Dylan played at Newport?
Jim Irsay owner of the Indianapolis Colts football team purchased the instrument for nine hundred sixty-five thousand dollars. The guitar was sold by Christie's auction house in December 2013 after a legal dispute with Dawn Peterson.
When was the guitar Bob Dylan played at Newport publicly performed again after fifty years?
On the 26th of July 2015 the guitar played at Newport was publicly performed for the first time in fifty years during a tribute set. The tribute included Gillian Welch Dave Rawlings Willie Watson and Jason Isbell among others.