The Folk Revival

Without the Folk Revival of the 1950s and 1960s, there's a decent chance that you would not be reading this blog right now. It's possible that without the increased attention to folk music that came about, starting with the work of archivists and field recorders like Alan Lomax, Harry Smith and Moses Asch of Folkways Records, our collection would not be as special as it is.

The revival began with the popularity of the Weavers, a folk group formed in the late 1940s and featuring the talents of Pete Seeger and Lee Hays, former members of the Almanac Singers, which included Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston. In 1950, The Weavers had a hit with Lead Belly's "Goodnight Irene, and before they were dropped by the Decca label for their left leaning politics (this was during the Red Scare and McCarthyism) they had other million-selling singles such as "So Long, It's Been Good To Know You" and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine". The folk scene was temporarily driven underground, to college towns and coffee shops in places like Greenwich Village.

In the 1950s, a few folk performers such as Odetta and Harry Belafonte had crossover success, but the flourishing of the revival began with the Kingston Trio, who were directly inspired by the Weavers, and in 1958 had a smash hit with "Tom Dooley", a song that had been performed at Lead Belly's funeral.

Over the next few years, performers such as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, the trio of Peter, Paul and Mary, Judy Collins, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton all rose to prominence performing folk music. Folk music became associated with the Civil Rights movement, with several folk artists performing at Martin Luther King's famous March on Washington in 1963. Eventually, rock music would consume folk music, an event symbolized by Bob Dylan's playing electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival, and famously being called "Judas" at a 1966 show in Manchester, England.

Still, the folk revival had an enormous effect on the music and culture writ large, and has helped to ensure that folk music has remained prominent ever since.