Folkies and Folk-Rockers

And, beyond that, there were other cultural influences that impinged on the music scene. The avant-garde artistic scene might not have been as obvious in the States as it was elsewhere. The Beat Generation literary outburst was, at the start, a uniquely American phenomenon that found echoes around the globe.

Several of those strands merged in the American equivalent of skiffle, which did much to shape subsequent developments. That was the college and affiliated folk scene, which produced a number of significant figures of interest in these parts.

For a start, it was the influence that caused a number of kids to pick up (acoustic) guitars and start playing. And, like skiffle, a limited traditional repertoire encouraged would-be performers to write their material, drawing on traditional elements. The early sixties political and social environment, the civil rights campaign and the war in Vietnam provided plenty of subject matter.

While there was a traditional folk scene in Britain, it was strongly traditional. Significant figures, self-appointed shapers of the movement and arbiters of taste at various stages insisted performances could be vocal or instrumental. And commercial success was a definite no-no.

In the States, by contrast, the folk scene could draw on a substantial market in liberal and progressive circles. Folk-related record labels (Elektra and Vanguard for starters) were viable commercial operations with enough cash flow to experiment. 

Subsets of American folk provided singer-songwriters, groups singing harmonies, encouraged instrumental virtuosity in genres like bluegrass. It should come as no surprise to see Jim (later Roger) McGuinn, David Crosby, John Sebastian and John Phillips looking at the success those English acts were enjoying and deciding they wanted some of that.

Which, in turn, gives us The Byrds, The Lovin' Spoonful and The Mamas & The Papas.

East and West Coasters     San Francisco     The Tide Recedes (And Flows Back In)

© Ian Hughes 2015