Newport Folk Festival

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Newport Folk Festival
Logo of the 2006 festival
Location(s) Flag of the United States Newport, Rhode Island
Years active 1959-1971?[citation needed]
1985-present
Founded by Theodore Bikel, Oscar Brand, Pete Seeger, George Wein, Albert Grossman
Date(s) currently early August
Genre(s) Folk, Country, Blues, Folk rock
Website Festival Productions

The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959.

Contents

[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.

Baez and Dylan at Washington, 1963
Baez and Dylan at Washington, 1963

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. Murray Lerner directed the 1967 film Festival based on the 1963-1965 festivals, now available on DVD.

[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

Cover of the official 1988 Newport live compilation
Cover of the official 1988 Newport live compilation

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; indeed the festival is currently named the Dunkin' Donuts Newport Folk Festival. The 2007 festival featured musicians such as Linda Ronstadt, who is the Friday night headliner, in addition to other well known musicians such as the Allman Brothers Band, Emmylou Harris, Alejandro Escovedo, Cheryl Wheeler, Hazel Dickens and Ralph Stanley.

[edit] Newport Folk Festival Tour

Beginning in 1998, a multi-act bill, only loosely centered around folk music, has toured the United States under the Newport Folk Festival Tour moniker, playing the usual summer outdoor amphitheatre circuit.

That first touring lineup included Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Alison Krauss, John Hiatt, Newport veteran Joan Baez, Wilco, Suzanne Vega, Loudon Wainwright III, Lucinda Williams, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.[2] A New York Times review found some similarities between the acts but a loss of the folk sensibility in its original purpose.[3]

[edit] Albums recorded at the festival

  • The Newport Folk Festival, 1960 [2 Volumes] - Vanguard Records
  • Festival: The Newport Folk Festival 1965 [1]
  • Ben & Jerry's Newport Folk Festival '88 Live [2]
  • Ben & Jerry's Newport Folk Festival, Vol. 2 (1990) [3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ CNN: "Newport Folk Festival features Willie Nelson, Natalie Merchant", retrieved January 10, 2006
  2. ^ Travel Advisory | Pop Culture News | News + Notes | Entertainment Weekly | 1
  3. ^ "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; Newport Folk, How It's Changed", The New York Times, August 4, 1998. Accessed April 11, 2008.

[edit] External links


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