Bgcolor	crimson
Color	white
Name	Folk rock
Stylistic origins	Folk music, rock music, pop music
Cultural origins	Early 1960s, United States and United Kingdom
Instruments	Vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums, Hammond organ, piano, harmonica
Popularity	Popular mostly from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s; Still has a fanbase in 2000s|derivatives=
Subgenrelist	List of folk music genres
Subgenres	Celtic rock - Manila Sound - Electric folk - Folk metal - Folk punk - Folktronica - Indie folk - Neofolk - Nu-folk - Medieval folk rock - Psychedelic folk - Viking metal

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s. The genre was pioneered by the Los Angeles band The Byrds, who began playing traditional folk music and Bob Dylan penned material with rock instrumentation, in a style heavily influenced by The Beatles and other British bands. The term "folk rock" was itself first coined by the U.S. music press to describe The Byrds' music in June 1965, the same month that the band's debut album was issued. The release of The Byrds' cover version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and its subsequent commercial success initiated the folk rock explosion of the mid-1960s. Dylan himself was also influential on the genre, particularly his recordings with an electric rock band on the Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde albums.

The genre had its antecedents in the American folk music revival, the beat music of The Beatles and other British Invasion bands, The Animals' hit recording of the folk song "The House of the Rising Sun", and the folk-influenced songwriting of The Beau Brummels. In particular, the folk-influence evident in such Beatles' songs as "I'm a Loser" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" was very influential on folk rock. This jangly guitar sound was derived from the music of The Searchers and from George Harrison's use of a Rickenbacker 12-string on The Beatles' recordings during 1964 and 1965.

This original incarnation of folk rock led directly to the distinct, eclectic style of electric folk (aka British folk rock) pioneered in the late 1960s by Pentangle, Fairport Convention and Alan Stivell. Inspired by British psychedelic folk and the North-American style of folk rock, Pentangle, Fairport, and other related bands began to incorporate elements of traditional British folk music into their repertoire. Shortly afterwards, Fairport bassist, Ashley Hutchings, formed Steeleye Span with traditionalist folk musicians who wished to incorporate overt rock elements into their music and this, in turn, spawned a number of other variants, including the overtly English folk rock of The Albion Band (also featuring Hutchings) and the more prolific current of Celtic rock.

In a broader sense, folk rock includes later similarly-inspired musical genres and movements in the English-speaking world (and its Celtic and Filipino fringes) and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in Europe. As with any genre, the borders are difficult to define. Folk rock may lean more toward folk or toward rock in its instrumentation, its playing and vocal style, or its choice of material; while the original genre draws on music of Europe and North America, there is no clear delineation of which folk cultures music might be included as influences. Still, the term is not usually applied to rock music rooted in the blues-based or other African American music (except as mediated through folk revivalists), nor to rock music with Cajun roots, nor to music (especially after about 1980) with non-European folk roots, which is more typically classified as world music.

Antecedents

The folk music revival

(center), at a racially integrated Valentine's Day party.]] In the United States, folk rock arose mainly from the confluence of three elements: the urban vocal groups of the folk revival; folk-protest singer-songwriters; and the revival of North American rock and roll after the British Invasion. Of these, the first two owed direct debts to protest folk singers such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, along with the leftist Popular Front culture of the 1930s. Among the earliest of the urban folk vocal groups was the Almanac Singers, who were formed specifically for the purpose of popularizing protest music for political ends and whose shifting membership during the early 1940s included Guthrie, Seeger and Lee Hays. In 1948 Seeger and Hays joined Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman to form The Weavers, who had a number of hits, including "Kisses Sweeter than Wine", "Wimoweh", "The Wreck of the John B", and a cover of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene". The Weavers' mainstream popularity set the stage for the folk revival of the 1950s and early 1960s and also served to bridge the gap between folk, popular music, and topical song.

The Weavers' sound and repertoire of traditional folk material and topical songs directly inspired The Kingston Trio, a three-piece folk group who came to prominence in 1958 with their hit recording of "Tom Dooley", which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Kingston Trio provided the template for the flood of "collegiate folk" groups that followed between 1958 and 1962, including the Chad Mitchell Trio, The New Christy Minstrels, The Brothers Four, The Limeliters, and The Highwaymen. Like The Kingston Trio, these groups all featured tight vocal harmonies, mildly comedic stage routines, and a repertoire of professionally arranged folk music and topical song, aimed at a mainstream, popular audience. The crystal clear harmony singing and liberal outlook that characterized American folk rock during the mid-1960s sprang directly from the music and philosophies of the "collegiate folk" movement. In addition, the presence of traditional folk songs in the repertoires of a number of folk rock acts can be attributed to the heightened level of exposure that the folk revival afforded such material. Many future folk rock artists, including members of The Byrds, The Mamas & the Papas, and Buffalo Springfield, along with solo singers like Barry McGuire and Scott McKenzie, began their professional music careers in folk revival groups. Many of these urban revivalists were influenced by the recordings of traditional American music from the 1920s and 1930s that Folkways Records had reissued, with Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music series of albums being particularly influential. While this urban folk revival flourished in many cities across the U.S.—particularly Chicago, Los Angeles, and Denver—New York City, with its burgeoning Greenwich Village coffeehouse scene and population of topical folk singers, was widely regarded as the centre of the movement. Out of this fertile environment came such folk-protest luminaries as Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, and Peter, Paul and Mary, many of whom would transition into folk rock performers as the 1960s progressed. This rejection of traditional values and the attendant politicization it often bred, along with fervent support for the civil rights movement, led many folk singers to begin composing their own "protest" material. The most important and influential of this new wave of folk-protest songwriters was Bob Dylan, whose complex lyrics not only provided a commentary on contemporary social issues but on his own life experiences too and thus, paralleled the work of earlier Beat Generation writers like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. The influence of this folk-protest movement would later manifest itself in the sociopolitical lyrics and mildly anti-establishment sentiments of many folk rock songs, including hit singles such as "Eve of Destruction", "Like a Rolling Stone", "For What It's Worth", and "Let's Live for Today".

Across the Atlantic, a parallel folk revival was occurring in the UK during the 1950s and early 1960s. The leading protagonists of this revival, often referred to as the second British folk revival, were folk singers Ewan MacColl and Bert Lloyd, both of whom saw British folk music as a vehicle for leftist political concepts and an antidote to the American-dominated popular music of the time. However, it wasn't until 1956 and the advent of the skiffle craze that the British folk revival crossed over into the mainstream and connected with British youth culture. Skiffle was a blend of jazz, folk, and country blues, with roots in African-American folk music and the post-war British jazz scene. During the late 1950s, thousands of teenage skiffle groups sprang up in the UK, each performing traditional material on inexpensive or make-shift instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, harmonica, tea-chest bass, and washboard. Many British beat, folk, and rock musicians who came to prominence in the 1960s first picked up a musical instrument in order to play skiffle and the folk influences inherent in the genre introduced a new generation of young musicians to traditional music. This renewed popularity of folk music forms in Britain led directly to the progressive folk movement and the attendant British folk club scene. Many other notable folk rock artists such as Donovan, Al Stewart, and John Martyn also had roots in the progressive folk scene, as did American singer-songwriter Paul Simon.

The Beatles and the British Invasion

}} Beginning in 1964 and lasting until roughly 1966, a wave of British beat groups, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, Gerry & the Pacemakers, The Kinks, and Herman's Hermits amongst others, dominated the U.S. music charts. These groups were all heavily influenced by American rock 'n' roll, blues, and R&B;—musical genres they had been introduced to via homegrown British rock 'n' roll singers, imported American records, and the music of the skiffle craze. While rock 'n' roll and, to a lesser extent, blues were still popular in the UK, for many young Americans these genres had either become somewhat démodé, as was the case with rock 'n' roll, or were largely unknown to white audiences, as was the case with the blues. These UK groups, known collectively as the British Invasion, reintroduced American youth culture to the broad potential of rock and pop music as a creative medium and to the wealth of musical culture to be found within the United States. In addition, a number of the British Invasion bands also wrote their own pop and R&B; flavored material, something that was rarely done at the time and something that would prove to be influential on many U.S. bands as the 1960s progressed. the British Invasion began in earnest in January 1964 when The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" single reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was followed by the American release of Meet The Beatles!, an LP that topped the Billboard album charts in February 1964 and went on to influence many forms of American popular music during the 1960s. February also saw The Beatles' embark on their first North American tour, during which they made three high profile television appearances on the popular Ed Sullivan Show, with their first appearance drawing an estimated viewing audience of 73 million. By April 4, 1964, The Beatles held the top 5 positions on the Billboard singles chart, the only time to date that any act has accomplished such a feat. with the latter song being directly inspired by folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. These songs were all influential in providing a template for successfully assimilating folk-based chord progressions and melodies into pop music. This melding of folk and rock 'n' roll in The Beatles' music became even more explicit during 1965, with the release of "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away", a folk-derived song with introspective lyrics, again influenced by Dylan. Although The Beatles themselves utilized folk as just one of many styles evident in their music, the underlying folk influences in a number of their songs would prove to be extremely important to folk rock musicians attempting to blend their own folk influences with beat music.

In the wake of The Beatles' first visit to America, a whole slew of other British beat groups followed, capitalizing on the prevailing American fascination for all things British and monopolizing the U.S. charts for the next two years. The effect that the music of these British bands, and The Beatles in particular, had on young Americans was immediate; almost overnight, folk—along with many other forms of homegrown music—became passé for a large proportion of America's youth, who instead turned their attention to the influx of British acts. This sorrowful tale of a whorehouse in New Orleans had previously been recorded by a number of folk and blues performers, including Bob Dylan, whose adaptation was likely responsible for first introducing the song to The Animals. The band's arrangement of "The House of the Rising Sun", which transmuted the song from an acoustic folk lament to a full-bore electric rock song, would go on to influence many folk rock acts but none more so than Dylan himself, who cited it as a key factor in his decision to record and perform with an electric rock band during 1965. Buddy Holly's self-penned material, which strongly influenced both Dylan and The Byrds; Ritchie Valens' recording of the Mexican folk song "La Bamba"; and the folk and country-influenced recordings featured on The Everly Brothers' 1959 album, Songs Our Daddy Taught Us.}} Although folk rock mainly grew out of a mix of American folk revival and British Invasion influences, Surprisingly, neither the band, nor their guitarist and chief songwriter Ron Elliott, were overtly influenced by folk music. Although these records owed more to orchestral pop than rock, they were nonetheless influential on up-and-coming folk rock musicians on both sides of the Atlantic. Perhaps more importantly, in spite of his folky persona and repertoire, Donovan had always considered himself a pop star, rather than a folk singer. As a result, he had been thinking of a way in which to introduce folk styled acoustic guitars and socially conscious lyrics into pop music for several years prior to his 1965 breakthrough as a recording artist.

Other notable bands and solo artists who were blurring the boundaries between folk and rock in the early 1960s, include Judy Henske, Richard and Mimi Fariña, and The Mugwumps, the latter of which were a New York band featuring future members of The Lovin' Spoonful and The Mamas & the Papas. Also of note are the Australian band The Seekers, who had relocated to England in 1964 and reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart with "I'll Never Find Another You" in February 1965. Although it was not strictly a folk song, "I'll Never Find Another You" was heavily influenced by Peter, Paul and Mary and featured a cyclical, 12-string guitar part that sounded remarkably similar to the guitar style that Jim McGuinn of The Byrds would popularize later that same year.

The 1960's folk rock boom

The Byrds

The moment when all of the separate influences that served to make up folk rock finally coalesced into an identifiable whole was with the release of The Byrds' recording of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man". Written by Dylan in early 1964, The Byrds' recording of the song was issued by Columbia Records on April 12, 1965. Within three months it had become the first folk rock smash hit, reaching #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. The single's success initiated the folk rock boom of 1965 and 1966, during which a profusion of Byrds-influenced acts flooded the American and British charts. Dylan's material would provide much of the original grist for the folk rock mill, not only in the U.S. but in the UK as well, with many pop and rock acts covering his material in a style reminiscent of The Byrds.

The nucleus of The Byrds had formed in early 1964, when Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby—united by a shared love of The Beatles' music—came together under the moniker of The Jet Set at The Troubadour folk club in Los Angeles. The trio all had a background in folk music, with each member having worked as a folk singer on the acoustic coffeehouse circuit during the early 1960s. Soon after forming The Jet Set, Crosby introduced McGuinn and Clark to his associate Jim Dickson, who became the group's manager. Dickson had access to World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles, which he began to utilize as a rehearsal space for the band. During the course of 1964, the trio expanded their ranks to include drummer Michael Clarke and bassist Chris Hillman, with the band eventually changing their name to The Byrds in November.

It was during the rehearsals at World Pacific that the band began to develop the blend of folk music and Beatles-style pop that would characterize their sound. However, this hybrid was not deliberately created; instead, it evolved organically out of the band's own folk music roots and their desire to emulate The Beatles. Soon the band themselves realized that there was something unique about their music and, with Dickson's encouragement, they began to actively attempt to bridge the gap between folk and rock. As rehearsals continued, Dickson managed to acquire an acetate disc of the then-unreleased "Mr. Tambourine Man" from Dylan's music publisher. Although the band were initially unimpressed with the song, they began rehearsing it with a full, electric rock band arrangement, changing the time signature from 2/4 to 4/4 in the process. Dickson invited Dylan to hear the band's rendition at World Pacific and the singer-songwriter was apparently impressed by what he heard, enthusiastically commenting "Wow, You can dance to that!" Dylan would later join The Byrds on stage at Ciro's nightclub in Hollywood on March 26, 1965, further cementing the symbiotic relationship between the artists. The Byrds' reworking of "Mr. Tambourine Man", along with The Animals' rock interpretation of "The House of the Rising Sun" (itself based on Dylan's earlier cover), helped to provide Dylan himself with the impetus to start recording with an electric backing band.

The Byrds signed to Columbia Records in November 1964 and on January 20, 1965, they entered Columbia Studios in Hollywood to record "Mr. Tambourine Man". The single's blend of abstract lyrics, folk-influenced melody, complex harmonies, jangly 12-string Rickenbacker guitar playing, and Beatles-influenced beat, resulted in a synthesis that effectively created the subgenre of folk rock. As the 1970s dawned, folk rock evolved away from the jangly template pioneered by The Byrds, but their influence could still be heard in the music of bands like Fairport Convention and Pentangle. The Byrds themselves continued to enjoy commercial success with their brand of folk rock throughout 1965, most notably with their #1 charting single "Turn! Turn! Turn!". By the start of 1966, however, the group had begun to move away from folk rock and into the new musical frontier of psychedelic rock. The folk rock sound of The Byrds has continued to influence many bands over the years, including Big Star, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, R.E.M., The Long Ryders, The Smiths, The Bangles, The Stone Roses, Teenage Fanclub, and Delays among others.

Bob Dylan

Five days before The Byrds entered Columbia Studios in Hollywood to record his song "Mr. Tambourine Man", Bob Dylan completed the recording sessions for his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. Of the eleven tracks included on the album, seven featured Dylan backed by a full electric rock band, in stark contrast to his earlier acoustic folk albums. In addition, Dylan's producer Tom Wilson, whose own musical leanings were oriented more towards jazz and soul than folk music, had been encouraging Dylan to experiment with an electric band since 1964. However, the single had been a commercial failure and had consequently remained unheard by the public at large.

Bringing It All Back Home was released on March 22, 1965, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and #1 on the UK Album Chart. The album's blend of rhythm and blues-derived rock and abstract, poetic lyrics was immediately influential in demonstrating that intelligent lyrical content could be wedded with rock 'n' roll. The songs on the album saw Dylan leaving folk music far behind—and not just on the rock-derived material that made up side 1 of the original LP, but also on the acoustic songs that comprised side 2. Even with this folkier, acoustic material, Dylan's biting, apocalyptical, and often humorous lyrics went far beyond those of contemporary folk music, Performed with a full backing band, the song's musical structure was loosely based on Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business", while the lyrics were a dizzying array of free association rhymes, hip street-speak, and cautionary advice for the singer's own generation. Released just as The Byrds' cover of "Mr. Tambourine Man" topped the charts in the United States, the song was instrumental in defining the burgeoning folk rock scene and in establishing Dylan as a bona fide rock star, rather than a folksinger. The length of "Like a Rolling Stone" alone was pioneering, although Columbia Records did issue two versions of the single: one featuring the full length version of the song and the other with it chopped in half to facilitate radio play. Five days after the release of "Like a Rolling Stone", on July 25, 1965, Dylan made a controversial appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, performing three songs with a full band.

Dylan followed "Like a Rolling Stone" with the wholly electric album Highway 61 Revisited and the non-album single "Positively 4th Street", which itself has been widely interpreted as a rebuke to the folk purists who had rejected his new electric music. Throughout 1965 and 1966, hit singles like "Subterranean Homesick Blues", "Like a Rolling Stone", "Positively 4th Street", and "I Want You" among others, along with the Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde albums, proved to be hugely influential on the development and popularity of folk rock.

Some artists, originally produced with a harder edged rock sound, found the ability to communicate more easily and felt more genuine in this method of delivery. In this category was Cat Stevens, in London, who began, much like the Byrds in the United States, but toned down the sound more frequently, with acoustic instruments, performing songs that contained concern for the environment, war, and the future of the world in general.

Subgenres

Country folk

A subgenre originally arising from the early 1960s folk and country-influenced music of singer-songwriter artists such as Bob Dylan and Bobby Bare, as well as from folk revivalist vocal groups like The Kingston Trio. During the late 1960s, many folk rock artists including Dylan, Ian and Sylvia, and The Byrds began to incorporate a strong country influence into their music, drawing heavily on Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens amongst others, resulting in the concurrent offshoot of country rock. This successful blending of country, folk and rock styles led to pioneering country folk records by folk-influenced singer-songwriters such as John Denver and Neil Young during the 1970s. Country folk music usually displays a softer, more laid-back feel than the majority of country music and is often complimented by introspective lyrics, thus preserving its folk singer-songwriter roots.

Electric folk

and Ric Sanders of Fairport Convention performing at Fairport's Cropredy Convention 2005]] Electric folk (aka British folk rock) is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in Britain during the late 1960s by the bands Sweeney's Men, Fairport Convention, and Pentangle. This incorporation of traditional British folk music influences gives electric folk its distinctly British character and flavour.

Steeleye Span was founded by Fairport Convention bass player, Ashley Hutchings, and was made up of traditionalist folk musicians who wished to incorporate electrical amplification, and later overt rock elements, into their music. This, in turn, spawned the conspicuously English folk rock music of The Albion Band, a group that also included Hutchings as a member. During this same period, electric folk was adopted and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, and Cornwall, to produce Celtic rock and its derivates. It emerged from the electric folk music of the late 1960s and was pioneered by bands such as Horslips, who blended Gaelic mythology, traditional Irish music and rock. The subgenre was further popularised in 1973 by Thin Lizzy, who had a hit with "Whiskey in the Jar", a traditional Irish song performed entirely in the rock idiom. Throughout the 1970s, Celtic rock held close to its folk roots, drawing heavily on traditional Celtic fiddle, pipe, and harp tunes, as well as traditional vocal styles, but making use of rock band levels of amplification and percussion. In the 1980s and beyond, Celtic rock was perpetuated by bands such as The Pogues, The Waterboys, Runrig, Black 47, and The Prodigals.

Medieval folk rock

in 2005]] Medieval folk rock developed as a sub-genre of electric folk from about 1970 as performers, particularly in England, Germany and Brittany, adopted medieval and renaissance music as a basis for their music, in contrast to the early modern and nineteenth century ballads that dominated the output of Fairport Convention. This followed the trend explored by Steeleye Span, and exemplified by their 1972 album Below the Salt. Acts in this area included Gryphon, Gentle Giant and Third Ear Band. In Germany Ougenweide, originally formed in 1970 as an acoustic folk group, opted to draw exclusively on High German medieval music when they electrified, setting the agenda for future German electric folk. In Brittany, as part of the Celtic rock movement, medieval music was focused on by bands like Ripaille from 1977 and Saga de Ragnar Lodbrock from 1979. However, by the end of the 1970s almost all of these performers had either disbanded or moved, like Gentle Giant and Gryphon, into the developing area of progressive rock. In the 1990s, as part of the wider resurgence of folk music in general, new medieval folk rock acts began to appear, including the Richie Blackmore project Blackmore's Night, German bands such as In Extremo, Subway to Sally or Schandmaul and English bands like Circulus.

British progressive folk rock

In Britain the tendency to electrify brought several progressive folk acts into rock, including acoustic duo Tyrannosaurus Rex which became the electric combo T-Rex. Others, probably influenced by the electric folk pioneered by Fairport Convention from 1969, moved towards more traditional material, a category including Dando Shaft, Amazing Blondel, and Jack the Lad, an offshoot of northern progressive folk group Lindisfarne, who were one of the most successful UK bands of the early 1970s. Examples of bands that remained firmly on the border between progressive folk and progressive rock were the short lived (but later reunited) Comus and, more successfully, Renaissance, who combined folk and rock with elements of classical music.

Regional varieties

South-Eastern Europe

;Hungary In Hungary the fusion of rock and folk music began in 1965, when the band Illés introduced Hungarian folk music elements into their beat-influenced music, winning everything which could be won in that time at festivals, TV contests, etc. Their rock-musical István, a király (Stephen I of Hungary), released in 1980 contains strong folk-influences and traditional folk songs as well. The film made based on the rock-opera was one of the biggest box-office hits in 1980. Later on bands like Barbaro, Gépfolklór, Kormorán and Drums have developed a distinctive sound using odd rhythms, progressive rock, Hungarian and Greek/Bulgarian/etc. folk traditions.

;Romania In Romania Transsylvania Phoenix (known in Romania simply as Phoenix), founded in 1962, introduced significant folk elements into their rock music around 1972 in an unsuccessful attempt to compromise with government repression of rock music. The attempt failed, and they ended up in exile during much of the Ceauşescu era, but much of their music still retains a folk rock sound. The present-day bands Spitalul de Urgenţă (Romanian) and Zdob şi Zdub (Moldova) also both merge folk and rock.

;Yugoslavia and its successor states In SFR Yugoslavia a great number of (mostly 1970s progressive rock) bands incorporated folk music elements into their sound. Korni Grupa, YU grupa and S Vremena Na Vreme were pioneers in incorporating Balkan folk music elements into rock on the Yugoslav scene, and were followed by Smak, Leb i Sol and Dah.

In the mid 1970s emerged the band Bijelo Dugme, who had huge success with their fusion of hard rock and folk music; however at the beginning of 1980s Bijelo Dugme switched to New Wave, and in the late 1980s to pop rock, but their last few releases also featured folk music elements. Late Bijelo Dugme albums influenced a number of pop rock/folk rock bands, mostly from Sarajevo: Crvena Jabuka, Plavi Orkestar, Merlin, Valentino and Hari Mata Hari.

The singer-songwriter Đorđe Balašević incorporated elements of folk music of Vojvodina into a number of his songs, while some of his albums, like Na posletku... and Rani mraz, were completely folk rock-oriented. Another notable act whose music featured a combination of rock and Vojvodina folk music were the band Garavi Sokak. Some hard rock/heavy metal bands, like Vatreni Poljubac, Divlje Jagode and Griva incorporated folk music elements into some of their songs, Divlje Jagode during their 1970s hard rock era, and Griva after their third album Griva. The band Galija incorporated some folk music elements into their music during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and in 1999 released the album Južnjačka uteha with covers of Serbian traditional songs.

During the 1990s Serbian band Orthodox Celts emerged. They saw major success with their Irish folk/Celtic rock sound, influencing a number of younger bands, most notably Tir na n'Og and Irish Stew of Sindidun.

The Soviet Union and its successor states

Russia and the Soviet Union produced a large amount of folk music, which was often mixed with modern music styles. Bands like Pesneri (Belarussian), Melnitsa (Russian), Yalla (Uzbek) and others combined rock, pop and traditional music.

Turkey

See also Anatolian rock and Music of Turkey Turkey, during the 1970s and 1980s, also sustained a vibrant folk rock scene, drawing inspirations from diverse ethnic elements of Anatolia, the Balkans, Eurasia and the Black Sea region and thriving in a culture of intense political strife, with musicians in nationalist and Marxist camps.

Italy and Spain

;Italy It is difficult to define the boundaries between folk and ethnic music in Italy, because of its geographic position and its history. The folk side was founded by the Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare at the end of 1960s. The Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano was characterized by musical search and a strong political commitment. In Italy many songwriters imported American models, such as Folk beat n. 1 by Francesco Guccini or to Edoardo Bennato, who mixes country, rock and tarantella. , in 2009Combining genres and performing Celtic patchanka]]

Folk rock roots can be found in two Italian songwriters: Fabrizio De André and Angelo Branduardi. In 1984, Fabrizio De André published the LP Creuza de ma, in Genoese dialect (an ancient dialect, with ancient and obsolete words, imported from Arabian, with linguistic difficulties among the same Genoese). De Andrè used musical instruments from Bosporus to Gibraltar: oud, andalusian guitar, Macedonian bag pipe, flute, Turkish shannaj, lute, Greek bouzuki and neapolitan mandolin. Brandurdi is a classical musician whose first LP Branduardi '74 is near to progressive sound, later he approaches to medieval and rinascimental and Celtic music. In 1985 he sang William Butler Yeats poetry. The violin, the harp, the sitar, the banjo and the lute are accompanied by electric bass and drums. Later he substituted violin with electric violin.

In 1982 Lou Dalfin formed an occitanian group which performed traditional music with traditional instruments: ghironda, accordion and organetto, violin, flute, boha and bag pipe and singing in occitanian language. A new line-up of the band in 1990 played folk, jazz and rock using electric bass, drums, electric guitar, keyboard and saxophone. In 1988 Gigi Camedda, Gino Marielli and Andrea Parodi founded Tazenda, an Italian ethno-folk-rock group which uses a launeddas (the oldest reed instruments of the Mediterranean), the sampled "canti a tenore", the diatonic accordions are mixed with electric guitars and drums and harmonicas.

The Gang were formed in 1984 as a punk group, inspired by The Clash, but in 1990 they began to sing about Italian political and social situation and they moved away from punk-style electric guitar and used acoustic twelve string guitar, violin, accordion, harmonica, and flutes. In 2004, after two rock discs, Gang recorded Nel tempo e oltre cantando insieme with La Macina, band of musical search from Marche led by Gastone Pietrucci. Traditional songs and Gang's songs were revised rearranged: an example of fusion between rock and popular tradition.

In 1991 some performers from Emilia-Romagna founded Modena City Ramblers, which blends the Combat Rock musical style (The Clash) with folk, traditional Irish music, political songs (Contessa) and partisans' songs (Fischia il vento and Bella Ciao). Later M.C.R. used a world music sound, and blended in rock, punk, tape loops and samples, creating a new genre called Celtic patchanka. Many groups were influenced by M.C.R.: Casa del Vento, Fiamma Fumana led by Alberto Cottica (electronic folk); Caravane de Ville of Giovanni Rubbiani; Ductia of Massimo Giuntini; Paulem and La strana famiglia led by Luciano Gaetani; and Cisco (former singer of M.C.R.) now a guitarist and drummer.

;Spain , Brittany, in 2004]] Other fusions of folk and rock include New Flamenco (Spain), the pop-oriented forms of North African raï music. Spain has produced two folk-rock-bagpipers, Susana Seivane from Galicia and Hevia, who mix traditional with modern dance tunes. Triquel is another Spanish Celtic rock band that combines rock music with Celtic folk roots.

Outside Europe

;Canada Canadian folk rock is particularly, although not exclusively, associated with Celtic folk traditions. Bands such as Figgy Duff, Wonderful Grand Band and Spirit of the West were early pioneers in the Canadian tradition of Celtic-influenced rock, and were later followed by acts such as Crash Test Dummies, Great Big Sea, The Mahones, The Dukhs, Jimmy George, Rawlins Cross, Captain Tractor, Mudmen, and Michou. In recent years, a variety of Canadian indie music has reached the scene with varying styles of folk rock such as Attack In Black, Great Lake Swimmers, City and Colour, The Wooden Sky, Joel Plaskett and Two Hours Traffic

;Australia Australia has a unique tradition of folk music, with origins in both the indigenous music traditions of the original Australian inhabitants, as well as the introduced folk music (including sea shanties) of 18th and 19th century Europe. Celtic, English, German and Scandinavian folk traditions predominated in this first wave of European immigrant music. The Australian tradition is, in this sense, related to the traditions of other countries with similar ethnic, historical and political origins, such as New Zealand, Canada, and the USA. The Australian indigenous tradition brought to this mix novel elements, including new instruments, some of which are now internationally familiar, such as the digeridoo of Northern Australia.

Notable Australian exponents of the folk revival movement included both European immigrants such as Eric Bogle, and indigenous Australians like Archie Roach, and many others. In the 1970s, Australian folk rock brought both familiar and less familiar traditional songs, as well as new compositions, to live venues and the airwaves. Notable artists include The Bushwacker Band and Redgum. The 1990s brought Australian Indigenous Folk Rock to the world, led by bands including Yothu Yindi. Australia's long and continuous folk tradition continues strongly to this day, with elements of folk music still present in many contemporary artists including those generally thought of as rock, heavy metal and alternative music.

;East Asia

Manila Sound is a sub-genre popular in the Philippines (notably in Manila during the 1970s which combined elements of Filipino folk music and Rock and roll using Taglish (mixed English and Tagalog). Notable musicians using this music include Freddie Aguilar, Sharon Cuneta, the Apo Hiking Society, VST & Co., Florante, Rey Valera, Rico J. Puno, and Ryan Cayabyab.

See also

List of folk rock artists

Acoustic music

Rock music

References

Further reading

Laing, Dave, et al. (1975) The Electric Muse: the story of folk into rock. London: Eyre Methuen

Pohle, Horst (1987) The Folk Record Source Book: England / Ireland / Scotland / Wales; 2nd ed. Berlin: Horst Pohle (1st ed.: 1984) (discography of ca. 10,000 LP & EP records by ca. 2500 groups / musicians 1950s to 1987; a few audiotapes where no vinyl discs available)

External links

Category:Crossover (music) * Category:Rock music genres

Name	David Crosby
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	David Van Cortlandt Crosby
Born	August 14, 1941Los Angeles, California, USA
Instrument	VocalsGuitar
Genre	Folk rockRock
Occupation	SingerSongwriter
Years active	1963–present
Label	Atlantic, A&M;, Rhino
Associated acts	The Byrds Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young CPR
Url	CrosbyCPR.com

David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash (who are sometimes augmented by Neil Young), and CPR. Crosby is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work in The Byrds and CSN.

Biography

Early years

David Crosby was born in Los Angeles, California. His parents were Aliph Van Cortlandt Whitehead and Floyd Crosby, an Academy Award winning cinematographer. Growing up in California, he attended several schools, including the University Elementary School in Los Angeles, the Crane Country Day School in Montecito, and Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara for the rest of his elementary school and junior high. At Crane, he starred in HMS Pinafore and other musicals but was asked not to return due to lack of academic progress. He graduated from the Cate School in Carpinteria, completing his studies by correspondence. In 1960, his parents divorced, and his father was remarried to Betty Christie Crosby.

Crosby also attended Santa Barbara City College. The song turned into a massive hit, soaring to #1 in the charts in the U.S. and the U.K. during 1965. Crosby took the opportunity to hone his craft, and soon blossomed into a prolific and talented songwriter. His early Byrds efforts included the classic 1966 hit "Eight Miles High" (to which he contributed one line, while Clark and McGuinn wrote the rest), and its flip side "Why", co-written with McGuinn, which showed Crosby at his hard-edged best.

Crosby is widely credited with popularizing the song "Hey Joe", after he picked it up from Dino Valente. He taught the song to Bryan MacLean and Arthur Lee of Love, who then taught it to members of The Leaves. Since he felt responsible for having popularized the song, Crosby convinced the other members of the Byrds to cover it on Fifth Dimension. By Younger Than Yesterday, the Byrds' album of 1967, Crosby clearly began to find his trademark style.

Friction between Crosby and the other Byrds came to a head in mid 1967. Tensions were high after the famous Monterey Pop Festival in June, when Crosby's on-stage political discourses between songs generated ill-feeling. The next night he further annoyed McGuinn and Hillman when, at the invitation of Stephen Stills, he substituted for an absent Neil Young during Buffalo Springfield’s set. The internal conflict boiled over during recording of the album Notorious Byrd Brothers in August and September. Differences over song selections led to arguments, with Crosby being particularly adamant that the band should record only original material. McGuinn and Hillman dismissed Crosby in mid-September, after he refused to participate in the recording session of the Goffin and King song "Goin' Back". Crosby's controversial menage-a-trois song "Triad", recorded by the band before his dismissal, was left off the album. Jefferson Airplane recorded "Triad" and released it on their album Crown of Creation in 1968. David Crosby sang a solo acoustic version on Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's 1971 double live album Four Way Street. The Byrds' version appeared decades later on the 1988 Never Before release and is now available on the CD re-release of Notorious Byrd Brothers.

In 1973 Crosby reunited with the original Byrds for the album Byrds, with Crosby acting as the record's producer. The album failed to be a critical or commercial success, and marked the final artistic collaboration of the original band.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Around the time of Crosby's firing, he met a recently unemployed Stephen Stills at a party at the home of (Mama) Cass Elliot in California in March 1968, and the two started meeting informally together and jamming. They were soon joined by Graham Nash, who left his commercially successful group The Hollies to play with Crosby and Stills. Remarkably, their appearance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969 constituted their second live performance ever.

Their first album, Crosby, Stills & Nash of 1969 was an immediate hit, spawning two Top 40 hit singles and receiving key airplay on the new FM radio format, in its early days populated by unfettered disc jockeys who then had the option of playing entire albums at once.

The songs he wrote while with CSN include "Guinnevere", "Almost Cut My Hair," "Long Time Gone," and "Delta". He also co-wrote "Wooden Ships" with Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane and Stephen Stills.

In 1969, Neil Young joined the group, and with him they recorded the album Déjà Vu, which went to number 1 on the charts. That same year, Crosby's longtime girlfriend Christine Hinton was killed in a car accident only days after Hinton, Crosby, and fellow girlfriend Debbie Donovan moved from Los Angeles to the Bay Area. Crosby was devastated, and he began abusing drugs much more severely than he had before. Nevertheless, he still managed to contribute "Almost Cut My Hair" and the title track "Déjà Vu". After the release of the double live album Four Way Street, the group went on a temporary hiatus to focus on their respective solo careers.

In December 1969, David appeared with CSNY at the Altamont Free Concert hosted by The Rolling Stones, thus performing at all three of the iconic rock festivals of the 1960s: Altamont, Monterey Pop and Woodstock. At the beginning of the new decade, he briefly did a stint with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart from the Grateful Dead, performing together as "David and the Dorks," and making a live recording at the Matrix on December 15, 1970.

CSNY reunited in 1973 at the Winterland in San Francisco. This served as a prelude to their highly successful stadium tour in the summer of 1974. Prior to the tour, the foursome attempted to record a new album entitled Human Highway. The recording session, which took place at Neil Young's ranch, was very unpleasant, and marked by constant bickering. The bickering eventually became too much, and the album was cancelled.

In rehearsals for the 1974 tour, CSNY recorded a then-unreleased David Crosby song, "Little Blind Fish." A different version of the song would appear on the second CPR album more than two decades later.

The 1974 tour was also full of constant bickering, though they managed to finish it without interruption. A greatest hits compilation entitled So Far was released during 1974 to capitalize on the foursome's reunion tour.

In 1976, as separate duos, Crosby & Nash and Stills & Young were both working on respective albums and contemplated retooling their work to produce a CSNY album. This attempt ended bitterly as Stills and Young deleted Crosby and Nash's vocals from their album Long May You Run.

CSNY would not perform together again as a foursome until Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985, and then performed only sporadically in the 1980s and '90s (mainly at the annual Bridge School Benefit organized by Young's wife Pegi). Without Young, however, Crosby, Stills & Nash has performed much more consistently since its reformation in 1977. The trio toured in support of their 1977 and 1982 albums CSN and Daylight Again and then, starting in the late-eighties, has toured regularly year after year. And while the group has continued to perform live to the present day, since 1982 it has released only four albums of new material: American Dream (1988, with Young), Live It Up (1990), After The Storm (1994), and Looking Forward (1999, with Young). In addition Crosby & Nash released the self-titled album Crosby & Nash in 2004.

Fullscale CSNY tours took place in 2000, 2002 and 2006.

Crosby, Stills and Nash appeared together on a 2008 episode of The Colbert Report, and "Neil Young" joined them during the musical performance at the end of the episode. However, eventually, it became clear that it was only Stephen Colbert impersonating Young as the group sang Teach Your Children.

Solo career

In 1971, Crosby released his first solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name, featuring contributions by Nash, Young, Joni Mitchell, along with members of Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, and Santana. Panned on release by Rolling Stone, it has received more critical respect with the passage of time and is still in print.

As a duo Crosby and Graham Nash have released four studio albums and two live albums including Another Stoney Evening, which features the duo in a 1971 acoustic performance with no supporting band.

Some other popular songs Crosby wrote in the 1970s include "Where Will I Be?", "Carry Me", "Bittersweet", "Time After Time", "Foolish Man", and "In My Dreams".

Renewing his ties to the San Francisco milieu that had abetted so well on his solo album, Crosby participated in electronica composer Ned Lagin’s proto-ambient project Seastones, along with members of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Starship. He also sang back up vocals on "Highway Song" from the Hot Tuna album Burgers. In 1999, he appeared on , singing a duet of the title track with Lucinda Williams. Crosby & Nash also contributed harmony vocals to songs by James Taylor, notably "Lighthouse" and "Mexico".

Crosby also worked with Phil Collins occasionally from the late 1980s to the early 1990s; he sang backup to Collins in "Another Day in Paradise" and, on his own 1993 song, "Hero", from his album Thousand Roads, he had Collins singing backup.

In 2006 Crosby worked with David Gilmour on his third solo album On an Island along with Nash. You can hear Crosby and Nash sing along with Gilmour on the second track on the album "On an Island". The album was released in March 2006 and reached #1 quickly on the UK charts. Both Crosby and Nash also performed live with Gilmour in his concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London in May 2006 and toured together in the USA, which can be seen on Gilmour's 2007 DVD "Remember That Night".

Acting career

During the early 1990s, he appeared as a guest star in several episodes of The John Larroquette Show, where he played the part of John Hemingway's AA sponsor. He appeared on an episode of Roseanne as the singer husband of one of Roseanne's co-workers, played by Bonnie Bramlett. He sang the Danny Sheridan composition "Roll On Down" on that episode. He was on an episode of Ellen called "Ellen Unplugged," where he was helping out at the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp. He also appeared as a pirate in the 1991 film Hook, as a '70s Hippie in the 1991 film Backdraft, and as a bartender in the 1992 feature film, Thunderheart.

Crosby has also voiced himself on two episodes of The Simpsons, "Marge in Chains" and "Homer's Barbershop Quartet".

Medical issues

David was the recipient of a highly publicized liver transplant in 1995. News of his transplant created some controversy because of his celebrity status and his past issues with drug and alcohol addiction.

Crosby suffers from obesity, has type 2 diabetes and is being treated with insulin to manage this disease.

At a concert in October 2008, Crosby, looking quite thinner than in recent years, announced to the audience that he'd recently shed 55 pounds.

Drugs charges and prison time

In 1982, after appearing in criminal courts facing several drugs and weapons charges, Crosby spent 9 months in Texas prisons. The drug charges stemmed from charges related to possession of heroin and cocaine.

In 1985, David Crosby, on probation for drunken driving, was arrested for hit-and-run driving and possession of a concealed pistol and drug paraphernalia. Crosby was arrested after driving into a fence in a Marin County suburb and officers found a .45-caliber pistol and cocaine in his car.

One of his famous stories is that while being interviewed, after being arrested, the reporter asked him: "Why did you have a gun?" Crosby responded, "John Lennon, man" and replied the same to every other of the questions.

On March 7, 2004, he was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, illegal possession of a hunting knife, illegal possession of ammunition and illegal possession of about 1 ounce of marijuana. Crosby left said items behind in his hotel room. "Authorities said a hotel employee searched the suitcase for identification and found about an ounce of marijuana, rolling papers, two knives and a .45-caliber pistol. Mr. Crosby was arrested when he returned to the hotel to pick up his bag." After spending 12 hours in jail, he was released on $3500 bail. On July 4, 2004, he pleaded guilty to "attempted criminal possession of a weapon," was fined $5,000 and given no jail time. "Prosecutors did not seek a more severe penalty on the weapons charge because the pistol was registered in California and was stowed safely in his luggage when it was found. A charge of "unlawful possession of marijuana" was dismissed. "Mr. Crosby was discharged by the court on condition that he pay his fine and not get arrested again."

Family

Two of Crosby's children were placed for adoption, a son James Raymond in 1962 and a daughter Erika Keller in 1966. He has been reunited with both of them as adults. Raymond is a musician, and since 1997 has performed with Crosby on stage and in the studio. In 1997 the two formed the group CPR with Jeff Pevar. The group released two studio albums and two live albums before disbanding in 2004. Meanwhile Raymond continues to perform with Crosby as part of the touring bands for Crosby & Nash and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Crosby has two other children. He has a daughter, Donovan Crosby, with girlfriend Debbie Donovan. After extensive fertility treatments while Crosby's liver was failing, he and wife Jan Dance conceived son Django Crosby.

He is married to Jan Dance but had a number of long-term relationships, including those with Christine Hinton, Debbie Donovan and Joni Mitchell.

In January 2000, Melissa Etheridge, a lesbian musician announced that Crosby was the biological father of the two children she and her partner Julie Cypher had conceived by artificial insemination.

Crosby's brother Ethan, who taught him to play guitar and started his musical career with him, committed suicide in late 1997 or early 1998. The date is unknown because Ethan left a note not to search for his body and let him return to the earth. His body was found months later in May 1998.

Discography

If I Could Only Remember My Name, Atlantic 1971 US #12; UK #12

Oh Yes I Can, A&M; 1989 US #104

Thousand Roads, Atlantic 1993 US #133

It's All Coming Back To Me Now..., Atlantic 1995

King Biscuit Flower Hour, King Biscuit 1996

Voyage Box Set, Rhino/Wea 2006

References

Notes

External links

David Crosby/CPR

Crosby-Nash

CSN Official Site

CSNY Official Site

4WaySite - CSNY Fan-site

Category:1941 births Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American male singers Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singer-songwriters Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:The Byrds members Category:Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young members Category:Living people Category:Musicians from California Category:Organ transplant recipients Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics