Protest Folk Rock
tagStarted 1965Peak 1965–1971Last big hit 1986
Located in 1 route
Protest folk rock weds topical or political lyric content to the backbeat, electric guitars, and band dynamics of rock. The songs retain folk’s seriousness of address but use amplified urgency and chorus lift to widen their reach.
History
Once Dylan’s move toward electric instrumentation broke the acoustic purity taboo, folk’s protest impulse quickly fused with rock’s energy and mass audience. Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Jackson Browne, and Billy Bragg each carried the form into different eras, from Vietnam and civil rights through labor politics and Cold War critique.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Hurricane — Bob DylanSpotifyYouTube
- Outside of a Small Circle of Friends — Phil OchsSpotifyYouTube
- For What Its Worth — Buffalo SpringfieldSpotifyYouTube
- Ohio — Crosby Stills Nash & YoungSpotifyYouTube
- Lives in the Balance — Jackson BrowneSpotifyYouTube
- There Is Power in a Union — Billy BraggSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "folk rock"
- MasterClass, "Folk Rock Music Guide"
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Bob Dylan." citeturn0search16turn2search4turn1search16