I am very interested in the evolution of music in all its forms. I am currently reading a history of folk rock which is a particular genre that I enjoy.
It starts with a chapter on the scandal of Bob Dylan going electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
Dylan being Dylan decided to play an electric set. I use the word set loosely. He actually played just three songs and there is suggestions that the sound balance was appalling and the band were so unrehearsed that nobody really knew what was going on.
Whether the performance met with a chorus of boos as has been suggested is also open to debate. First hand accounts vary on this matter. I believe Dylan did come back on stage to do a couple of acoustic numbers having borrowed a guitar. That suggests that originally he had no intention of playing acoustic.
I don't know about you but if I was at that festival I would have been a tad miffed to just get five numbers. Strangely the performance has gone down in folk rock history and signalled a new genre in music and one I am particularly fond of. You can see and hear the set on You Tube and it's pretty good but very short.
The book cites Dylan's "Mr Tambourine Man" as recorded by The Byrds as the first true piece of the folk rock genre.
I have never really appreciated Dylan. I just can't get past his voice. That's a bit strange when you know that I like Tom Waits whose voice is much worse than Dylan's.
If I had to describe my favourite style of music I guess it would be a mish mash mixture of folk, classical and what is known as progressive rock. in other words an over the top melange of pomposity.
But as I've said before I have my weaknesses for the likes of George Gershwin, Gustav Mahler, Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss waltzes, brass band marches and Albert Ketelbey (who).
And how about The Warsaw Concerto, The Dream of Olwen, Cornish Rhapsody and The Legend of the Glass Mountain? These are typically overblown over the top quasi classical pieces of music that I love. For some reason, although I love those four pieces of music they are strangely scary.
I can't explain how or why I find them scary but give them a listen if you aren't conversant with them and, while you're there, also try Ketelbey's "In a Persian Market," "In a Monestery Garden" and "Sanctuary of the Heart" and many more.
Today I include a few more shots of the Dorset coast which has absolutely nothing to do with folk rock but hey ho this is my blog so I can shoot all over the place.