Reviews

Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties by Elijah Wald

johndiconsiglio's review against another edition

3.0

How does it feeeel? To change music history by plugging in a Fender Stratocaster? Is that really what happened in 1965 Newport when folk prophet Bob Dylan scandalized crowds—& nearly gave Pete Seeger a coronary—by shifting his allegiance from acoustics to amplifiers? Was he signaling he wouldn’t work on Maggie’s Farm no more? Studied but pedantic look at folk-mageddon. More musicology than journalism or history. Best when pitting mercurial visionary Dylan v. unyielding populist Seeger. If you’re hording stacks of Ramblin' Jack Elliott records, your dream book has arrived.

emckeon1002's review against another edition

5.0

I just loved this book. Wald is an engaging writer with a deft control of the facts. He views Dylan's mythical electric set at the 65 Newport Folk Festival as a pivotal moment in music and history. On the way to making some very interesting points, we learn about the folk revival of the fifties and sixties, the relationship between old school folkies in the Seeger school, the commercial folkies like the Kingston Trio and the future of "folk" as embodied by Dylan. It's also a great look at Dylan's early career, and his relationship with fellow musicians, and the music business. It's dense with information, and as enjoyable a read as I have in a long time.

gjmaupin's review against another edition

4.0

Great about getting this important moment right without a sign of hero worship on either side. It's just people. With guitars. And Grossman, of course, but to be nice we'll call him a people too.

ceetamarie's review against another edition

4.0

Some really amazing bits of history in here. It dragged a big at times, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

adamcarrico91's review against another edition

5.0

It's definitely an enjoyable read for anyone who is a fan of early Dylan, Pete Seeger, Newport Folk Festival, and the Great Folk Scare. The analysis and context of folk pop groups becoming mainstream in the early 60s helps flesh out the true meaning behind an iconic moment in rock and folk history. I'm giving it five stars because even though I knew a lot of the information already, I couldn't stop reading. The comprehensive look at the first few iterations of the Festival is probably the best part.

frogcatcher3's review against another edition

4.0

Any Dylan fan knows the story of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, the story of Dylan's "Judas!" moment, his electrification...
This book goes behind the Festival and gives the reader a history of folk music and the festival itself, while also giving a quick look into the meteoric rise of Bob Dylan. Seeing the festival from the point of the festival organizers, other artist, and fans we get a glimpse of what really happened the night Dylan "went electric."

calmane's review against another edition

5.0

Fascinating book. If you love the sixties and/or Dylan definitely give this book a read.

psteve's review against another edition

4.0

Tells the story of that night at Newport. The accounts of what happened vary quite a bit, with some saying they couldn't hear Bob's voice, some saying the sound was OK, some saying the audience booed, etc. Wald shows that a lot of what you experienced depended on where you were, given the relatively primitive outdoor sound systems of the time, and especially one that was mostly designed for folk music. A lot of the confusion was also about Bob's short set, and bad scheduling. The Seeger with the axe story appears to have come from a remark by Peter Yarrow on stage. All of that is fascinating and fun reading, but Wald also goes into what lead up to it, the history of the folk revival in the US in the 50s and 60s, and the dynamic. It's so odd that Dylan became the kind of symbol of folk and protest -- he was great at it, but he was never the kind of guy to get pigeon-holed into a role like that. In late 64 and early 65, you can hear from the concerts how bored he is with just playing by himself; there's only so much you can do with a guitar and a harmonica (and even adding that amazing voice). This is the best discussion of Newport. Only wish there were more pictures!

cdcsmith's review against another edition

3.0

Disclaimer first: I received a copy of this book free from the publisher.

I am a fan of Dylan's writing as well as Seeger's. I was born a bit after this infamous night, but I was raised on this music. I never felt my allegiance pulled to one side or the other. I blame/credit my parents for this. Obviously they never felt they could only be fans of one or the other either.

There wasn't a whole lot of new information in this book. Most of it I've either heard watching documentaries about the folk festival or shows about some of the artists who performed (thank you, PBS).

Overall, I thought it was a slow moving book. Considering how interested in the subject I am, it dragged at times. There were portions that read like a shopping list, not moving passages to incite passion or pull me into the history.

I did learn a few things and I guess from a musical historian angle, this is a collection of good information, I just really had to force myself to keep reading.

johnmarlowe's review

4.0

I learned a lot of interesting facts from this book, but it was because of being part of the choir. It was interesting to me because I was a folk song obsessed guitar player and singer during the period in the book. I’m not sure if this book would appeal to anyone other than a Bob Dylan fan, or folk music fan. It was enjoyable reading the behind the scenes activities of all the folk singers I admired. Bob Dylan moved on from folk music in 1965 at the Newport Folk Festival, and so did many people because of his performance there and subsequently. As Elijah Wald quotes, Bob Dylan “electrified one half of his audience and electrocuted the other” at Newport. Whatever you can say about Bob Dylan, good or bad, he marched to his own tune and changed music for the better. This book was made much better by having a Spotify session going and playing one of the numerous songs mentioned when it was one I didn’t know or couldn’t remember or just wanted to hear again.