Bob Dylan's infamous hour
2002-07-30 10:51
Giles Hewitt
New York - Folk-rock icon Bob Dylan will take the stage on Saturday at the
Newport Folk Festival, nearly 40 years after he was booed from the
same venue for a performance that has gone down in popular music
legend.
Dylan, now 61, was already the brightest young flame in the folk
firmament when he appeared at the 1965 Newport festival in Rhode
Island at the age of 24.
His politically committed protest songs had garnered a major
following in the charged atmosphere of the 1960s and were seen by
fans as an eloquent rejection of the commercially-driven world of
mainstream rock n' roll.
All the more astounding, therefore, was the sight of Dylan
striding onto the Newport stage, plugging in an electric guitar
and, with the Paul Butterfield Blues band backing him at full
volume, tearing into a raucous and violent electric version of his
recent hit Maggie's Farm.
The sudden transformation from acoustic, solo performer to
full-fledged rock singer was met with shock and outrage, and Dylan
left the stage after just three songs, pursued by boos and
catcalls.
The fury among folk purists at what was seen as a betrayal of
their entire movement was not limited to the audience.
Paul Rothchild, a sound engineer at the festival, recalled in a
later interview seeing the celebrated folk singer Pete Seeger
"wielding an axe and threatening to cut the power cables on the
band".
The mouthpiece of the folk movement, Sing Out! magazine, said
Dylan had become a pawn of the commercial music industry.
"He has given up his companions for the companionship of the pop
charts," it fumed.
The anger persevered and followed Dylan for several years as he
toured the United States and abroad with his new electric sound,
ultimately winning over his critics and silencing the boos.
In subsequent interviews, Dylan always described his decision to
foresake his acoustic guitar at Newport as a natural progression.
"The way people reacted was nothing I could have prepared for,
but by that time I knew pretty much what I was doing onstage," he
said.
Robert Jones, producer of this year's Newport Festival, was
helping out backstage in 1965 and recalled the stunned response to
Dylan's change of direction.
"There was a large protest element to the music back then and
the feeling was that Dylan was moving away to 'the other side' -
the side that wasn't interested in social issues," Jones said.
"The concept of going electric from acoustic for Dylan ... for
folk purists, this was a desertion."
Jones actually missed Dylan's performance in 1965, as he was
busy dealing with a group of traditional folk musicians who had
been brought together for the festival.
"I remember seeing Bob go on but then I was diverted by this
artist called Cousin Ellie, who had been in the backstage bar and
was proving something of a handful, if you know what I mean."
Dylan's show at the 2002 festival sold out three weeks ago and
this time around Jones does not intend to miss out.
"It means a lot to many of us who were here years ago. It will
be an emotional thing and I have no idea what's going to happen,"
he said. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA