Electric Dylan controversy

By 1965, Bob Dylan had achieved the status of leading songwriter of the American folk music revival. The response to his albums The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and The Times They Are a-Changin' led to him being labelled as the "spokesman of a generation" by the media. In March 1965, Dylan released his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. Side One featured Dylan backed by an electric band. Side Two featured Dylan accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. On July 20, 1965, Dylan released his single, "Like a Rolling Stone", featuring a rock sound. On July 25, 1965, Dylan performed his first electric concert at the Newport Folk Festival, joined by guitar legend Mike Bloomfield and Barry Goldberg of The Electric Flag. Some sections of the audience booed Dylan's performance. Leading members of the folk movement, including Irwin Silber and Ewan MacColl criticized Dylan for moving away from political songwriting, and performing with an electric band.

At the 1963 Newport Folk Festival, Dylan had been received enthusiastically when he performed "Blowin' in the Wind" with Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, and other Festival performers. At the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, Dylan performed "With God on Our Side" and "Mr Tambourine Man". Positive reviews of Dylan's 1964 performance were accompanied by criticisms of Dylan's antics and dismissive nature, one critic saying that "Being stoned had rarely prevented his giving winning performances, but he was clearly out of control."

On Saturday, July 24, 1965, Dylan performed three acoustic numbers, "All I Really Want to Do", "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", and "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" at a Newport workshop. According to Jonathan Taplin, a roadie at Newport (and later a road manager for the acts of Dylan's manager Albert Grossman) Dylan made a spontaneous decision on the Saturday that he would challenge the Festival by performing with a fully amplified band. Taplin said that Dylan had been irritated by what he considered condescending remarks which festival organiser Alan Lomax had made about the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, when Lomax introduced them for an earlier set at a festival workshop. Dylan's attitude, according to Taplin, was, "Well, fuck them if they think they can keep electricity out of here, I'll do it. On a whim he said he wanted to play electric." Dylan then assembled a band and rehearsed that night at a mansion being used by festival organiser George Wein.

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Wikipedia