TURN! TURN! TURN!: THE FOLK-ROCK REVOLUTION Jewish Community Center of San Francisco Week Five: The Folk-Rock Boom/Folk-Rock s Second Line Recommended Listening: The Beatles, Rubber Soul (Capitol, 1965). The Beatles most strongly folk-rockinfluenced album, from Lennon-McCartney songs like Norwegian Wood and I m Looking Through You to George Harrison s homage to the Byrds, If I Needed Someone. The Beau Brummels, Vol. 2 (Sundazed, 1965). Overlooked record that might not be as consistent or sophisticated as the best albums by the leading folk-rock pioneers, but has some first-class haunting folk-rockers in You Tell Me Why, Sad Little Girl, and I Want You (a Beau Brummels original, not the Bob Dylan hit). On the other hand, Don t Talk to Strangers is one of the more blatant Byrds soundalikes. David Blue, David Blue (Collectors Choice Music, 1966). Speaking of blatant, this is the most blatant imitation of Bob Dylan s early electric rock records, even down to the hairstyle, clothing, and use of some of the same backup musicians. David Blue was an actual acquaintance of Dylan and had come up through the same New York folk scene. This is listed more as a historical novelty than a record of substantial merit, though two or three songs are okay. The Byrds, Turn! Turn! Turn! (Columbia/Legacy, 1965). Not as good as the preceding Mr. Tambourine Man, but still high-quality early folk-rock, particularly on the title smash. Gene Clark s songs, especially Set You Free This Time, show their original material starting to mature, though this would be the last album that Clark recorded with the group before leaving in 1966. Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia, 1965). For Like a Rolling Stone alone, this would be considered a major folk-rock album. Tombstone Blues, Queen Jane Approximately, Desolation Row, and Ballad of a Thin Man ensured that Dylan s first all-out rock album would be subject to more critical analysis than almost any other popular music recording. Tim Hardin, Hang on to a Dream: The Verve Recordings (Polygram, 1994). Hardin, for all his influence, only recorded three studio albums during the 1960s. The first and best two of those, Tim Hardin 1 and Tim Hardin 2, are found on the first disc of this set; the second disc features mid- 60s demos, some from as early as May 1964, that are largely given over to blues, illustrating his first excursions into electric music. There is additional material of merit to be found on the various demo and live albums Hardin put out in the 1960s, as well as 1969 s Suite for Susan Moore and Damion: We Are One, One, All in One. But the first disc of this set contains what is inarguably his most focused
work, including If I Were a Carpenter, How Can We Hang on to a Dream, Misty Roses, Lady Came from Baltimore, and Reason to Believe. Janis Ian, Society s Child: The Verve Recordings (Polydor, 1995). While hearing all of her first four albums at once might seem excessive if you re not a devoted fan, actually the price of this two-cd set which has everything from those records isn t that much more than a single-disc 1960s best-of would entail. These albums are better than some critics have made them out to be, too, with more shades of soul and blues than some have admitted. Ian & Sylvia, Play One More (Vanguard, 1966). The first of Ian & Sylvia s records to make concessions to moving toward folk-rock is frustratingly erratic. On some of the songs, they don t change much from their folk approach; on others (like The French Girl ), they mix folk with orchestration; on Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa, they even try to mix their folk with pop written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Play One More is about the closest this gets to folk-rock, and isn t bad. But it seems they just weren t meant to make a smooth transition to the new style, despite some interest in doing so. Ian & Sylvia, So Much for Dreaming (Vanguard, 1966). Another indecisive folk-rockinfluenced record, with similar mixed results. This is notable for including one of the first versions of a song by Joni Mitchell (who wouldn t put out a record of her own until 1968), and the title song is pretty good. But there s a sense of them falling short of their folk-rock potential, or not even trying on the more traditional tracks. Jim & Jean, Changes (Verve/Forecast, 1966). Even if Jim & Jean sounded a lot like Ian & Sylvia and didn t have nearly as much of an artistic personality as most early folkrockers did, the Changes album has much good music, particularly in the covers of Phil Ochs s Crucifixion and David Blue s Strangers in a Strange Land, as well as the original One Sure Thing. This was reissued in 2004 by Collectors Choice on a CD that also includes their more pop-oriented 1968 album People World. Bob Lind, The Best of Bob Lind: You Might Have Heard My Footsteps (EMI, 1993). The 25-track compilation of the lushly produced, earnest singer-songwriter s 1965-67 recordings features his sole hit Elusive Butterfly, but also several songs covered by other rock and folk-rock artists: Cheryl s Goin Home, Mister Zero, Counting, and Drifter s Sunrise. The previously unreleased baroque-folk English Afternoon is actually a match for anything he recorded. The Lovin Spoonful, Anthology (Rhino, 1990). Though a major folk-rock group, the Lovin Spoonful s albums are patchy enough to make a best-of the preferred point of entry. And Anthology is the best best-of, its 26 tracks including all their hit singles, as well as outstanding album tracks like Younger Girl. The Mamas & the Papas, Creeque Alley (MCA, 1991). Like the Lovin Spoonful, the Mamas & the Papas best output can be succinctly boiled down to a good best-of that
serves them better than their individual albums. The two-cd Creeque Alley does this, including all of their hit singles, outstanding B-sides and LP tracks like Got a Feelin, some pre-mamas & the Papas cuts by the Big Three and the Mugwumps, and some post- Mamas & the Papas solo efforts. Phil Ochs, In Concert (Collectors Choice, 1966). Although Ochs was not opposed to rock, he was about the last major young singer-songwriter of the folk revival to record with rock backup. This 1966 album (most of it actually recorded in the studio, it was later revealed) is just him and his acoustic guitar, but has his best protest songs, such as Cops of the World, Love Me I m a Liberal, and Santo Domingo. But Ochs finally started to incorporate some personal songs into his repertoire with There But for Fortune (covered for a small hit by Joan Baez) and one of his most well known compositions, Changes. Tom Rush, Take a Little Walk with Me (Collectors Choice Music, 1966). Rush s second Elektra album isn t nearly as strong or original a collection as his next LP for the label, The Circle Game, which was instrumental in starting the singer-songwriter genre. It s still an interesting early leap of an acoustic folkie into flat-out R&B-heavy rock n roll, albeit only on half the record, and primarily on rock oldies covers. Simon & Garfunkel, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (Columbia, 1966). The two continued to improve on their third album, highlighted by the hit single Homeward Bound, and also including numerous songs that were almost as good and popular as their 45s: Scarborough Fair/Canticle, Patterns, The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin Groovy), and For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her. P.F. Sloan, Here s Where I Belong: The Best of the Dunhill Years 1965-1967 (Big Beat, 2008). This 27-track compilation has not just the best of his mid-1960s Dunhill recordings, but almost all of his mid-1960s Dunhill recordings. Besides most of his two LPs for the label, it also has some good non-lp singles, especially I Can t Help But Wonder, Elizabeth. For more, if less vital, material from the same era by the songwriter most adept at combining youthful folk-rock yearning with L.A. pop-rock, the demo collection Child of Our Times: The Trousdale Demo Sessions, 1965-1967 is also recommended. Various Artists, The Vanguard Folk Rock Album (Ace, 2005). Vanguard by no means had the best folk-rock catalog of any label, and nor does (or could) this 22-track compilation of 1964-68 recordings cover all of the folk-rock of note it issued. But while it s an uneven listen that falls short of brilliance, it s an interesting way to both sample some of the company s best folk-rockers (Richard & Mimi Fariña, Ian & Sylvia) and get a taste of numerous more obscure Vanguard artists with some affiliation with the style. These range from Circus Maximus (with Jerry Jeff Walker) and the Serpent Power to Buffy Sainte-Marie, Jonathan & Leigh, Steve Gillette, and Eric Andersen, with rare singles by Patrick Sky, the Hi-Five, and Project X, as well as a previously unissued solo version of Richard Fariña s Morgan the Pirate that his wife Mimi recorded after her husband s death.
Recommended Books: California Dreamin, by Michelle Phillips (Warner Books, 1986). Although considerably slimmer than her ex-husband s Papa John (see below), this straightforward memoir by one of the woman singers in the Mamas & the Papas is worthwhile for fans of the group. Go Where You Wanna Go: The Oral History of the Mamas & the Papas, by Matthew Greenwald (Cooper Square Press, 2002). It won t win any awards for proofreading and copyediting, but this has a lot of stories of the group from members and their associates. Hotter Than a Match Head: Life on the Run with the Lovin Spoonful, by Steve Boone with Tony Moss (ECW Press, 2014). Boone was bassist in the Lovin Spoonful, and this is the only full-length book about the group to have appeared. Although he didn t have nearly the public profile of chief singer-songwriter John Sebastian or even lead guitarist Zal Yanovsky, this is very good, covering virtually every Lovin Spoonful recording. There are also some surprising revelations about the tensions that drove the band apart after a couple years, including a whole chapter on the drug bust of Boone and Yanovsky in San Francisco in 1966. Judas!, by Clinton Heylin (Route, 2016). Extensive coverage of Dylan s career in the year (spanning mid-1965 to mid-1966) following his first electric rock concert as a recording artist, particularly focusing on his electric performances and their controversial reception. This might be too detailed for the non-fanatic, but has lots of details about how the media and audience reacted to those shows at the time, as well as plenty of description and analysis of each of his concerts and studio recordings during the period. Papa John, by John Phillips with Jim Jerome (Dolphin Books, 1986). This goes way past the 60s and the Mamas & the Papas, and is arguably too long, too detailed, and too concerned with sex and drugs. There s some rock and roll and folk in here, though, in Phillips recounting of his life up to and through his brief period as chief songwriter of the Mamas & the Papas. P.F.: Travelling Barefoot on a Rocky Road, by Stephen J. McParland (CMusic Books, 2000). The kind of large and exhaustively researched biography of a cult figure that only a fanatical fan could deliver, this covers both the folk-rock and pop efforts in P.F. Sloan s career. Well done, but expensive, and about as difficult to find as any book listed in this course s handouts. Easier to find, but using more poetic license, is Sloan s autobiography What s Exactly the Matter with Me? (see listing below). Society s Child: My Autobiography, by Janis Ian (Tarcher, 2008). Ian s autobiography covers much more than the 1960s, and much of her personal life as well as her musical life. There s a good amount of attention paid to her early years, however, including the controversy over her hit Society s Child. What s Exactly the Matter with Me? Memoirs of a Life in Music, by P.F. Sloan and S.E. Feinberg (Jawbone Press, 2014). Rather gloomy autobiography by one of the leading
pop-folk-rock songwriters, covering both his triumphant artistry and the struggles he had with both the music business and mental health. At its best when Sloan sticks to the music, especially in an appendix with detailed comments about specific compositions he performed and/or donated to/produced for other artists. More questionable when he recounts some pretty outrageous incidents, which together make him out to be a Zelig of 60s rock, involved professionally and personally with the Rolling Stones, Mamas & the Papas, Beatles, Bob Dylan, and others. Recommended DVDs: Bob Dylan, Dylan Speaks: The Legendary 1965 Press Conference in San Francisco (Eagle Media, 2006). The nearly hour-long press conference Dylan gave in San Francisco on December 3, 1965 was broadcast on local public television. This DVD presents the event in full, and is the best document of his enigmatic interviewing style, seldom revealing as much as his questioners wish. This has his praise of Manfred Mann as his best interpreters, and an enthusiastic endorsement of the Sir Douglas Quintet, though he admits he doesn t think of Donovan as a good poet. There are also interesting bits about his then-new entry into rock music, including nonchalant acknowledgment that his early electric concerts are getting both cheers and boos, depending on the location. Noted figures asking questions from the audience include Allen Ginsberg, local critic (and later Rolling Stone co-founder) Ralph J. Gleason, and concert promoter Bill Graham. The Lovin Spoonful, Do You Believe in Magic: The Music of John Sebastian & the Lovin Spoonful (SRO, 2007). About an hour of film clips of the Spoonful in the mid- 60s, tied together by commentary from Spoonful leader John Sebastian himself. The Mamas & the Papas, Straight Shooter (SRO, 2008). Two-hour documentary of the short-lived and surprisingly volatile folk-rock group, who were so proficient at projecting a sunny image on their records. The Big TNT Show (bootleg, 1966). Filmed in Los Angeles in late 1965, this was a follow-up of sorts to the first great rock concert movie, The T.A.M.I. Show, which had been filmed in L.A. a year earlier. It wasn t as successful or as well known as The T.A.M.I. Show, in part because it wasn t filmed or performed as well. But it had a great lineup, including a few top folk-rockers: the Byrds, the Lovin Spoonful, and Donovan (the last still in his acoustic phase). There was also a gotta-hear-it-to-believe-it version of You ve Lost That Loving Feeling by Joan Baez, with Phil Spector (who produced the movie) on piano. (Baez also does a couple folk songs, including There But for Fortune, the Phil Ochs song with which she had a small hit.) Also on the bill were Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, the Ronettes, Petula Clark, Roger Miller, and Ike & Tina Turner. This has still not been officially reissued on DVD, though unauthorized versions have been widely distributed, sometimes showing up in very big above-ground retail stores. Notable Figures (Excluding Star Musicians):
Lou Adler: President of Dunhill Records, and producer for the Mamas & the Papas, Barry McGuire, and Scott McKenzie. Steve Barri: Co-writer and producer of some of P.F. Sloan s folk-rock recordings. Leonard Bernstein: Famed composer and classical musician who helped Janis Ian s Society s Child become a Top 20 hit nearly year after its release by featuring her performing the song on his CBS television special on pop music in April 1967, helping to push it onto radio playlists after it had been shunned for fear of causing controversy. Mike Bloomfield: Chicago blues-rock guitarist with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band who became one of Bob Dylan s most important sidemen on his early folk-rock recordings, particularly the Highway 61 Revisited album and Dylan s appearance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Arthur Gorson: Manager and/or producer for Phil Ochs, Tom Rush, David Blue, and Jim & Jean. Erik Jacobsen: Producer for the Lovin Spoonful, Tim Hardin, and the Charlatans. Bob Johnston: Producer for Bob Dylan starting in mid-1965; also produced some Simon & Garfunkel recordings during the same era, and, later in the 1960s, Dino Valenti. Al Kooper: By walking onto the session for Like a Rolling Stone, became a key organ player on some of Bob Dylan s mid- 60s recordings, sometimes playing with him live as well. Also played on numerous folk-rock records by the likes of Tom Rush, Judy Collins, and Jim & Jean. Also a singer/keyboardist with the Blues Project, a rock group who did occasional folk-rock material. Shadow Morton: Morton rose to fame as the producer of the great girl group the Shangri-Las, writing some of their songs (such as the hits "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" and "Give Him a Great Big Kiss") as well. He'd go on to produce early heavy rockers Vanilla Fudge in the late 1960s, and pre-punkers the New York Dolls in the 1970s. In between, however, he produced teen prodigy folk-rocker Janis Ian, including her debut hit single "Society's Child." Jerry Schoenbaum: Verve Records executive who ran the label s Verve/Forecast and Verve/Folkways imprints, which recorded notable folk-rock or folk-rock-related acts like Janis Ian, Tim Hardin, Richie Havens, Jim & Jean, Nico, and the Blues Project. Derek Taylor: Publicist for the Byrds and the Beatles, who helped arrange for the groups to meet and influence each other. Notable Places:
Creeque Alley: Location of the Duffy s club in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, where the Mamas and the Papas formed in 1965 before returning to the US, going to LA, getting a record deal, and starting to make hit records. John and Michelle Phillips later wrote the #5 hit song Creeque Alley for the Mamas & the Papas, which pretty much told the story of how the group formed and went to L.A., naming a few other folkies who d gone to L.A. to make folk-rock hits, like Roger McGuinn and Barry McGuire. The Lovin Spoonful are also mentioned in the song. Forest Hills Stadium: Bob Dylan s first electric concert (actually only half of each of his concerts from mid-1965 to mid-1966 would be electric) after the 1965 Newport Folk Festival took place in this New York-area venue on August 28, 1965. Fourth Street: Though not actually mentioned in the song, it s usually assumed that the Fourth Street in Bob Dylan s 1965 hit Positively Fourth Street is the street of the same name in Greenwich Village. It s likewise often assumed the song is an attack on his friends from his folkie days in the Village who d accused him of selling out by having hit rock records. Hotel Albert: New York hotel near Greenwich Village clubs where the Lovin Spoonful rehearsed in the basement as they were getting their act together. Many folk, folk-rock, and later rock musicians also lived or stayed in the hotel, for both its affordability and bohemian clientele. KQED: It was in the studios of San Francisco public television station KQED that Bob Dylan gave a nearly hour-long press conference on December 3, 1965. As this was filmed, it s the longest such document from the time of Dylan being interviewed. Kettle of Fish: Upstairs bar of the Gaslight Club in Greenwich Village where Bob Dylan would sometimes hold court, discussing and sometimes criticizing the work of friends and cohorts like Eric Andersen, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, and David Cohen (aka David Blue). Moulin Rouge: Not the cabaret in Paris, but the Los Angeles club where the Byrds, the Lovin Spoonful, Donovan, and Joan Baez were filmed for their contributions to the rock concert movie The Big TNT Show in late November 1965. The Night Owl: Club where the Lovin Spoonful built their following in New York s Greenwich Village. St. Patrick s Cathedral: New York church in which John and Michelle Phillips stopped to get warm in 1963, inspiring part of the lyrics to California Dreamin. 2850 Benedict Canyon Drive: Beverly Hills home owned by actress Zsa Zsa Gabor where the Beatles stayed for a few days when they played in Los Angeles in August 1965. On August 24, the Byrds visited them there to talk music and take drugs together, including LSD.
Unknown Taxicab: According to legend, Bob Dylan threw Phil Ochs out of a taxicab (or limo) around late 1965 after Ochs had the temerity to suggest that Dylan s latest single (variously reported as Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? or One of Us Most Know (Sooner or Later) ) wasn t going to be a hit. Widnes Railway Station: Railway station where Paul Simon is usually assumed to have written Homeward Bound, on his way back to his girlfriend Kathy Chitty during his lengthy stay in England in 1965. Chitty inspired the Simon & Garfunkel track Kathy s Song. Notable Record Labels: Dunhill: Headed by Lou Adler (who was also a producer), this was home to some of the more commercial and pop-oriented Californian folk-rock acts, including the Mamas & the Papas, Barry McGuire, and P.F. Sloan. Kama Sutra: Home of the Lovin Spoonful, and distributed by MGM Records. Verve: Home of numerous early folk-rock singer-songwriters and groups, like Tim Hardin, Janis Ian, Richie Havens, Nico, and Jim & Jean. Distributed by MGM. Notable Publication: Boston Broadside: An entirely different publication than the more traditional-oriented (and famous) New York periodical titled Broadside, this Boston paper, with some out-oftown distribution, also focused on the folk scene, quickly branching out into folk-rock and other rock in the mid-1960s. Audiovisual Clips Week Five The Mamas & the Papas: California Dreamin (DVD) The New Journeymen: Mr. Tambourine Man (CD) The Mamas & the Papas: Got a Feelin (DVD) The Mamas & the Papas: Creeque Alley (DVD) The Lovin Spoonful: Do You Believe in Magic (DVD) The Lovin Spoonful: Jug Band Music (CD) The Lovin Spoonful: Daydream (DVD) Paul Simon: Lisa (CD) Paul Simon: He Was My Brother (CD) Paul Simon: The Sound of Silence (live) (CD)
Simon & Garfunkel: I Am a Rock (DVD) Simon & Garfunkel: Homeward Bound (DVD) Bob Dylan: Tombstone Blues (CD) Bob Dylan: Queen Jane Approximately (CD) Bob Dylan: Positively 4 th Street (CD) Bob Dylan: KQED Press Conference (DVD) The Beatles: Norwegian Wood (CD) Bob Dylan: Fourth Time Around (CD) The Byrds: Bells of Rhymney (CD) The Beatles: If I Needed Someone (DVD) The Beatles: I m Looking Through You (CD) The Beau Brummels: Sad Little Girl (DVD) Bob Lind: Elusive Butterfly (DVD) Phil Ochs: Changes (CD) Joan Baez: There But for Fortune (DVD) Joan Baez: You ve Lost That Lovin Feelin (DVD) Phil Ochs: I Ain t Marching Anymore (CD) Ian & Sylvia: So Much for Dreaming (CD) Ian & Sylvia: Lovin Sound (CD) Jim & Jean: Strangers in a Strange Land (CD) Tim Hardin: Reason to Believe (CD) Janis Ian: Baby I ve Been Thinking (CD) Janis Ian: Society s Child (DVD) Tom Rush: Love s Made a Fool of You (CD) Buffy Sainte-Marie: Until It s Time for You to Go (DVD) Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Circle Game (CD) Judy Collins: I ll Keep It With Mine (CD) David Blue: So Easy She Goes By (CD) Jan & Dean: The Little Old Lady from Pasadena (DVD) P.F. Sloan: Take Me for What I m Worth (CD) The Searchers: Take Me for What I m Worth (DVD) P.F. Sloan: From a Distance (CD) P.F. Sloan: I Can t Help But Wonder Elizabeth (CD) The Byrds: Set You Free This Time (DVD) Pete Seeger: Turn! Turn! Turn! (CD) Judy Collins: Turn! Turn! Turn! (CD) The Byrds: Turn! Turn! Turn! (DVD)