What exactly did Bob Dylan do at the Newport Folk Festival that caused such an extreme reaction from the crowd?
On this day in 1965, Bob Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival, performing a rock-and-roll set publicly for the very first time while a chorus of shouts and boos rained down on him from a dismayed audience.
When Bob Dylan played his electric version of Maggie’s Farm at the Newport Folk Festival?
July 25, 1965
On the night of July 25, 1965, Bob Dylan strode onto a stage at the Newport Folk Festival, plugged in an electric guitar and gave the music world a shock.
When Bob Dylan plugged in at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 what happened?
Then you know how the audience at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival felt when Bob Dylan hung a Fender Stratocaster around his neck, plugged in, nodded to the five musicians backing him and pulverized the expectations of those who had come to hear him strum an acoustic guitar and puff on a harmonica.
Why did Bob Dylan’s performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 have such a negative impact among some of the audience and performers?
Why was the audience at the 1965 newport folk festival so angered by Dylan’s appearance with the Butterfield Blues Band? The audience was angry because they claimed it was supposed to be a folk festival not a rock and roll one.
Who unplugged Dylan at Newport?
Backed by Al Kooper and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the former acoustic troubadour knocked out a set of just three songs – following the opener with ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ and ‘Phantom Engineer’, an early version of ‘It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry’ – before seemingly leaving the stage for the day …
Who shouted Judas?
After the concert’s official release, a 52-year-old man named Keith Butler stepped forward and claimed to be the one who shouted “Judas” at Dylan. “I was very disappointed about what I was hearing,” he said.
Why did Bob Dylan switch to electric guitar?
In a two part documentary, directed by Martin Scorsese, Dylan explains his decision, saying: “I thought I’d get more power with a small group backing me. It was electric but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s modernised just because it’s electric. Country music was electric too.”
Why did the folk community turn their backs on Bob Dylan?
The most popular alternate theory suggests that many people were upset at the poor quality of the sound, which is where Pete Seeger comes in. Over the years word spread that Seeger was so incensed by Dylan playing rock that he was storming around backstage looking for an axe to cut the cables.