Research Symposium

BIO

Natalie is a first year student who is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English with a focus on Literature, Media, and Culture on a Pre-Law track. She is also pursuing a minor in Law and Society. Last semester, she was on the Deans List and is being mentored by Yui Tim Timothy Yu for her work in his American Roots Music course.

Bob Dylan’s 1965 Newport Performance: Defying the Secularness of the Folk Music Revival by Going Electric

Abstract

Bob Dylan’s 1965 Newport Folk Festival performance marked a pivotal turning point in American music by changing the definition of what the attendees of the festival considered to be “folk” music and how it defied their sacred space. Dylan challenged these traditions that the attendees described as sacred by defying this holy and political space with the use of electric instruments and a rock band. Since the Newport Folk Festival functioned as a “bastion of folk authenticity” where folk music was treated with the utmost importance, often being treated as sacred and morally serious, his use of an electric set during his performance of “Maggie’s Farm” and “Like a Rolling Stone” became a threat to this special treatment of music by being perceived as a betrayal of these traditional folk values. Previous study of this festival has framed it as a religious space and Dylan’s electric performance disrupted the sacredness and purity that acoustic folk music has. Dylan’s “going electric” created a reaction from the audience that has been described as harsh. This reaction was not simply disapproving of artistry, but it instead an expression of their feelings that this performance was a kind of secularization that conflicted with the “religious” foundation of the event. This research encourages reflection on the fluidity of the definition of religion in the United States and if fandoms of music artists now could be considered a "religion".

Keywords: music, folk, religion