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Folk Music and Political Activism in Greenwich Village and at the Newport Folk Festival, 1935–1965

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Sounds and the City

Part of the book series: Leisure Studies in a Global Era ((LSGE))

Abstract

In the 1950s, a left-liberal creative class in New York sparked interest in folk music by recording artists, producing albums, sponsoring concerts, and provoking debates about the role of songs in politics and culture writ large. In doing so, they helped transform Greenwich Village into the epicenter of the nationwide folk music revival. As the revival captured the attention of a wide audience, lively scenes developed in cities and college towns. In Newport, Rhode Island, jazz promoter and producer George Wein founded the Newport Folk Festival in 1959. Wein collaborated with New York folk music figures Pete Seeger, Theo Bikel, Peter Yarrow, and others and transformed Newport into the country’s premier annual folk music festival. Though Greenwich Village and Newport showcased a range of traditional and contemporary styles, in the public consciousness they stood above all for socially conscientious folk music. For a moment in the 1960s, they embodied a cooperative ethos that promised a brighter future for the nation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    To find the Broadside of Boston collection online, see the Folk New England website: https://folknewengland.org/archives/the-broadside-collection/.

  2. 2.

    This argument builds on of Michael Denning’s analysis of the development of a “cultural front” during the Popular Front. See Michael Denning, The Cultural Front (New York: Verso, 1997), 3–50; Petrus and Cohen, Folk City, 53, 70–72.

  3. 3.

    Jewish customs and practices.

  4. 4.

    Urban players of country music.

  5. 5.

    This is the authoritative account of Dylan’s performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Also, see Wein, Myself Among Others, 329–334.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LaGuardia Community College, New York, NY, USA

    Stephen Petrus

  2. Indiana University Northwest, Gary, IN, USA

    Ronald D. Cohen

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  1. Stephen Petrus
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  2. Ronald D. Cohen
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Correspondence to Stephen Petrus .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    Brett Lashua , Stephen Wagg , Karl Spracklen  & M. Selim Yavuz , ,  & 

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Petrus, S., Cohen, R.D. (2019). Folk Music and Political Activism in Greenwich Village and at the Newport Folk Festival, 1935–1965. In: Lashua, B., Wagg, S., Spracklen, K., Yavuz, M.S. (eds) Sounds and the City. Leisure Studies in a Global Era. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94081-6_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94081-6_14

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94080-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94081-6

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