The Newport Folk Festival is an annual folk-oriented music festival founded in 1959 by George Wein, founder of the already-well-established Newport Jazz Festival, and his partner, Albert Grossman. Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... A music festival is a festival that presents a number of musical performances usually tied together through a theme or genre. ... The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every August in Newport, Rhode Island. ...

Grossman was soon to become the manager of Bob Dylan, who would become the artist most famously (and infamously) associated with the festival. Dylan appeared without incident in 1963 and 1964, accompanied by Joan Baez (who in turn had been one of the first discoveries of the first Newport Folk Festival in the company of Chicago musician Bob Gibson). Portrait photograph of Bob Dylan taken by Daniel Kramer Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman May 24, 1941, Duluth, Minnesota, USA) is widely regarded as one of Americas greatest popular songwriters. ... Events January-February January 11 - The Whisky A Go-Go night club in Los Angeles, the first disco in the USA, is opened. ... 1964 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Joan Chandos Báez (born January 9, 1941 in Staten Island, New York) is an American folk singer and songwriter, known for her distinctive vocal style as well as her outspoken political views. ... Bob Gibson (born November 9, 1935) was a right_handed pitcher for the St. ...

In 1965, however, Dylan was roundly booed for appearing with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, a professional, racially-mixed electric blues band. Dylan was regarded by folk purists as betraying his "folkie roots" by so doing, although defenders noted that he had an album in the Top Twenty radio airplay charts for most of 1965 which used electric instrumentation, and that the performance was modelled on the standard practice of Muddy Waters, a black musician who had been using the electric guitar in his performances for years. 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, 1966 Paul Butterfield (December 17, 1942 - May 4, 1987) was an American blues musician, and one of the most innovative harmonica players of the electric blues Chicago-originated style. ... The electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished simply by the amplification of the guitar, or, more rarely, the bass or harmonica. ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1915 - April 30, 1983) is better known as Muddy Waters. ... An electric guitar is a type of guitar with a solid or semi-solid body that utilizes electromagnetic pickups to convert the vibration of the steel-cored strings into electrical current. ...

Dylan left the stage as a result of the booing, but was persuaded to return by Joan Baez. He sang two songs, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", clearly a farewell to the "traditional folkies" who had booed him offstage, and "Mister Tambourine Man", which was to become a hit for The Byrds, and left Newport, not to return until 2002, when he was welcomed back with open arms. L-R: David Crosby, Gene Clark, Michael Clarke, Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn The Byrds were an American rock music group founded in Los Angeles, California in 1964 by singers and guitarists Jim McGuinn (he later changed his name to Roger McGuinn), Gene Clark, and David Crosby. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Bruce Jackson, who was a director of the Newport Folk Festival, calls the stories of the audience booing Bob Dylan at Newport '65 "the myth of Newport". His article on the subject is at [1] (http://buffaloreport.com/020826dylan.html). Professor Jackson was present at the 1965 concert and in 2002 reviewed an audio tape of the performance, with a partial transcript at the link. It seems the booing at the concert was directed at emcee Peter Yarrow, who upset the crowd when he attempted to keep Dylan's spot to its proper length rather than let the crowd hear more of his music. There's nothing to indicate the crowd disliked Dylan's music, electrified or not.

The Newport Folk Festival fell on hard times in the later 1960's, even briefly closing its doors, in 1971, but survived this to continue as one of the major folk music festivals in the United States, next to the Philadelphia Folk Festival, which began in 1960 and has continued to run without interruption ever since. 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... The Philadelphia Folk Festival is a three-day festival of folk music held annually in the vicinity of Philadelphia by the non-profit Philadelphia Folksong Society since 1957. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In recent years a multi-act bill, only loosely centered around folk music, has toured the US under the Newport Folk Festival moniker.