Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell create music history at Newport Folk Festival – The Providence Journal

NEWPORT – While most who go to the Newport Folk Festival go to enjoy some good music, fans are also likely to witness history, if past performances are any guide.

In the 65 years since the festival began – no live festival was held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead replaced with broadcast airings of previous performances – the festival has continuously generated buzz from acts both big and small. At times, these performances have left a mark on American music history.

The festival, which began a month before Hawaii became a state in 1959, has witnessed a number of historical moments. Here’s a look at seven of those times:

18-year-old Joan Baez debuts at inaugural Newport Folk Festival

The 1959 lineup, the festival’s first year, included seasoned musicians, such as Pete Seeger, Odetta and the Kingston Trio. But Bob Gibson, a leader of the folk revival in the late 1950s, invited unknown 18-year-old Joan Baez onto the stage.

As Ted Holmberg recalled five years later in The Providence Journal, “Joan Baez drove down from Boston … and her rise was meteoric immediately after scoring a hit in Newport.”

The singer-songwriter’s career has spanned six decades.

Bob Dylan goes electric, gets booed

This almost doesn’t need to be recounted for music fans of most genres, but 1965 was probably the Newport Folk Festival’s most influential year as Bob Dylan, who debuted there in 1963, ignited debate about whether folk music was by definition only acoustic by bringing electric instruments onto the festival stage.