Folk - rock
02 Iunie 2008 Morrison
Folk-rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and
rock music.
In the original and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that
arose in the United States and Canada around the mid-1960s. The sound was
epitomized by tight vocal harmonies and a relatively "clean"
(effects- and distortion-free) approach to electric instruments epitomized
by the jangly sound of the Byrds' guitarist Roger McGuinn. The repertoire
was drawn in part from folk sources, but even more from folk-influenced
singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan.
This original folk-rock directly led to the distinct, eclectic style of British
folk-rock (a.k.a. electric folk) pioneered in the late 1960s by
Pentangle and Fairport Convention. Starting from a North-American style
folk-rock, Pentangle, Fairport and other related bands deliberately
incorporated elements of traditional British folk music. Very shortly
afterwards, Fairport bassist Ashley Hutchings formed Steeleye Span in
collaboration with traditionalist British folk musicians who wished to
incorporate electrical amplification, and later overt rock elements, into
their music.
This, in turn, spawned several other variants: the self-consciously
English folk rock of the Albion Band and some of Ronnie Lane's solo work,
and the more prolific current of Celtic rock, incorporating
traditional music of Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, and Brittany. Through at
least the first half of the 1970s, Celtic rock held close to folk roots,
with its repertoire drawing heavily on traditional Celtic fiddle and harp
tunes and even traditional vocal styles, but making use of rock-band levels
of amplification and percussion.
In a broader sense, folk-rock includes later similarly-inspired musical
genres and movements in the English-speaking world (and its Celtic fringes)
and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in Europe. As with any genre, the borders
are difficult to define. Folk-rock may lean more toward folk or toward rock
in its instrumentation, its playing and vocal style, or its choice of
material; while the original genre draws on the music of North American
English-speaking whites, there is no clear delineation of which folk
cultures music might be included as influences. Still, the term is not
usually applied to rock music rooted in the blues-based or other African
American music (except as mediated through folk revivalists), nor to rock
music with Cajun roots, nor to music (especially after about 1980) with
non-European folk roots, which is more typically classified as world music.
