Bob Dylan created folk rock when he pulled out his electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, offending folk music’s staunchest traditionalists.
A brief history of FolkRock
The first big hit that clearly leaned in the folk/rock genere was "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals in 1964. The song itself was hundreds of years old and part of the folk tradition. It had been recorded in the late 50s by Joan Baez.
The mid-sixites was a period in which folk/rock expanded into an art-form with many pop artists. Bands such as The Mamas & The Papas, Peter Paul & Mary, The Turtles, and Crosby Stills Nash & Young would help the folk rock movement along even further, having been influenced by the likes of Dylan and British singer/songwriter Donovan.
By the 1970s folk/rock was part of the mainstream. The Eagles fit the field for some of their work, such as the song "Hotel California." By the end of the seventies folk/rock had been overshadowed by disco, arena rock and new wave. Keyboards became more the sound of pop, but folk/rock has lived on in realms of alternative music. Many of R.E.M.'s most popular songs can be said to contain elements of folk/roc
