Bong-Man Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2009/0...00005988420.txt Joan Baez returns to Newport Folk Festival for its 50th anniversary Published: Friday, July 31, 2009 By Eric Tucker, The Associated Press PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Joan Baez was just 18 when she performed at the first Newport Folk Festival, a self-described neurotic and high maintenance teenager who remembers trembling in her sandals as she waited her turn on stage. She sang in her signature soprano that night, and her career quickly took off; she released an album on a major record label, landed on Time magazine's cover and made repeat appearances at the festival alongside on-off romantic partner Bob Dylan. "I didn't faint; I sang, and that was the beginning of a very long career," Baez said about her 1959 festival appearance. Baez returns to Newport this weekend as the heralded festival marks its 50th anniversary. She shares the bill with 90-year-old Pete Seeger, another of the festival's original performers and a towering folk icon, as well as Arlo Guthrie, Judy Collins and more contemporary acts. The half-century milestone lends an air of nostalgia to an event that not only helped pioneer the concept of grand-scale outdoor concerts but has also been inexorably linked to fierce social activism — especially in its early years. The microphone was often a platform for promoting civil rights — and protesting war. In 1963, Peter, Paul and Mary, Seeger, Baez, the Freedom Singers and other performers clutched hands and belted out the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome." That same year, his first at Newport, Dylan performed "Only a Pawn in Their Game," which recounts the assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers. And Baez joined audience members and representatives of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee on a civil rights march through Newport. "I think it showed that songs can be an important thing in democracy," said Seeger, who will close out both nights of this year's festival with a singalong. "If we call this a democratic country, how do you make it a democratic country? And songs are among the ways it's made." The folk festival was started in Newport by music impresario George Wein as an offshoot to his jazz festival, which began in 1954 and celebrates its 55th anniversary in August. "There was a utopian feeling there," said Wein, 83, who continues to operate both festivals. "All the artists got $50, no matter how big or how small they were. And the money was used to just go out and find folk performers and bring them up the next year." Guthrie introduced his epic "Alice's Restaurant" to a mass audience in 1967. James Taylor played there in 1969 at age 21 and Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison were there before becoming household names. Then, of course, there's Dylan. He was 22 at his first Newport performance in 1963 and easily solidified his role in the folk canon, bellowing out topical solo ballads with his guitar and harmonica. He famously turned the genre upside down in 1965 when he performed with an electric guitar. "I was so mad myself, I said, 'Damn it, if I had an ax, I'd cut the cable,'" Seeger recalled. Baez said she felt betrayed, although the sentiment passed. And Wein recalls coaxing Dylan to return to the stage — unplugged — to assuage the crowd. "I said, 'There'll be a riot out there, Bobby, if you don't go back.' He said, 'I don't have a guitar.' And I said, 'Does anyone have a guitar for Dylan?' Of course, 20 guitars went up in the air." The festival dwindled in popularity in the late 1960s as interest in rock music peaked, Wein said. After rowdy fans crashed the gates at the 1971 jazz festival, the city of Newport shut down both concerts. The folk festival wouldn't return until 1985. Baez and Seeger have performed on and off at Newport over the years, and Dylan returned in 2002. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternal light Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2009/0...00005988420.txt Published: Friday, July 31, 2009 By Eric Tucker, The Associated Press In 1963, Peter, Paul and Mary, Seeger, Baez, the Freedom Singers and other performers clutched hands and belted out the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome." That same year, his first at Newport, Dylan performed "Only a Pawn in Their Game," which recounts the assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers. And Baez joined audience members and representatives of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee on a civil rights march through Newport. Only a Pawn in Their Game Rest in peace From Wikipedia: "Horace Julian Bond (born January 14, 1940 in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. While a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia during the early 1960s, he helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan_S. Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Only a Pawn in Their Game Rest in peace ⬆ Wow, thanks for the wonderful links, EL! Love Mahalia and Dylan...nothing like Dylan when he was just startin' out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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