British folk rock is a form of

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

which developed in the United Kingdom from the mid 1960s, and was at its most significant in the 1970s. Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the success of " The House of the Rising Sun" by British band

the Animals The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...

in 1964 was a catalyst, prompting

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

to " go electric", in which, like the Animals, he brought folk and rock music together, from which other musicians followed. In the same year,

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

began incorporating overt folk influences into their music, most noticeably on their '' Beatles for Sale'' album. The Beatles and other

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" o ...

bands, in turn, influenced the American band

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole con ...

, who released their recording of Dylan's " Mr. Tambourine Man" in April 1965, setting off the mid-1960s American folk rock movement. A number of British groups, usually those associated with the British folk revival, moved into folk rock in the mid-1960s, including

the Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known fo ...

, Pentangle, and

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

. British folk rock was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

, to produce

Celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been extremely prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundatio ...

and its derivatives, and has been influential in countries with close cultural connections to Britain. It gave rise to the genre of

folk punk Folk punk (known in its early days as rogue folk) is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in ...

. By the 1980s the genre was in steep decline in popularity, but survived and revived in significance, partly merging with the

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...

and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

cultures from which it originated. Some commentators have found a distinction in some British folk rock, where the musicians are playing traditional folk music with electric instruments rather than merging rock and folk music, and they distinguish this form of playing by calling it "electric folk".

History

Origins

Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the success of " The House of the Rising Sun" by British band

in 1964 was a catalyst, prompting

to go electric. In the same year,

began incorporating overt folk influences into their music, most noticeably on the song "

I'm a Loser "I'm a Loser" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, originally released on '' Beatles for Sale'' in the United Kingdom, later released on '' Beatles '65'' in the United States, both in 1964. Written by John Lennon, and credited to Le ...

" from their '' Beatles for Sale'' album. The Beatles and other

bands, in turn, influenced the Californian band

, who began playing folk-influenced material and

compositions with rock instrumentation. The Byrds' recording of Dylan's " Mr. Tambourine Man" was released in April 1965 and reached #1 on the U.S. and UK singles charts, setting off the mid-1960s folk rock movement. The Beatles' late 1965 album, '' Rubber Soul'', contained a number of songs influenced by the American folk rock boom, such as " Nowhere Man" and "

If I Needed Someone "If I Needed Someone" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist. It was released in December 1965 on their album '' Rubber Soul'', except in North America, where it appeared on the J ...

". During this period, a number of electric bands began to play rock versions of folk songs and folk musicians used electric musical instruments to play their own songs, including Dylan at the

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

in the summer of 1965. Folk rock became an important genre among emerging English bands, particularly those in the London club scene towards the end of the 1960s. The

skiffle Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United Stat ...

movement, to which many English musicians, including the Beatles, owed their origins as performers, meant that they were already familiar with American folk music As they emulated the guitar and drum based format that had crystallised as the norm for rock music, these groups often turned to American folk and folk rock as the focus of their sound and inspiration. Among these groups from 1967 were

, who had enjoyed some modest mainstream success with three albums of material that was largely American in origin or style, before a radical change of direction in 1969 with their album '' Liege & Lief'', which came out of the encounter between American inspired folk rock and the products of the English folk revival. The first English folk music revival had seen a huge effort to record and archive traditional English music by figures such as Cecil Sharp and

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The second revival in the period after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, built on this work and followed a similar movement in America, to which it was connected by individuals like

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, s ...

, who had fled to England in the era of

McCarthyism McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origin ...

. Like the American revival, it was often overtly left wing in its politics, but, led by such figures as

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

and

A. L. Lloyd Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982),Eder, Bruce. (29 September 1982A. L. Lloyd - Music Biography, Credits and Discography AllMusic. Retrieved on 2013-02-24. usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English fo ...

from the early 1950s, it also attempted to produce a distinctively English music that was an alternative to the American dominance of

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

, which was, as they saw it, displacing the traditional music of an increasingly urbanised and industrialised working class. Most important among their responses were the foundation of folk clubs in major towns, starting with London where MacColl began the Ballads and Blues Club in 1953. These clubs were usually urban in location, but the songs sung in them often hearkened back to a rural pre-industrial past. In many ways this was the adoption of abandoned popular music by the middle classes. By the mid-1960s there were probably over 300 folk clubs in Britain, providing an important circuit for acts that performed traditional songs and tunes acoustically, where they could sustain a living by playing to a small but committed audience. This meant that there were, by the later 1960s, a group of performers with musical skill and knowledge of a wide variety of traditional songs and tunes. A number of groups who were part of the folk revival experimented with electrification in the mid-1960s. These included the unrecorded efforts of Sweeney's Men from Ireland, the jazz folk group Pentangle, who moved from acoustic to electric, Eclection, who released one album in 1968, and the

Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known f ...

who developed from a bluegrass band into a "progressive Byrds" band by 1967. However, none provided a sustained or much emulated effort in this direction. Also products of the folk club circuit were Sandy Denny who joined Fairport Convention as a singer in 1967 and Dave Swarbrick, a fiddle player and session musician who reacted positively to the electric music he encountered while working with Fairport in 1969. The result was an extended interpretation of the song " A Sailor's Life", which was released on their album ''

Unhalfbricking ''Unhalfbricking'' is the third album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and their second album released in 1969. It is seen as a transitional album in their history and marked a further musical move away from American influences ...

''. This encounter sparked the interest of

Ashley Hutchings Ashley Stephen Hutchings, MBE, sometimes known in early years by his nickname, "Tyger" Hutchings (born 26 January 1945) is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of t ...

who began research in the

English Folk Dance and Song Society The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS, or pronounced 'EFF-diss') is an organisation that promotes English folk music and folk dance. EFDSS was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dan ...

's library; the result was the band's seminal '' Liege & Lief'' (1969) which combined traditional songs and tunes with some written by the band in a similar style, all played on a combination of electric instruments with Swarbrick's acoustic fiddle, setting the template for British folk rock.

Heyday 1969–76

The rapid expansion of British folk rock that followed in the wake of ''Liege & Lief'' in the 1970s came mainly from three sources. First were existing folk performers who now ‘electrified’, including Mr. Fox, formed around the acoustic duo Bob and Carole Pegg, and Pentangle, who having previously recorded largely without electrification, produced a fourth album, '' Cruel Sister'', in 1970, very much in the British folk rock mould. Similarly, Swarbrick's former playing partner,

Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such ...

, joined

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

in 1971 to howls of protest in the folk music world.

Five Hand Reel Five Hand Reel was a Scottish/English/Irish Celtic rock band of the late 1970s, that combined experiences of traditional Scottish and Irish folk music with electric rock arrangements. The members of the band were Dick Gaughan (born 17 May 1948) ...

a band formed out of the remnants of Spencer's Feat proved to be one of the more successful and influential folk rock bands. Releasing four albums with Topic/RCA records they were popular in Europe, where they did most of their performances. Unlike the 'English' genre of folk tunes prevalent in the other popular bands, Five Hand Reel performed powerful Scots & Irish songs and won Melody Maker's "Folk Album of the Year in 1975" Second were groupings created directly by the members or former members of Fairport, which can be seen as the nexus from which a family of organisations or performers emerged. Sandy Denny's short-lived

Fotheringay Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer-songwriter and musician Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition " Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay C ...

was one these and Steeleye Span was another, formed as a more traditionally focused, but still partially electric outfit, by Ashley Hutchings after his departure from Fairport in 1969. He then quit that and eventually formed the Albion Country Band, later the Albion Band, which broke up in 2002. The Albion Band in turn spawned one of the most musically talented British folk rock groups of the 1980s Home Service, whose third album ''All Right Jack'' (1985) is often seen as representing another artistic highpoint for the genre. A much smaller group of English bands were formed in emulation of existing folk rock bands. Most often the model seems to have been Steeleye Span, as it was for the Cambridge group Spriguns of Tolgus, the Northumbrian band Hedgehog Pie and the

Oyster Band Oysterband (originally The Oyster Band) is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976. History Early history The band formed in parallel to Fiddler's Dram, and under the name "Oyster Ceilidh Band" played purely a ...

, who started as the unpromising Fiddler's Dram in 1978. Fiddler's Dram were often dismissed as "one hit wonders" for their single "Day Trip to Bangor", which peaked at no 3 in the UK and for their clear status as "Steeleye Span soundalikes". What was remarkable is that they proved to have a singer-songwriter of genuine talent in

Cathy Lesurf Cathy Lesurf (born 1953) is a British folk music singer-songwriter who was brought up in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. She has been a member of bands in the 1970s such as Oyster Ceilidh Band, Fiddler's Dram, and The Albion Band. She released a solo a ...

, and after she had left for the Albion Band in 1980 they became the Oyster Band (sometimes the Oysterband), an increasingly heavy and politically aware folk rock unit who produced some of the best work in the genre in the 1980s and 1990s, merging into the developing folk punk and independent scenes.

Decline and survival 1977–85

For a time electric folk threatened to break through to the mainstream, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s when Steeleye Span managed to get one single in the top 20 in 1972 and another in the top 5 in 1975 for " All Around My Hat" and the album of the same name was their most successful, reaching 5 in the UK album charts in the same year. Fairport Convention's singles made very little impact on the British charts, albums sold well in the early 1970s, but they did not surpass their number 17 for ''Liege & Lief'' in 1969 until their only top 10 album, ''Angel Delight'' in 1971. Most of their career, from that point until they disbanded in 1979, was one of declining profile and sales. The same was generally true of other electric folk outfits. The late 1970s and early 1980s were a time to either abandon the genre or fight a losing struggle for survival. The reason is often said to be punk rock, which reached a peak in 1976–77. It changed the ethos of popular music, overturning certainties about musicianship and songwriting and had no greater target than the old fashioned folk musicians of the preceding generation. All popular music trends have a generational problem as their audiences grow and might not be replaced, but for folk rock the discontinuity was very acute. One result was a further hybridisation with the development of

among younger acts in the later 1970s, some of which, like

the Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse" ...

and

The Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populis ...

, achieved some mainstream success. The early 1980s were the nadir of electric folk, when, in contrast to the mid-1970s only the Albion Band (with the associated Home Service) and the Oysterband remained as major exponents of the genre and this was perhaps their least productive period.

Resurgence 1985–present

In the later 1980s, things began to look much more positive for the genre. After disbandment, Fairport's Cropredy Festival went from strength to strength growing to a regular 20,000 fans a year, and when they reformed in 1985 they were able to embark on increasingly successful tours and produce a series of highly regarded albums. The reason for this recording revival was partly because they abandoned the mainstream record business, instead focusing on growing their own audience and producing records through their own labels ( Woodworm and Matty Grooves). The Albion Band survived by becoming involved in theatre productions and, from 1993 by shifting down to a small acoustic outfit that could play the still extensive network of folk clubs. This move was also significant in indicating the way in which electric folk personnel had become assimilated into the folk revival. It is notable that almost all the members of Fairport Convention have toured the folk club circuit solo or in smaller units and the line up at Cropredy includes as many acoustic acts as electric. In 1980, Steeleye Span's ''

Sails of Silver ''Sails of Silver'' is the eleventh studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. It was released in 1980 by Chrysalis Records. The album was produced two years after the band's ostensible break-up. At the request of Chrysalis Records P ...

'' took a decisive move away from traditional songs. It was a commercial failure and their last album for six years as they became a part-time touring band. However, in 1986 they produced ''

Back in Line ''Back in Line'' is the twelfth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. The album was released in 1986, after a hiatus of almost 6 years. It is their first album without founding member Tim Hart, who quit the music business enti ...

'' and since then, despite several band changes, they have continued to perform and have recorded eight more albums. Some bands like Stone Angel and Jack the Lad, who had disbanded in the 1970s, had reformed and resumed a recording or touring career.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:450 PlotArea = left:100 right:15 bottom:60 top:5 AlignBars = justify Colors = id:eracolour value: rgb(0.9, 0.9, 0.9) id:alteracolour value: rgb(0.75,0.75,0.75) id:portcolour value: rgb(0,0,0.75) id:fothcolour value: rgb(0.5,0.7098,0.835) id:foxcolour value: rgb(1,1,0) id:albioncolour value: rgb(0.984,0.5,0.373) id:pentcolour value: rgb(0.976,0.506,0.651) id:spancolour value: rgb(0,0.75,0) id:Sprigcolour value: rgb(0.6,0.6784,0.6745) id:jackcolour value: rgb(0.75,0.75,0) id:malicolour value: rgb(0.75,0,0.75) id:homecolour value: rgb(0.694,0.447,0.714) id:oystercolour value: rgb(0,0.75,0.75) id:brelcolour value: rgb(0.5,0.95,0.5) id:eleccolour value: rgb(0.5,0.565,0.565) id:hedgecolour value: rgb(0.5,0.6784,0.3176) id:black value:black id:white value:white Period = from:1967 till:2008 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1970 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1967 Define $markred1 = text:"*" textcolor:red shift:(0,3) fontsize:10 Define $markred2 = text:"**" textcolor:red shift:(0,3) fontsize:10 Define $markred3 = text:"***" textcolor:red shift:(0,3) fontsize:10 PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(0,-5) bar: era from: 1967 till: 1979 text: Heyday color: eracolour from: 1990 till: 2008 text: Resurgence color: eracolour bar:Fairport from: 1967 till: 1979 color:portcolour from: 1985 till: 2008 color:portcolour # at = albums at: 1968 align:left $markred1 at: 1969 align:left $markred3 at: 1970 align:left $markred1 at: 1971 align:left $markred2 at: 1972 align:left $markred1 at: 1973 align:left $markred2 at: 1974 align:left $markred1 at: 1975 align:left $markred1 at: 1976 align:left $markred1 at: 1977 align:left $markred2 at: 1978 align:left $markred1 at: 1979 align:left $markred1 at: 1982 align:left $markred1 at: 1985 align:left $markred1 at: 1986 align:left $markred2 at: 1987 align:left $markred1 at: 1989 align:left $markred1 at: 1990 align:left $markred1 at: 1991 align:left $markred1 at: 1992 align:left $markred1 at: 1995 align:left $markred1 at: 1996 align:left $markred1 at: 1997 align:left $markred1 at: 1998 align:left $markred1 at: 1999 align:left $markred2 at: 2001 align:left $markred1 at: 2004 align:left $markred1 at: 2006 align:left $markred1 at: 2007 align:left $markred2 at: 2008 align:left $markred1 bar:Pentangle from: 1967 till: 1973 color:pentcolour at: 1968 align:left $markred2 at: 1969 align:left $markred1 at: 1970 align:left $markred1 at: 1971 align:left $markred1 at: 1977 align:left $markred1 from: 1981 till: 2008 color:pentcolour at: 1985 align:left $markred1 at: 1986 align:left $markred1 at: 1991 align:left $markred1 at: 1993 align:left $markred1 at: 2005 align:left $markred1 bar: Steeleye_Span from: 1969 till: 1978 color:spancolour at: 1970 align:left $markred1 at: 1971 align:left $markred1 at: 1972 align:left $markred2 at: 1973 align:left $markred1 at: 1974 align:left $markred1 at: 1975 align:left $markred2 at: 1976 align:left $markred1 at: 1977 align:left $markred1 at: 1978 align:left $markred1 from: 1980 till: 1987 color:spancolour at: 1980 align:left $markred1 at: 1986 align:left $markred1 from: 1988 till: 2008 color:spancolour at: 1989 align:left $markred1 at: 1992 align:left $markred1 at: 1994 align:left $markred1 at: 1996 align:left $markred1 at: 1998 align:left $markred1 at: 1999 align:left $markred1 at: 2000 align:left $markred1 at: 2002 align:left $markred1 at: 2004 align:left $markred2 at: 2006 align:left $markred2 bar: Fotheringay from: 1970 till: 1971 color: fothcolour at: 1970 align:left $markred1 bar: Mr_Fox from: 1970 till: 1972 color: foxcolour at: 1970 align:left $markred1 at: 1971 align:left $markred1 bar: Albion_Band from: 1971 till: 1973 color: albioncolour from: 1977 till: 2002 color: albioncolour at: 1971 align:left $markred1 at: 1976 align:left $markred1 at: 1977 align:left $markred1 at: 1980 align:left $markred1 at: 1983 align:left $markred1 at: 1989 align:left $markred1 at: 1990 align:left $markred1 at: 1991 align:left $markred1 at: 1993 align:left $markred1 at: 1995 align:left $markred2 at: 1996 align:left $markred2 at: 1997 align:left $markred1 at: 1998 align:left $markred2 at: 1999 align:left $markred2 at: 2001 align:left $markred1 bar: Hedgehog_Pie from: 1971 till: 1978 color: hedgecolour at: 1975 align:left $markred2 at: 1978 align:left $markred1 bar: Spriguns from: 1972 till: 1978 color: sprigcolour at: 1974 align:left $markred1 at: 1975 align:left $markred1 at: 1976 align:left $markred1 at: 1977 align:left $markred1 at: 1978 align:left $markred1 bar: Jack_the_Lad from: 1973 till: 1976 color: jackcolour at: 1974 align:left $markred2 at: 1975 align:left $markred1 at: 1976 align:left $markred1 from: 1993 till: 2003 color: jackcolour bar: Malicorne # Only documents their electric folk years; see the band's page for details from: 1974 till: 1977 color: malicolour at: 1974 align:left $markred1 at: 1975 align:left $markred1 at: 1976 align:left $markred1 at: 1977 align:left $markred1 bar: Oysterband from: 1976 till: 2008 color: oystercolour at: 1978 align:left $markred1 at: 1980 align:left $markred2 at: 1982 align:left $markred1 at: 1983 align:left $markred1 at: 1984 align:left $markred1 at: 1985 align:left $markred1 at: 1986 align:left $markred1 at: 1987 align:left $markred1 at: 1989 align:left $markred1 at: 1990 align:left $markred2 at: 1992 align:left $markred1 at: 1993 align:left $markred1 at: 1995 align:left $markred1 at: 1996 align:left $markred1 at: 1997 align:left $markred1 at: 1998 align:left $markred1 at: 1999 align:left $markred1 at: 2002 align:left $markred1 at: 2003 align:left $markred1 at: 2007 align:left $markred1 at: 2008 align:left $markred1 bar: Home_Service from: 1980 till: 1987 color: homecolour at: 1984 align:left $markred1 at: 1985 align:left $markred1 at: 1986 align:left $markred1 bar: Broadside_Electric from: 1990 till: 2008 color: brelcolour at: 1992 align:left $markred1 at: 1995 align:left $markred1 at: 1996 align:left $markred1 at: 1999 align:left $markred1 at: 2002 align:left $markred1 Bar: Electric_Folk from: 2000 till: 2008 color: eleccolour at: 2001 align:left $markred1 at: 2004 align:left $markred1 TextData = fontsize:S textcolor:red:(0,3) pos:(100,30) text:* Indicates a studio album

Impact on English rock music

Hard rock and progressive rock bands such as

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

and Jethro Tull incorporated elements of folk music in their music, though they are not considered part of the folk rock movement. Led Zeppelin had shared a stage with Fairport Convention at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music in 1970.

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following th ...

and

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

’s interest in the genre was first evident in the recording of "

Gallows Pole A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

" a traditional ballad on ''

Led Zeppelin III ''Led Zeppelin III'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 5 October 1970. It was recorded in three locations. Much of the work was done at Headley Grange, a country house, using the Rolling Stones Mobil ...

'' (1970), which stands out among their usual output of blues orientated rock. At this time they also wrote the ballad " Poor Tom" which would surface on ''

Coda Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...

'' (1982). It is more subtly manifested in their most famous album ''

Led Zeppelin IV The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV'', was released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was produced by guitarist Jimmy Page and recorded between December 1970 and F ...

'' (1971), which contained elements of both American folk rock and English electric folk on ‘

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (often titled ''Led Zeppelin IV'') ...

’ and most obviously on ‘

The Battle of Evermore "The Battle of Evermore" is a folk duet sung by Robert Plant and Sandy Denny, featured on Led Zeppelin's untitled 1971 album, commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV''. The song's instrumentation features acoustic guitar and mandolin playing, while ...

’, on which Sandy Denny had the distinction of being the only person ever to be invited to do guest vocals on a Led Zeppelin album. These influences would also appear on later albums, but reduced as the band returned to a hard rock sound from '' Presence'' (1976) onwards. As Led Zeppelin moved away from electric folk, one of other long term survivors of the

British blues British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s, and reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s. In Britain, it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric gu ...

movement Jethro Tull began to move towards it.

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist ...

had produced Steeleye Span’s album '' Now We Are Six'' in 1974 and first demonstrated a clear interest in more traditional sounds on ''

Minstrel in the Gallery ''Minstrel in the Gallery'' is the eighth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in September 1975. The album sees the band going in a different direction from their previous work '' War Child'' (1974), returning to a blend of e ...

'' (1975), but it was in 1977 with the release of '' Songs from the Wood'' (1977) that Anderson took the band into electric folk territory. All the songs on the album focused on rural life and, in addition to the normal electronic instruments and flute of the band, used mandolin, lute and a pipe organ. Two tracks, ‘Hunting Girl’ and particularly ‘Velvet Green’ followed the form of erotic folk

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s, much suited to Anderson's song writing interests. Two more albums followed in a similar vein: ''

Heavy Horses ''Heavy Horses'' is the eleventh studio album by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978. The album is often considered the second in a trio of folk rock albums released by the band at the end of the 1970s, alongsi ...

'' (1978) and ''

Stormwatch Stormwatch may refer to: * ''Stormwatch'' (album), a 1979 album by Jethro Tull * Stormwatch (comics), a fictional superhero team in the Wildstorm and DC Universes * ''Storm Watch'', a 2002 American science fiction film See also * Storm warning ...

'' (1979) to form a loose folk rock trilogy, before Anderson moved into more electronic territory at the beginning of the 1980s. Ironically it was at this point that Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention would be the first of several members to join Jethro Tull.

Electric and progressive folk

Progressive folk Progressive folk was originally a type of American folk music that pursued a progressive political agenda. More recently, the term has also been applied to a style of contemporary folk that draws from post-Bob Dylan folk music and adds new lay ...

developed in Britain in the mid-1960s partly as an attempt to elevate the artistic quality of the folk genre, but also as a response to diverse influences, often combining acoustic folk instruments with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

and world music. As a result, it was already established in Britain, albeit a difficult to define and varied subgenre, before the advent of electric folk at the end of the 1960s. It can be seen as including performers such as

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

, the Incredible String Band, Pentangle,

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

, Roy Harper, John Martyn and the original

Tyrannosaurus Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...

. Some of this, particularly the Incredible String Band, has been seen as developing into the further subgenre of psych or

psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music, psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of contemporary folk music, folk, but adds musical el ...

. The advent of electric folk had profound effects on this developing strand of the folk genre. First, many existing acts, having avoided the American model of folk rock electrification from about 1965 now adopted it, most obviously Pentangle, Strawbs and acoustic duo Tyrannosaurus Rex which became the electric combo T-Rex. It also pushed progressive folk towards more traditional material. Acoustic performers

Dando Shaft Dando Shaft is the name of a short-lived Psychedelic folk, psychedelic/progressive folk and folk jazz band that was primarily active in the early 1970s. The band has attracted a measure of attention from recent compilation releases and Dando Sha ...

and

Amazing Blondel Amazing Blondel are an English acoustic progressive folk band, containing Eddie Baird, John Gladwin, and Terry Wincott. They released a number of LPs for Island Records in the early 1970s. They are sometimes categorised as psychedelic folk or a ...

, both beginning about this time, are examples of this trend. Examples of bands that remained firmly on the border between progressive folk and progressive rock are the short lived Comus and, more successfully,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

, who combined folk and rock with elements of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

. While progressive folk as a genre continued into the late 1960s, it was overshadowed by electric folk and progressive rock, arguably, later to emerge in a new form.

Derivatives

Medieval folk rock

From about 1970 a number of performers inspired by electric folk, particularly in England, Germany and Brittany, adopted

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and

renaissance music Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century '' ars nova'', the T ...

as a basis for their music, in contrast to the early modern and 19th century

a that dominated the output of Fairport Convention. This followed the trend explored by Steeleye Span, and exemplified by their 1972 album ''

Below the Salt ''Below the Salt'' is the fourth studio album by Steeleye Span and their first after they joined the Chrysalis label. The album takes medieval influence and combines it with the band's British folk rock style. The lineup on the album includes ...

''. Acts in this area included Gryphon,

Gentle Giant Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band were known for the complexity and sophistication of their music and for the varied musical skills of their members. All of the band members were multi-inst ...

and

Third Ear Band Third Ear Band were a British musical group formed in London during the mid-1960s. Their line-up initially consisted of violin, cello, oboe and percussion. Most of their performances were instrumental and partly improvised. Their records for th ...

. In Germany

Ougenweide Ougenweide was a German progressive rock band. They are notable for being pioneers of the medieval folk rock subgenre. (In German) The name comes from Middle High German ''ougenweide'' (Augenweide - ''feast for the eyes''). Band history The ...

, originally formed in 1970 as an acoustic folk group, opted to draw exclusively on High German medieval music when they electrified, setting the agenda for future German electric folk. In Brittany, as part of the

movement, medieval music was focused on by bands like Ripaille from 1977 and Saga de Ragnar Lodbrock from 1979. However, by the end of the 1970s almost all of these performers had either disbanded or moved, like Gentle Giant and Gryphon, into the developing area of

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

. One remaining but notable exponent of medieval folk rock is Ritchie Blackmore with

Blackmore's Night Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore (acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandola, mandolin, nyckelharpe, and electric guitar) and Candice Night (lead vocals, lyri ...

Celtic rock

Initially

replicated electric folk, but naturally replaced the element of English traditional music with its own folk music. It was rapidly evident in all areas of the Celtic nations and regions surrounding England (both Goidelic (

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

) and Brythonic (

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

, and

), saw the adoption and adaptation of the electric folk model. Through at least the first half of the 1970s, as Celtic rock held close to folk roots, with its repertoire drawing heavily on traditional Celtic

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

and

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

tunes and even traditional vocal styles, but making use of rock band levels of amplification and percussion it can be considered part of the electric folk movement. However, as it developed into new derivatives and hybrids, including

Celtic punk Celtic punk is punk rock mixed with traditional Celtic music. Celtic punk bands often play traditional Irish, Welsh or Scottish folk and political songs, as well as original compositions.P. Buckley, ''The Rough Guide to Rock'' (London: Rough Gui ...

Celtic metal Celtic metal is a subgenre of folk metal that developed in the 1990s in Ireland. The genre is a fusion of heavy metal and Celtic rock. The early pioneers of the genre were the Irish bands Cruachan, Primordial and Waylander. The genre has since ...

, and other sorts of

Celtic fusion Celtic fusion is an umbrella term for any modern music which incorporates influences considered "Celtic", or Celtic music which incorporates modern music. It is a syncretic musical tradition which borrows freely from the perceived "Celtic" music ...

, the initial electric folk pattern began to dissipate.

Folk punk

In the mid-1980s a new rebirth of English folk began, this time fusing folk forms with energy and political aggression derived from punk rock. Leaders included

The Men They Couldn't Hang The Men They Couldn't Hang (TMTCH) are a British folk punk group. The original group consisted of Stefan Cush (vocals, guitar), Paul Simmonds (guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, keyboards), Philip "Swill" Odgers (vocals, guitar, tin whistle, melodica ...

, Oysterband, Violent Femmes,

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music i ...

and

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse" ...

. Folk

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...

also became popular in the 1980s, with the English Country Blues Band and Tiger Moth. The decade later saw the use of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

with English folk music by the band Edward II & the Red Hot Polkas, especially on their seminal ''Let's Polkasteady'' from 1987.

Folk metal

In a process strikingly similar to the origins of electric folk in the 1960s, the English

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band Skyclad added violins from a session musician on several tracks for their 1990 début album ''

The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth ''The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth'' is the debut album by British folk metal band Skyclad, and is regarded as one of the first folk metal albums, with the track "The Widdershins Jig" in particular pointing the way for the genre. Front cover ar ...

''. When this was well received they adopted a full-time fiddle player and moved towards a signature folk and jig style leading them to be credited as the pioneers of folk metal. This directly inspired the Dublin-based band Cruachan to use traditional Irish music in creating the

subgenre. Attempts have been made elsewhere to replicate this process with examples ranging from the Middle Eastern folk music of

Orphaned Land Orphaned Land is an Israeli heavy metal band, formed in 1991 under the name Resurrection (changing their name in 1992 to the current name), that combines Israeli Jewish, Mizrahi, and other West Asian influences. They are considered the pioneer ...

, the Baltic folk music of

Skyforger Skyforger is a heavy metal band from Latvia which was formed in 1995 out of the remains of doom metal band Grindmaster Dead. Musical style and lyrical themes Most of their songs are about Baltic mythology and warfare; they also play Latvian ...

and the Scandinavian folk music of Korpiklaani. In Germany this trend is more closely associated with the

neo-medieval music Neo-Medieval music is a modern popular music characterized by elements of Medieval music and early music in general. Music styles within neo-Medieval music vary from authentic performance interpretations of Medieval music (understood as Classical ...

known as medieval metal.

Festivals

Fairport's Cropredy Convention (previously ''Cropredy Festival'') has been held every year since 1974 near Cropredy, a village five miles north of

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

and attracts 20,000 fans. It remains one of the key events in the UK folk festival calendar. After holding a successful open-air concert at Kentwell Hall, Suffolk in 2005, Steeleye Span decided to hold their own annual festival, known as Spanfest.

Electric folk

When English bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s defined themselves as 'electric folk' they were making a distinction with the already existing 'folk rock'. Folk rock was (to them) what they had already been producing: American or American style singer-songwriter material played on rock instruments, as undertaken by

and the

Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

from 1965. They drew the distinction because they were focusing on indigenous (in this case English) songs and tunes. This is not to say that all the proponents of electric folk totally abandoned American material, or that it would not be represented in their own compositions, but their work would be characterised by the use of traditional English songs and tunes and the creation of new songs in that style, using the format and instruments of a rock band with the occasional addition of more traditional instruments. The result of this hybridisation was an exchange of specific features drawn from traditional music and rock music. These have been defined as including:

Traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

: * Lyrics * Tunes (including ornamentation) * The drone (cf.

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...

), but usually on a guitar or bass * Use of some acoustic instruments * Use of traditional rhythms; for example, an eight-beat rhythm of 3+3+2 with the stress on the first, fourth, and seventh beats, as in

's "

", while not unusual precludes the standard rock

backbeat In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the ''mensural level'' (or ''beat level''). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a p ...

. * Blending of multiple songs in the traditional music style: often a short instrumental piece is inserted as an instrumental in a longer lyrical piece (i.e. a piece with vocals), both in traditional music and Electric folk

Rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...

: * Rhythm (specifically the

) * The

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

* Ostinati (plural of

ostinato In music, an ostinato (; derived from Italian word for ''stubborn'', compare English ''obstinate'') is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch. Well-known ostinato-based pieces include ...

), a melodic and/or rhythmic figure that is persistently repeated throughout a piece or a section of a piece * Use of some

electric instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into a ...

* The tempo of some songs may be altered well beyond the traditional boundaries * Key changes may be added Not all of these features are found in every song. For example, electric folk groups, while ''predominantly'' using traditional material as their source for lyrics and tunes, occasionally write their own (much as traditional musicians do).

References

{{English folk music British styles of music British rock music genres Crossover (music)