Jerome L. Rodnitzky

Folk music has been an important current in American pop culture since the 1930s. The genre experienced a renaissance in the 1960s, at a time when songwriters began to focus on issues such as the Vietnam War, civil rights, the environment, and feminism. In the following selection, Jerome L. Rodnitzky provides an overview of 1960s protest music. At first, these songs dealt with specific and topical issues. Key artists included Pete Seeger, who consistently championed social causes in his folk music. However, folk music began to change in the mid—1960s. Bob Dylan's decision to move from the acoustic to the electric guitar led to the development of folk—rock. In addition to the different instrumentation, the lyrical content of the music changed. Instead of tackling specific topics, songwriters began to express vaguer expressions of...