# The Death Of 60's Folk Music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 13, 2007, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-60s-folk-music/419048 "2007-09-13T08:10:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-60s-folk-music/419048/41 "2007-09-16T20:21:01Z")
The Mamas and the Papas said it in1965, _Creeque Alley_ > [@](#): > > “John and Michie > were gettin’ kinda itchy > to leave the folk music behind” ---
**Author:** ![Leah\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@Leah\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leah_M)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-60s-folk-music/419048/42 "2007-09-17T05:23:31Z")
I hope this isn’t too much of a hijack, but I saw ‘Joan Baez’ and was instantly reminded of something I saw not too long ago. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but: A popular Japanese voice artist/singer released a [cover version of ‘Dona Dona’](http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=NECM-12140) earlier this year, which I know wasn’t originally done by Baez, but she definitely popularized it. Only, this version is a techno remix. :eek: At least, she’s not been forgotten. I boggle at the concept, though. _ducks out_ ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-60s-folk-music/419048/43 "2007-09-17T12:16:50Z")
I would say the death knell was sounded by Peter, Paul & Mary singing “I dig rock and roll music.” Fortunately Iris Dement either did not hear it or chose to ignore it because she is still singing, performing live and recording and is fabulous. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-60s-folk-music/419048/44 "2007-09-17T14:25:49Z")
“I Dig Rock and Roll Music” was satirical. The point of the song was that the singers hated how rock and roll had crushed what little chance folk music had to be the hot thing. They also hated how some of their fellow folk singers had crossed over into rock and roll. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-60s-folk-music/419048/45 "2007-09-17T14:47:35Z")
Seconded. Pay attention to the lyrics. > [@](#): > > I dig Rock and Roll music > I could really get it on in that scene. > I think I could say somethin’ if you know what I mean > But if I really say it, the radio won’t play it > Unless I lay it between the lines Folk music as they knew it was dead by that time. By the time of _Album 1700_, which contained “I Dig Rock and Roll Music,” they themselves had mostly shifted over to a pop sound. This worked very well commercially - and aethestically, since that’s a terrific album, but it was essentially their swan song as a group.\* As I said earlier, folk lived on but never as the commercial genre it once was. It morphed into folk-rock or folk-pop or moved into smaller non-commercial settings. And it splintered into a thousand varieties of folk art, which is the equivalent of saying that it is dead as a genre. - Yes I know they continued to make a few albums. Look at what those albums were, though, and look at their commercial success. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-60s-folk-music/419048/46 "2007-09-17T14:52:53Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] As I said earlier, folk lived on but never as the commercial genre it once was. It morphed into folk-rock or folk-pop or moved into smaller non-commercial settings. And it splintered into a thousand varieties of folk art, which is the equivalent of saying that it is dead as a genre. [/QUOTE] You say that like it’s a bad thing. Paraphrasing Spider Robinson, who was paraphrasing Martin Mull: “Remember the great Folk Music scare of the 1960’s? That shit almost caught on!” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-60s-folk-music/419048.md?page=2)