Jim Devine wrote:
>
>
> in the early 1960s, the "folkies" were almost religious in their
> fervor for "authenticity," i.e., tapping the authentic message of the
> "folk," either by reviving old songs or by using folk styles. Many
> (e.g., Irwin Silver, then a music maven, later a Lenin wannabe) also
> wanted to combine this with a left-wing political message. (The two
> trends were linked, in a way, by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, both
> lefties.) It didn't involve absolute loyalty, but there was "lines
> that shouldn't be crossed" and Dylan was seen as crossing both. He
> violated authenticity by going back to electric guitar (which he'd
> used before he became a Woody Guthrie impersonator) while he began to
> emphasize the personal over the political.
As a profile in the current New Yorker points out, Pete Seager at Newport was upset _not_ at Dylan playing rock but because he really thought the PA system must be fucked up; Dylan's words weren't being heard. He actually liked the song being played.
Carrol