Massimo - I got a song. A history of the Newport Folk Festival

I GOT A SONG

I GOT A SONG

A HISTORY OF TUE

Newport Folk Festival

RICK MASSIMO

Wesleyan University Press * Middletown, Connecticut

Wesleyan University Press

Middletown CT 06459

www.wesleyan.edu/wespress

2017 Richard Massimo

All rights reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

Designed by Eric M. Brooks

Typeset in Calluna by Passumpsic Publishing

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

NAMES: Massimo, Richard, 1964

TITLE: I got a song: a history of the Newport Folk Festival / Rick Massimo.

DESCRIPTION: Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

IDENTIFIERS: LCCN 2016038490 (print) | LCCN 2016038662 (ebook) | ISBN 9780819577023 (cloth: alk. paper) | ISBN 9780819577030 (pbk.: alk. paper) | ISBN 9780819577047 (ebook)

SUBJECTS: LCSH: Newport Folk FestivalHistory. | Folk music festivalsRhode IslandNewportHistory.

CLASSIFICATION: LCC ML38.N4 N374 2017 (print) | LCC ML38.N4 (ebook) | DDC 781.62/1300787457dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016038490

5 4 3 2 1

Cover photo: John Prine in 1994 by Ken Franckling.

FOR

CHRISTINE,

FLORENCE &

HENRY

CONTENTS

PREFACE

The Newport Folk Festival was an American musical institution almost as soon as it began in 1959, and its been a touchstone for more than fifty years, even given a pair of interruptions during its history. This book examines how the festival came to be in the beginning, how it came to be what it is today and how it came to be what it was at each distinct stage of its history in between. At every point, the story both drives and reflects changes in individuals and the collective musical world in which they work.

In July 2009, I was planning coverage of the fiftieth-anniversary Newport Folk Festival for the Providence Journal. I had already written about the fiftieth-anniversary Newport Jazz Festival in 2004, so I knew there would be a lot of history to cover. I also knew that George Wein was stepping back in to take the reins of both festivals after having sold his operation to a startup that had since failed.

My editors at the Journal sent me to New York to spend a day with Wein; we spoke for about two hours, went to a jazz festivalrelated event, returned to Weins home and spoke for about two more hours. On the train ride back that night, I plotted out a series of stories on the history of the Newport Folk Festival; by the time I got back to Providence, I knew the subject deserved a book.

Those interviews yielded valuable historical insights as well as a picture of what it was like to be in the drivers seat to one of American musics landmark events, and these are sprinkled throughout. The portion of that day recounted in , however, comprises the heart of the interviews, and in many ways it is the heart of this book: the festivals original sense of purpose, which has been refracted but never distorted over the decades.

The festival has meant many things to many people at many times. The real meaning of individual performances, and the festival as a whole, in many ways resides in the minds of those who witnessed it live. Some aspects of this history can only be fully understood by reading books; some can only be grasped by delving into unpublished primary sources such as board minutes and sometimes-angry letters; some of it requires face-to-face talks with the people who were there in the early days and are still involved; some of it can only be learned by listening to the music. A lot of people helped with each of these aspects.

Elijah Walds book on Bob Dylans electric performance at Newport is loaded with important information and analysis, and he was consistently willing to help. And Benjamin Filene was not only happy to discuss his work with me but found my interpretations of it not totally laughable.

Many thanks to my old Journal colleagues, including Alan Rosenberg and Phil Kukielski during the reporting and writing of the original stories, and G. Wayne Miller, Mark Patinkin, Mike Stanton and especially Bill Reynolds in the early stages of this project.

Id also like to thank all who shared their stories of Newport and the festival over the decades. I appreciate the time and attention paid by dozens of people, whom youll find in these pages, but special mention has to be made of George Wein, who was particularly generous with his time, and Murray Lerner, who provided valuable contact information for other sources. Similarly, Carolyn McClair smoothed the way for many interviews.

Jeff Place, Cecilia Peterson, Stephanie Smith and the staff at the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at the Smithsonian Institution provided a wealth of photos, as well as access to Rinzlers papers regarding Newport, including board minutes, financial records and personal correspondence. Likewise, Todd Harvey, Jennifer Cutting and the staff at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress provided access to tapes from the early Newport Folk Festivals, as well as Alan Lomaxs papers, which included illuminating correspondence as well.

The documents in those archives, as well as other resources in the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress (particularly the American Folklife Center), were invaluable in piecing together the events of the history of the Newport Folk Festival, particularly in its early days. So too were the memories of the people who created that history.

Inevitably, however, these sources sometimes clashed. Every effort has been made to reconcile peoples years- and decades-old memories with accounts from primary documents and recordings. In probably one of lifes more predictable ironies, some of the most confidently expressed memories were among those proven incorrect.

At other junctures in the history of the Newport Folk Festival, theres no clear-cut answer as to what actually happened, and in that case the differences of opinion and of recollection stand as testimony to the size of the event and the many angles it could be viewed from.

This appears most obviously in the structure and form of : the recently available tapes in the Jackson/Christian Collection at the American Folklife Center settle pretty much all questions as to what happened on the stage. Thats not, however, the full answer to the question What actually happened at Bob Dylans electric performance on July 25, 1965? That answer lies in the minds and memories of the people who were there and in their thoughts, analyses, arguments and actions thereafter. In this context, its not a matter of weeding through the many responses in order to find the answer; the fact that the community to and in which the performance was delivered could generate such responses is in fact the answer itself.

More peoples efforts need to be mentioned and appreciated. Carole Sargent and Marcia Chatelain at Georgetown University were instrumental in putting me in touch with Wesleyan University, and thanks of course to the past and present staff of the Wesleyan University Press, including Suzanna Tamminen, Marla Zubel, Dan Cavicchi and Parker Smathers. Thanks also to John Spangler, who helped with interview transcription, and Aaron Winslow for the index.