Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Henry, thanks so much for coming to the party.   The MFQ were heroes in my
circle, and I caught you one night at the Troubadour when ya'll came back
after a break, thanked a non-existant opening act for the use of their
electric instruments, and just nailed "Help Me Rhonda".   I get chills just
remembering.

Richie, I'll answer your earlier post when I can get a longer break here at
work.
  

    
I don't know if "Nighttime Girl" is on any in-print CD, but it did
appear on an out-of-print LP compilation called "Nuggets Vol. 10: Folk
Rock" on Rhino in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Also in the Modern Folk Quartet were Jerry Yester and Chip Douglas.
Yester replaced Zal Yanovsky in the Lovin' Spoonful, produced Tim
Buckley's second and third albums, and made albums as a duo with his
then-wife Judy Henske and the group Rosebud (which included Yester,
Henske, and Craig Doerge, the last of whom became a top L.A. session
musician). Chip Douglas went on to do production for the Monkees,
Turtles, and Linda Ronstadt.
  

    
I don't really discuss present-day folk-rock in "Eight Miles High,"
though there's a short epilogue looking at the echoes of folk-rock's
legacy since 1970. This might not be a popular opinion among some
enthusiasts, but though there are numerous current artists working in a
folk-rock style, I'm not a big enthusiast for them. Part of this is
not just that I'm relatively unexcited about much of what I hear, but
also because in any style, it's difficult to sustain the same
excitement and unpredictable innovation of its early years when it's
revisited or revived in subsequent years and decades. I also admit that
in the last two or three years in particular, I just haven't heard a
great deal of recent releases, being so immersed in research and
listening for my 1960s folk-rock books.

There are many artists carrying on the folk-rock tradition, though
many of them are now labeled singer-songwriters or, if they have a
strong country or Americana influence (like Wilco), No Depression. As
for which ones I think are the best I've heard, I'd nominate Jeff
Kelly, Damien Youth, Hayden, Will Oldham, Tom House, Johnny Dowd,
Freakwater, and Cheri Knight; I'm sure I'm forgetting some I've liked.
Billy Bragg has done a lot to carry the folk-rock flame since the
1980s, though I guess we can't call him a young artist anymore.
  

    
I wanted to say a bit about Kaleidoscope, which Ed rightfully pointed
out as a folk-rock group with a lot of middle eastern/world music
influences, and who don't get covered until the "Eight Miles High"
book. When I did a chapter on Kaleidoscope in my "Urban Spacemen &
Wayfaring Strangers" book, the group's Chris Darrow told me that Mike
Seeger of the New Lost City Ramblers was their idol. The New Lost City
Ramblers were, of course, a pretty traditional old-time folk outfit,
albeit not staffed by old guys. As Chris told me, Seeger, "Tom Paley,
and John Cohen, who were also in the [Ramblers], played banjo, fiddle,
mandolin, and guitar. They could all sing, and they'd just trade
instruments back and forth. So it was no big deal for us to pick up a
fiddle, then a dobro, then a banjo. We were all learning the
instruments simultaneously, because we wnatd to be like our idols. I
would say if you asked Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, David Lindley, me, you
would get, 'I wanted to be Mike Seeger.'

"I have a picture when we were in the Mad Mountain Ramblers, of all
our instruments; it was like twenty instruments. We would always trade
things back and forth and play two fiddles on one thing, or two
mandolins, or two banjos, or one guy playing dobro. It became part of
our selling point, When people came to see us, we'd have things laid
all over the stage, and it looked very impressive."

The difference between Kaleidoscope and the New Lost City Ramblers was
not only that Kaleidoscope added electricity and more pop and rock
than the New Lost City Ramblers had. They also added violin, viola,
oud, saz, clarinet, harpsichord, harmonium, and flamenco guitar, as
well as strong melodic and rhythmic influences from middle eastern and
Indian music. A lot of that came from the influence of Kaleidoscope's
Solomon Feldthouse, but most of the members applied the
multi-instrumentalist approach to instruments that embraced rock,
amplification, and world music influences as well as traditional
American folk. It was like taking the New Lost City Ramblers approach
into psychedelia, and as such a strong illustration of the folk to
folk-rock to eastern-influenced psychedelic folk-rock connection.
  

    
Earlier in the topic there was some discussion about a PBS "folk
reunion," which as Richie pointed out, did not really celebrate
folk-rock as much as early '60s folk. I didn't see it, but accounts
shared here make it sound like it made for some occasionally painful
viewing/listening.

My question is ... which folk-rock artists featured in "Turn! Turn!
Turn!" who are still actively touring and/recording today do you feel
are doing justice to their music and their folk-rock legacies? 
  

    
"Hooten Any Cause?!" "Whewhewwwwwwww!" [whistles... lighters....] 
Derivation of the word 'Hootenanny'?
  

    
I think the best of the folk-rock music to be heard today by the
originators/veterans is to be heard in a live setting rather than a
recorded one. Sometimes it turns out that a performer who hasn't
released much or anything lately, and/or who many people don't realize
are still performing, can be very good heard live, especially since
they tend to be playing small venues where they can be heard well. This
was the case when I saw Judy Henske in Berkeley a couple of years ago,
and when Donovan did some acoustic numbers when he appeared at the
first book signing I did in Los Angeles.

As far as the talents who are still best on their recent records and
particularly their concerts, I think many would agree (and I wouldn't
disagree) that those would be Neil Young and Bob Dylan. I'm not a big
Richard Thompson fan, but those who are report that he's still very
good on stage.

As for someone still doing justice to their legacies, I'd cite Roger
McGuinn, who devotes much of his current repertoire to the same
traditional folk songs with which he began his career as a teenager.
But he does so in a way consistent with the merging of acoustic folk
and electronic futurism that was so characteristic of his innovations
with the Byrds. Many of his renditions of traditional tunes--some
recorded back in the late 1950s, when he was a teenager--are available
to hear as MP3s on his Web site. In July 2000, he gave a statement
before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hailing the artistic freedom
and economic advantages granted by MP3 technology. He also wrote a
foreword to the Complete Idiot's Guide to MP3: Music on the Internet. I
hear he's still good live, though his touring is low-key.
  

    
That description of the New Lost City Ramblers misses their point: they were
re-creating commercially recorded country music from the era before it
became a commercial genre (which is to say, before Nashville overpowered and
absorbed everything else). The whole shtick, from the way they dressed
(white shirts and vests, because the old musicians would take off their suit
coats when they played), to the instruments they played and the styles of
singing, was an effort to imitate the old fiddlers and string bands from
those old records. Sure they played a lot of instruments, but they were very
consciously not taking the old music in a new direction.

At least not as NLCR. Both Mike Seeger and John Cohen also played in other
bands that had looser contraints.
  

    
As we're nearing the end of the two-week topic window (though, as
Cynthia, John or David will say, questions/comments can still be lobbed
Richie's way here indefinitely), I wanted to mention that it's been a
genuine pleasure for me to be the moderator of this topic. I was
continually amazed and delighted by the level of detail and enthusiasm
Richie brought to each answer and comment he posted. 

As much as I learned about folk-rock in "Turn! Turn! Turn!," I picked
up even more factual treasure during the past two weeks.  Thanks for
taking this forum so seriously, Richie. It was great "talking" with
you.  Now … everybody who doesn't already own, go buy "Turn!
Turn! Turn!" and Richie's other books.

Looking ahead, what's next, Richie? Any new book projects on the
horizon?
  

    
Right, Dave... two weeks is up and another inkwell.vue interview started 
today, but that by no means suggests that this one must end. Richie et 
al., feel free to continue! And thanks so much for the discussion so far. 
It's been exceptionally rich and wonderful!
  

    
What's next for me: well, a final reminder, at least within our
allotted two-week topic window, that "Eight Miles High," the sequel to
"Turn! Turn! Turn!," will be published in the spring or summer of 2003
on Backbeat Books. It will pick up about where "Turn! Turn! Turn!" left
off, and cover folk-rock from mid-1966 to 1970. The book's already
finished, and again draws on more than 100 first-hand interviews, many
withpeople who were also interviewed for the first volume, but with
several dozen new ones entering the picture as well.

I'm not sure what my next book will be. I know that I want to continue
writing books. I'm not sure whether all of those will be music; I've
also done travel books. I know that if I venture outside of music, I'd
like to still do something with a twentieth-century historical focus,
perhaps on media or popular culture. I know this all sounds vague, but
I'm still working it out in my mind myself. And I need to rest for the 
next few months, after researching and writing six books in as many
years (and spending so many of my waking hours in the past two years in
particular either working on or thinking about books on folk-rock).

As a brief plug, if readers are interested in seeing some of my music
writing for non-book projects, I constantly review albums (mostly but
not reissues) and write artist biographies for the biggest on-line
database of record reviews and musician bios, the All Music Guide, at
www.allmusic.com. I post many of these reviews (as well as some music
book reviews) four times a year on my website, at
www.richieunterberger/reviews.html. That page also has liner notes I
write to various reissues, most often for the Collectors' Choice Music
label.

I'll continue to check this topic regularly and welcome any more
questions and comments, though I won't be able to check in several
times a day as I have over the last two weeks. Thanks to everyone who's
participated by posting and reading. Thanks also to Dave Zimmer for
his constant flow of insightful questions, which touched upon so many
of the issues I discussed in the books, and gave me the chance in many
cases to contribute elaborations and observations that didn't make it
into the books. Thanks also to David Gans and the WELL for giving me
the opportunity to discuss my work in inkwell.vue.
  

    

This has been one of the best, most informative Inkwell interviews ever.



Thanks to all who made it happen!
  

    

Indeed ! This has been a blast, and I hope we can keep it going. Thanks,
Richie and Dave!
  

    
The past two weeks have been a blast for me, too, Gary, Barry, Jon,
Cythnia, David, Ed, et all. I felt kind of like a bus driver, steering
the topic flow a bit, then stepping aside to let Richie's colorful and
wise comments fuel this journey. Thanks again to Richie and everyone
who contributed. Inkwell.vue is a wonderful place. 
  

    
four stars

henrydiltz! i wonder what he's been doing lately???

i'd just like to say that richie's site is a real treasure trove, kinda like
this interview has been. i especially like:
http://www.richieunterberger.com/turnlists.html
for helping me keep some of this stuff straight.
  

    
Good lord!
  

    
>henrydiltz! i wonder what he's been doing lately???<<

Henry is currently holding court in a new inkwell.vue topic,
discussing his photography, album cover shoots and his DVD, "Under the
Covers." As the topic develops, I'm sure he will bring everyone up to
speed on his latest endeavors. 

> A related question for Richie (and, Henry, if he's checking in) ...

The Modern Folk Quartet was there at the beginning when the seeds of
folk-rock were being sewn in 1963 and 1964. What unique characteristics
did the MFQ and its members bring to the developing folk-rock genre?
And what prevented the MFQ from achieving greater success as a group? 
  

    
More than most of the acts I covered in my book who didn't achieve
wide renown, I think it's difficult to judge the MFQ's music and
impact. They had a couple of albums for Warner Brothers, but these were
very much in what I've called the wholesome folk combo mold, not the
folk-rock one. There were hints, the merest hints, of folk-rock to come
in some of the more adventurous material, particularly the
lighthearted and whimsical "Sassafras" (there's a very good version of
this done later by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, by the
way) and two early songs by Dino Valenti: "Pennies" and "The Little
House." Jerry Yester told me the MFQ were also interested in doing
Valenti's "Get Together," at that point a very little-known song five
years away from being a huge hit single for the Youngbloods, but never
got around to recording it. They also occasionally used very light
drums on their recordings, though so light as not to tread into
folk-rock music.

"Pennies," if I might throw in yet more collector esoterica, was done
in a very nice full folk-rock version by the Blue Things, the Kansas
group I've cited as the best unknown mid-1960s folk-rock band, though
this version was unreleased in the 1960s and didn't come out until a
1980s compilation. "The Little House" was later done by Dino Valenti
himself on his rare 1964 Elektra single, though under the title of
"Birdses." That song title, in turn, helped inspire the name of the
biggest folk-rock band of all, the Byrds, when they were looking to
change their name from the Jet Set around Thanksgiving 1964. How did
they know about such an obscure song? Because their manager, Jim
Dickson, had produced Valenti's "Birdses" single. Another example of
the amazing full-circle wheel of folk-rock interconnections.

Incidentally, when the MFQ did "The Little House" on their "Changes"
LP, for some reason the songwriting credits read "Klonaris-Berger," not
Valenti (or Valenti's real name, Chester Powers). Henry, if you
remember anything about the song and why its credits read the way they
do, please pitch in.

The MFQ, after electrifying, then did a few singles for Warners that
really sound more to me like pop-rock than folk-rock, with a Beach Boys
influence at times. Enough people have raved about their live
performances in Los Angeles at the Trip, both to me and to other
writers, for me to suspect that there was a good deal of their electric
sound that didn't get captured on record, whether due to their limited
recording opportunities (they never recorded an LP as an electric
unit), the wrong choice of material, or inappropriate production. I
wasn't there, but my impression is that what made them stand out most
among other bands, folk-rock and otherwise, was Henry Diltz's
electrified banjo, and also some onstage improvisation (a 22-minute
version of "Swing Time," I was told) that no label would have likely
recorded in the mid-1960s.

I think, also, part of what prevented MFQ from becoming bigger was
that they had a fairly fruitless alliance with producer Phil Spector
that I didn't have the space to fully go into in my book. But
basically, no Spector-produced MFQ tracks came out, with the odd
exception of the Harry Nilsson song "This Could Be the Night," which
was used on the soundtrack of the rarely seen mid-1960s rockumentary
"The Big T.N.T. Show." That song sounds like a cross between the Beach
Boys and the Spector Wall of Sound, and while I like it, it's not that
folk-rock.

Phil Spector, incidentally, was looking to move into more contemporary
trends in the mid-1960s, including folk-rock. He'd expressed some
interest in working with the Lovin' Spoonful before that group had
hits, but as John Sebastian told the New Musical Express in 1966, "We
turned down Spector's offers because we didn't want to be swallowed up
under his name." As great as Spector was, I don't he was well-suited
toward working with a self-contained band with strong ideas of their
own. Maybe what Sebastian feared would happen to the Spoonful *did*
happen to the MFQ, to some degree.

It's also worth noting that the MFQ were good friends of several of
the musicians that went on to be in much bigger bands than the MFQ were
able to become, like the Lovin' Spoonful, the Mamas & the Papas, and
the Byrds. Jerry Yester and Henry Diltz play on a couple of very
interesting, very early folk-rockish experimental renditions of "Tom
Dooley" and "Oh Suzanna" circa 1964. These were produced by Lovin'
Spoonful/Tim Hardin producer Erik Jacobsen; "Oh Susanna" features Zal
aynovsky, Cass Elliot, Jerry Yester of the MFQ, and Jim Hendricks (who
was in the Big Three and the Mugwumps with Elliot), while "Tom Dooley"
features Yester, Elliot, Hendricks, and Diltz. Neither of these tracks
were issued at the time, but eventually came out on the very
interesting compilation "Before They Were the Mamas & the Papas: The
Magic Circle," which gathers a lot of material recorded by members of
the Mamas & the Papas in various ensembles prior to the formation of
the Mamas & the Papas.

As for the Byrds connection, Cyrus Faryar of the MFQ told me that
Roger McGuinn called him to see if Cyrus was interesting in joining a
band Roger was forming, which turned out to be the Byrds; Cyrus said,
"I was a fool, I should have joined them." Also, the Modern Folk
Quartet's self-titled debut LP was produced by the aforementioned Jim
Dickson, who went on to manage the Byrds.

There's also an interesting MFQ-Monkees connection. Jerry Yester told
me that the co-producer of the Monkees' TV show, Bob Rafelson, offered
him the position that went to Peter Tork. Jerry said he turned it down 
by telling him that he couldn't take part unless the MFQ themselves
would be the featured band on the show. The musicians/actors eventually
picked for the Monkees continued to cross paths with the MFQ as the
MFQ's Chip Douglas produced the Monkees' "Headquarters" album; Henry
Diltz played banjo on some Monkees sessions; and Jerry Yester played
guitar on "Headquarters." 

Another reason the MFQ didn't achieve success? They weren't together
that long. Their most notable achievements came after the MFQ broke up.
Yester replaced Zal Yanovsky in the Lovin' Spoonful, produced Tim
Buckley's second and third albums, and did a very good
quasi-psychedelic cult album with his then-wife Judy Henske in the late
1960s. Cyrus Faryar played on Fred Neil records, narrated the
astrological concept album "The Zodiac" on Elektra, played bouzouki for
the first Crosby, Stills, & Nash album, and eventually recorded for
Elektra as a solo artist. Chip Douglas became a producer for the
Monkees and others. And Henry Diltz became a renowned photographer,
which you can read about in his own inkwell.vue topic.

The MFQ, incidentally, were managed by Herbie Cohen, also manager of
Judy Henske, the Mothers of Invention, Tim Buckley, Fred Neil, Linda
Ronstadt & the Stone Poneys, and others. That's a reason ex-MFQers show
up on records by Henske, Buckley, and Neil.
  

    
(I'm not sure Henry's reading this topic, BTW. If you want to re-ask your
question in Henry's topic -- 163 -- I bet he'll offer something juicy)
  

    
Richie, it occurred to me to ask who the great NEW folk-rockers are? 
  

    
Jon, see my post in response #203, which I'll repost here:

I don't really discuss present-day folk-rock in "Eight Miles High,"
though there's a short epilogue looking at the echoes of folk-rock's
legacy since 1970. This might not be a popular opinion among some
enthusiasts, but though there are numerous current artists working in
a folk-rock style, I'm not a big enthusiast for them. Part of this is
not just that I'm relatively unexcited about much of what I hear, but
also because in any style, it's difficult to sustain the same
excitement and unpredictable innovation of its early years when it's
revisited or revived in subsequent years and decades. I also admit
that in the last two or three years in particular, I just haven't heard
a great deal of recent releases, being so immersed in research and
listening for my 1960s folk-rock books.

There are many artists carrying on the folk-rock tradition, though
many of them are now labeled singer-songwriters or, if they have a
strong country or Americana influence (like Wilco), No Depression. As
for which ones I think are the best I've heard, I'd nominate Jeff
Kelly, Damien Youth, Hayden, Will Oldham, Tom House, Johnny Dowd,
Freakwater, and Cheri Knight; I'm sure I'm forgetting some I've liked.
Billy Bragg has done a lot to carry the folk-rock flame since the
1980s, though I guess we can't call him a young artist anymore.
  

    
Whups! Sorry - I forgot you'd posted that. I was trying to think who I listen 
to in that realm... Wilco was one, and Austin's The Gourds, which are classed 
(by those who categorize) as Americana. Austin actually has a lively kind of 
folkrock/Americana/no depression scene with folks like Toni Price, the Weary 
Boys, and the revived Flatlanders, but that seems like a whole nother 
realm...  There's also that Americana/bluegrass revival in the wake of 'O 
Brother, Where Art Thou' with a combination of the old (Ralph Stanley) and 
the new (Allison Krauss), some using rock elements and others holding to the 
more traditional. I also thought about the McGarrigles and their family, esp 
Rufus Wainwright... 
  

    
A personal current favorite ... a newish release by David Baerwald,
"Here Comes the New Folk Underground" (Lost Highway), mixes folk, rock
and r&b with lonesome, emotional vocals and a loose, churning feel.
Recorded in L.A. and Austin, "HCTNFU" features Will and Charlie Sexton
and often recalls "Let It Bleed"-era acoustic Stones, early Van
Morrison and The Band. I guarantee readers of this topic would dig this
album.

As for other contemporary artists, not previously mentioned, carrying
on the folk-rock tradition ... I was a big fan of Trip Shakespeare, a
Minneapolis, Minnesota-based '80s band led by
guitarist/singer-songwriter Dan Wilson, that was a quirky amalgam of
Buffalo Springfield folk/country/rock and Todd Rundgren-style pop. This
group morphed into Semisonic and has made several quietly endearing
albums (including 1998's "Feeling Strangely Fine" and 2001's "All About
Chemistry"). While not breaking any serious new ground, Semisonic
tangles old roots together into a style that sounds fresh and alive.

An original folk-rock warrior who still sounds fresh and alive is our
friend David Crosby <croz> and his work with CPR (Crosby Pevar Raymond)
-- most recently performing in an acoustic setting with Judy Collins
(gigs this weekend, 10/25, 26, 27 at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas). A
stunning combination that fuses rock, folk and jazz.

Richie ... I'm curious how you feel jazz, as a musical style,
influenced the evolution of folk-rock in the '60s?          

    
  

    
An obvious example of how jazz influenced folk-rock -- and probably
the most famous example -- is the title of my next book, "Eight Miles
High." The Byrds integrated the free jazz improvisations of John
Coltrane and the raga of Ravi Shankar into folk-rock to come up with a
classic song that in turn did much to pioneer psychedelic rock. The
John Coltrane influence is not conjecture. Roger McGuinn made a tape of
Shankar material and Coltrane's "Impressions" and "Africa/Brass"
albums, which the Byrds played, over and over, in their mobile home
during a lengthy tour prior to recording "Eight Miles High." You can
particularly hear the Coltrane influence in McGuinn's lengthy 12-string
guitar solos on that song (and an unreleased alternate version exists
in which his solo in the middle is almost twice as long as the
45-second instrumental break solo on the hit single version).

Interestingly, though, McGuinn told me he thinks of "Eight Miles High"
as a folk song. He went through, as he has many times but was glad and
patient enough to do again, how the lyrics tell a story, like many
folk songs do -- in this case, the story of the Byrds' first trip to
England. The harmonies in "Eight Miles High" are very folk-rooted too,
to my ears. The overlays of rock, jazz, and Indian influence made it
into a different kind of rock music, though.

The Byrds continued to put jazz influences into their music in 1966
and 1967 on various spots in their "Fifth Dimension," "Younger Than
Yesterday," and "Notorious Byrd Brothers" albums. This is not only
heard in McGuinn's guitar solos on songs like "I See You," but also on
David Crosby's "Everybody's Been Burned," which sounds like it could
almost be a jazz torch ballad in a somewhat different context,
decorated by more classic McGuinn jazz-influenced 12-string guitar
soloing.

As influences from jazz filtered into the Byrds to push them into
psychedelic rock, so did jazz influences get into other early
folk-rock-cum-psychedelic bands. As a couple of illustrations, Peter
Albin (who had played folk music before moving into rock) of Big
Brother & the Holding Company told me that Big Brother gave the band
members a chance "to do jazz-type things, but within our frame of
reference, blues and folk music and rock and roll. We would take a song
like 'Hall of the Mountain King,' which was classical music, and turn
it into kind of a jazz thing, with this extended [jam]. We did lots of
experimental-type music. We incorporated all sorts of different, weird
shit, from Moondog, Coltrane to John Cage to Betty Boop cartoons."
Though this doesn't plug into Peter's observation too much, it's also
interesting to note, as mentioned earlier in this topic, that Janis
Joplin had sung some Dixieland-style jazz with Dick Oxtot before moving
into rock with Big Brother, though she was really more a folk-blues
singer than a jazz singer in her pre-rock days.

Barry Melton of Country Joe & the Fish characterized psychedelic rock
to me as "a folk-rock idiom borrowing from jazz's ability to
incorporate improvisation. Folk musicians improvised anyway. The only
thing 'psychedelic' music did was, it jazz-ized folk music.
Musicologically speaking, it was logical at a time when Miles Davis and
Doc Watson existed on the same plane. You have a time when there's all
these elements coming together, because of the power of the media, and
the intermixing of people from different backgrounds."

In Britain, the Pentangle had a major jazz influence in their rhythm
section of bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Terry Cox. Some people,
including some members of the Pentangle, are even reluctant to consider
the group folk-rock at all, in part because of this jazz influence;
they're considered by some more to be folk-jazz than folk-rock. I did
include Pentangle in "Eight Miles High," in fact I gave them a good
deal of coverage, because even if they are on the margins of folk-rock
rather than a more indisputably central folk-rock fusion, they're very
good and original, and were often considered folk-rock by listeners and
critics of the era.

But even before folk-rock, folk musicians who would move into
folk-rock had some jazz influences. You hear it a little in Fred Neil's
phrasing and songwriting. You hear it a lot in Tim Hardin's early
music, particlarly some early 1964 demos (eventually released) on which
major jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton played. The Mamas & the Papas'
vocal arrangements had some jazz influence, which you can particularly
hear on the almost a cappella "Once Was a Time I Thought." Tim Buckley
was a big fan of jazz artists like Miles Davis, and jazz became a *big*
influence on his work in the late 1960s and early 1970s, not only in
his backup music but in his phrasing, which was influenced by
avant-garde jazz vocalists Leon Thomas and Cathy Berberian. There are
some almost Dixie-landish jazz touches to some of Judy Henske's early
records, though I don't think she was as good in the style as she was
in a straighter folk-blues-pop one. I've heard some unreleased David
Crosby material from circa 1962 and it has a blues-jazz color, perhaps
under the influence of his early friend Fred Neil.

Terry Callier, mentioned briefly earlier in one question, was thought
of as almost as a bridge between folk and jazz, and has gotten some
attention as a cult figure in recent years. I decided not to cover him
in my books as his early records had folk and jazz influences but not
rock to my ears, though he's worthy of a listen, and it seems likely he
influenced other people, such as Fred Neil and Richie Havens perhaps
(listeners just discovering Callier now sometimes say he reminds them
of Havens).

What all this helps illustrate, I think, is one of the points of the
two books: that folk-rock's great legacy is encouraging people to break
down barriers between *all* styles, not just folk and rock. So you
could bring in jazz, Indian, gospel, electronics, and more on top of a
folk-rock blend. And even before folk-rock, folk musicians really were
more open-minded than many traditionalists and purists supposed or
would have liked, and were listening to, appreciating, and even
integrating jazz influences. It's only in hindsight that we can make
this judgement, but now it seems natural that given such curiosity
about many kinds of music, folkies would eventually want to expand
their parameters into rock, pop, and more.
  

    
What about blues? Weren't the early-sixties blues guys like Paul 
Butterfield influential too?