The New York Times - Janet Maslin
The story of [Dylan's] 1965 assault on Newport is very well known. Its effects have been contemplated ad nauseam…So the idea of a book to commemorate this geezer milestone seems unnecessary, to put it kindly. But what a surprise Dylan Goes Electric! turns out to be. This splendid, colorful work of musicology and cultural history is written by Elijah Wald, whose broad range of other books…allows him to approach Newport with a broad base of knowledge…Mr. Wald is a superb analyst of the events he describes. And his analyses fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Even his introduction includes enough startling context to indicate Dylan Goes Electric! will be seeing the old story with new eyes…it's the agility of Mr. Wald's thinking and his willingness to treat a long-ossified event as living history that give Dylan Goes Electric! its bite.
From the Publisher
Provides a deeply researched and entertaining chronicle of the culture clash that Dylan sparked from the Newport stage.” — David Remnick, The New Yorker
“It is a great work of scholarship, brimming with insight – among the best music books I have ever read.” — The Guardian
“Wald contextualizes the deeply divisive event in illuminating detail . . . a major contribution to modern musical history.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Wald is a superb analyst of the events he describes. And his analyses fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Even his introduction includes enough startling context to indicate ‘Dylan Goes Electric!’ will be seeing the old story with new eyes.” — Janet Maslin, New York Times
“Wald’s personal knowledge seems encyclopedic . . . An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Anyone interested in Dylan, folk music, or rock and roll will adore this volume. It might not resolve the questions of what really happened in Newport in 1965, but it comes very close.” — Library Journal
“In this tour de force, Elijah Wald complicates the stick-figure myth of generational succession at Newport by doing justice to what he rightly calls Bob Dylan’s ‘declaration of independence’ . . . This is one of the very best accounts I’ve read of musicians fighting for their honor.” — Todd Gitlin, author of The Sixties and Occupy Nation
“What Wald reveals about that most mystified of singer-songwriters and the folk and rock worlds that then surrounded and elevated him changed my own view of a moment I thought I had all figured out-and of the songwriterly 1960s as a whole.” — Ann Powers, author of Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America and, with the artist, Tori Amos: Piece by Piece
“Devastatingly smart analysis . . . Wald is a remarkably sharp and graceful writer, capable of drawing extraordinary connections between artists, genres, and cultural moments. There’s simply no one better when it comes to unpacking not just the mechanics of American music, but the mythology of American music.” — Amanda Petrusich, author of Do Not Sell At Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World's Rarest 78rpm Records
“Elijah Wald’s book reflects the many directions in which America’s music scene evolved in those extraordinary years, 1963-1970-I can’t recommend it enough.” — George Wein, Founder of the Newport Folk Festival
“Concise and entertaining . . . a great story, masterfully told, of how the times were, indeed, a-changin’-and why.” — Ed Ward, rock and roll historian for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross and author of Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero
“Easily the definitive account of Newport ‘65.” — CounterPunch Magazine
“There is no shortage of books about Bob Dylan . . . but Elijah Wald’s heavily researched book manages to offer new information and unique insight into the social context of this controversial moment in music history.” — Buzzfeed
Ann Powers
What Wald reveals about that most mystified of singer-songwriters and the folk and rock worlds that then surrounded and elevated him changed my own view of a moment I thought I had all figured out-and of the songwriterly 1960s as a whole.
Amanda Petrusich
Devastatingly smart analysis . . . Wald is a remarkably sharp and graceful writer, capable of drawing extraordinary connections between artists, genres, and cultural moments. There’s simply no one better when it comes to unpacking not just the mechanics of American music, but the mythology of American music.
David Remnick
Provides a deeply researched and entertaining chronicle of the culture clash that Dylan sparked from the Newport stage.
Booklist (starred review)
Wald contextualizes the deeply divisive event in illuminating detail . . . a major contribution to modern musical history.
Janet Maslin
Wald is a superb analyst of the events he describes. And his analyses fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Even his introduction includes enough startling context to indicate ‘Dylan Goes Electric!’ will be seeing the old story with new eyes.
The Guardian
It is a great work of scholarship, brimming with insight – among the best music books I have ever read.
Todd Gitlin
In this tour de force, Elijah Wald complicates the stick-figure myth of generational succession at Newport by doing justice to what he rightly calls Bob Dylan’s ‘declaration of independence’ . . . This is one of the very best accounts I’ve read of musicians fighting for their honor.
George Wein
Elijah Wald’s book reflects the many directions in which America’s music scene evolved in those extraordinary years, 1963-1970-I can’t recommend it enough.
Buzzfeed
There is no shortage of books about Bob Dylan . . . but Elijah Wald’s heavily researched book manages to offer new information and unique insight into the social context of this controversial moment in music history.
Ed Ward
Concise and entertaining . . . a great story, masterfully told, of how the times were, indeed, a-changin’-and why.
CounterPunch Magazine
Easily the definitive account of Newport ‘65.
From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY
"Wald contextualizes the deeply divisive event in illuminating detail . . . a major contribution to modern musical history." —Booklist Starred Review
Library Journal
07/01/2015
The night that folksinger Bob Dylan (b. 1941) "went electric" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival is a pivotal moment in 20th-century American music history. While much has been written about the event (e.g., Andrew Grant Jackson's 1965), this book places Newport in the context of the seismic shift that happened in popular music in the 1960s. Wald (How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll) devotes the first 200 pages to the musical strands that led up to Newport with an emphasis on musician/activist Pete Seeger's career and the folk revival of the late 1950s. He discusses Dylan's early influences and writes engagingly about the folk scene in Greenwich Village in which the musician thrived. By 1965 Dylan was on the verge of becoming a rock star and that did not sit well with the folk purists at Newport. Wald, whose impressive research draws heavily on interviews with other musicians as well as many attendees, provides an encyclopedic account of the festivals in which Dylan participated and gives almost equal attention to the other performers. VERDICT Anyone interested in Dylan, folk music, or rock and roll will adore this volume. It might not resolve the questions of what really happened in Newport in 1965, but it comes very close.—Thomas Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, PA
Kirkus Reviews
2015-05-16
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock. The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that's Dylan's character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book. An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one's personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.
