‘Jingle Jangle Morning’ Documents the Explosion of US Folk Rock

Most songs on the three-CD anthology of American folk rock from the 1960s (Jingle Jangle Morning) are not surprising selections. As its title suggests, the collection includes the Byrds‘ “Mr. Tambourine Man” and other well-known hits by Simon and Garfunkel, the Lovin’ Spoonful, Bob Dylan, and Buffalo Springfield. These crisply recorded tracks offer a nice nostalgia trip down memory lane.

However, what makes this anthology more than just a retro blast from the past is the inclusion of relatively rare cuts by lesser-known bands (Mouse, Fapardokly, Blackburn & Snow) as somewhat unknown selections by popular acts including Big Brother and the Holding Company, Johnny Winter, and Jefferson Airplane. This mix of the familiar and the exotic keeps things interesting.

While one may find some of the more popular tracks cloying after being overplayed on oldies radio over the years (The Youngbloods’ “Get Together”, Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction”, Judy Collins‘ “Both Sides Now”), they provide a sonic glue that ties them to lesser known gems such as Steve Young’s “Seven Bridges Road”, Richie Havens’ “Handsome Johnny”, Tom Rush’s “Urge for Going”) not to mention the genuinely obscure, strange, and somewhat regal tunes (Stourbridge Lion’s “Watch Me Walk Away”, Lamb’s “The Ballad of Ehram Spickor”, and the Blue Things’ “Desert Wind”). The result may cause flashbacks for the old and insights for the young without the use of drugs.

It is doubtful that even the most ardent fans of the era would know each of these songs or artists. The anthology provides a deep dive into the genre, revealing the era’s prejudices. There is little representation of African Americans; less than 20 percent of the inclusions feature female artists. Much of the folk rock (and other popular music of the era) featured lone white male heroes singing about the need to be free from society’s strictures.

That said, their audiences perceived their music as progressive. Good examples of this would be Gordon Lightfoot’s “Black Day in July”, about the race riots in Detroit, or Dion‘s “Abraham, Martin & John”, about the assassination of political leaders. Both artists are much better known for their other, more mainstream material. Their contributions to 1960s folk rock show the informal connections between this genre and pop music.

Many factors contributed to folk rock exploding on the charts during this time, including the Civil Rights Movement, the war in Vietnam, the sexual revolution, the rise in the number of youths attending college, and the sheer number of baby boomers. The aggregation of songs collected here can be studied as artifacts that reveal the zeitgeist of “a generation in motion” (as Scott McKenzie’s “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear a Flower in Your Hair)” included on this anthology puts it.

However, this music was initially intended for entertainment and still succeeds as such. There was and is something compelling about combining folk and rock. When the words and the instrumentation matter and complement each other, the result is greater than the sum of their parts. Just imagine a time before this (say 1963) when the music of the Beatles like “Love Me Do” and Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” seemed to come from entirely different universes. Then, a little more than a year later, they were combined. It was revolutionary.

So whether one listens to these tracks to rediscover old memories or encounter new ones, the music still holds up. Although one could easily add more volumes to this compilation or companions (the British folk rock scene was also very vibrant), this anthology presents lots of marvelous music. It captures the time when it first materialized.

<!–

–>