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Rock ‘n roll critics and historians agree that Bob Dylan’s performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival is a “turning point” in music history.  By plugging into an electric sound, Dylan understood that music was changing–instead of resisting this change, he embraced it full-throttle, making him a rock star and the target of controversy from the folk scene.  Here’s are a few excerpts from deep thoughts about Dylan at Newport:

“The 16 minutes of music blasted out by Dylan on that summer night 37 years ago were to become, in the words of Dylan’s biographer, Clinton Heylin, “the most written about event in music history.”    And not without cause. Dylan’s clash with the milieu from which he had emerged was high drama, and more. The moment was culturally, politically and commercially resonant – a fulcrum of the American 60s.” –Mike Marquese, The Guardian, August 2, 2002

“Dylan famously — heretically — performed “Maggie’s Farm” at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, when the troubadour turned electric and never turned back” – Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, June 26, 2008

“The most notorious live performance in rock & roll lasted about fifteen minutes: three songs played at assaultive volume by a plugged-in blues band fronted by the young poet-king of American folk music, at the sacred annual congress of acoustic purists, the Newport Folk Festival. In that quarter-hour, on the warm Sunday evening of July 25th, 1965, at Freebody Park in Newport, Rhode Island, Bob Dylan, 24 — backed by the electric-Chicago charge of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band — declared his independence from the orthodoxy of the folk scene and publicly unveiled his rock & roll heart.” – “50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock n Roll”, Rolling Stone magazine, July 24, 2004

“When Dylan walked on stage at the Newport Folk festival clutching an electric guitar and backed by a full electric band, it was a pivotal point in the history of rock music. Previously known as a folk artist, this was Dylan rejecting his acoustic roots and opting for the amped up thrills of rock.”  --BBC, Seven Ages of Rock