# In 1965, Bob Dylan played a daring anthem at Newport Folk Festival. Pete Seeger wanted to pull the plug on it

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1965-bob-dylan-played-a-daring-anthem-at-newport-folk-festival-pete-seeger-wanted-to-pull-the-plug-on-it/
- Published: 2026-10-31T19:21:22+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-31T20:24:20+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/1965-bob-dylan-anthem-newport-folk-festival-pete-seger/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Dylan’s electric set at Newport in 1965 divided the folk audience.
- Seeger said the sound was distorted, not that Dylan went electric.
- His axe remark helped fuel a lasting myth.

## Summary

Bob Dylan’s 1965 Newport Folk Festival performance, where he played both acoustic and electric sets, became a defining moment in his move towards rock music. The electric set provoked boos and jeers from parts of the folk audience, reflecting a divide over whether folk musicians should embrace electric instruments.

A lasting story claimed that folk singer Pete Seeger, who had mentored Dylan, tried to cut the sound cables in anger. Seeger later explained that he objected to the distorted sound, which made Dylan’s song “Maggie’s Farm” hard to understand, and said he had threatened to cut the cable if he had an axe. His complaint was about the sound quality, not Dylan playing electric.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.