ABSTRACT
In this chapter I wish to argue that, during the 1960s, the broad field of popular music was enriched by a variety of different styles and approaches by different performers. To a large extent I want to focus on the differences between acoustic and electric music, partly in terms of rapid technological developments (instruments, amplifiers and recording equipment), but also essentially in terms of musical genres and lyrical contents. The consideration of acoustic music will relate it partially to the waning influence of the rural in popular music in the twentieth century. I will suggest that the Woodstock festival was almost the last very public celebration of the rural within popular music and that it was also the last occasion on which acoustic performers shared a major public stage with electric acts on equal terms.
