5 Folk Rock Songs From the 60s That Everyone Should Know

If you’re not familiar with 60s folk rock, these classics serve as a perfect introduction. From The Byrds to Bob Dylan, here are some staples of the genre that everyone should know.

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“Turn! Turn! Turn!” by The Byrds

“Turn! Turn! Turn!” was released by the Limeliters before it became a smash hit for The Byrds in 1965. Pete Seeger, who also penned the famous “We Shall Overcome”, released a version as well. Interestingly enough, the lyrics of this song are pretty biblical, with many of the lines drawn from the book of Ecclesiastes.

“California Dreamin’” by The Mamas And The Papas

I could recognize the harmonies of “California Dreamin’” anywhere. In case you didn’t know, “California Dreamin’” was the first song Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks sang with Lindsey Buckingham when they met in high school. At a Young Life meeting was where the initial meeting happened.

“He was there and I was there and we sat down and played ‘California Dreamin’. I thought he was darling,” Nicks said in 1981.

“The Sounds of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel

No matter how many times you hear it, this song by Simon & Garfunkel never gets old. Even Paul Simon praised the song’s longevity in a 2023 interview with Howard Stern.

“Somehow that song has changed its meaning over the years. It’s different. That’s good luck for me that that happened, you know?” he said. “Most of what you wrote 30 or 40 years ago is dated — that song has something else.” 

“Like A Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan

This song became one of Dylan’s biggest hits. Ironically, it was also the song that kept him in the music business. In the mid-60s, Dylan didn’t like where his career was going. Dylan told Playboy that “Like A Rolling Stone” was a song he felt he could actually be excited about.

“It’s very tiring having other people tell you how much they dig you if you yourself don’t dig you,” he told the magazine.

“Leaving On A Jet Plane” by Peter, Paul And Mary

“Country Roads” singer John Denver actually wrote this one and released it himself. At the time, the song was titled “Babe I Hate To Go”. Peter, Paul And Mary got a No. 1 hit out of it a few years later.

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