Even before the Beatnik Riots of 1961, New York City’s Greenwich Village was the epicenter of revolutionary movements in American music and culture. But, in the early 1960s and throughout the decade, a new wave of writers and performers inspired by the folk music revival of the 1950s created socially aware and deeply personal songs that spoke to a generation like never before. These writers-Bob Dylan, Richard Farina, Janis Ian, and Phil Ochs, to name a few-changed the folk repertoire from traditional songs to songs sprung from personal, contemporary experiences and the nation’s headlines, raising the level of political self-expression to high art. Message and music merged and mirrored society.

In Music + Revolution: Greenwich Village in the 1960s, Richard Barone tells this freewheelin’ historical narrative, peppered with personal stories and insights from those who were there, celebrating the lasting legacy of this pivotal decade with stories behind songs that resonate just as strongly today.