For those that missed out, "Folk Rock" was a term that was coined in the 60's to describe the recordings made by coffee house style singer-songwriters that had rock-style drums , bass, and guitar.

The are two textbook examples. First, Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence" which was originally recorded and released with a simple acoustic guitar accompanimentSounds of Silence, original , and was then released as a single after drums, bass, and electric guitar leads were added by producer Tom Wilson Sounds of Silence ,Mono 45 . Second is The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man", which was recorded using the same musicians and studios that were used by Phil Spector and Brian
Wilson for many of their hits. Mr. Tambourine Man, 45


Though it might seem artificial and even crassly commercial to add rock drums and the rest to "folk" music, the fact was that the underlying pulse for a lot of 60's "folk" was really based on R&B and Everly Brothers style Rock and Roll.

Dylan himself said that even on his earliest acoustic recordings, he was always playing rock and roll, and if you go back and listen, the recordings really do have a driving rock sensibility to them, even When it's just Bob and his guitar. Mr. Tambourine Man

Back to Donovan: even his early recordings have very strong R&B and Jazz sensibilities that run counter to the "Minstrel Boy" image that he cultivated when he was first performing.