There was the period earlier of Forties that featured the Alamanc Singers. Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays, Bess Hawes, and others had a folk commune of sorts in the Village. Now they did really define a generation. Pete was a one-man PR for folk music and all the contemporary rock and rollers owe him.

Folkies were not considered weird in the Village. Early rockers were anathema to many stalwarts in the music industry in those days. Actually, quite a few folkies made it to the Hot 100. The Tarriers, Brothers Four, Limelighters (selling albums), Vince Martin, Harry Belafonte, and more.