Did the Beatles and Dylan short-circuit the Folk Revival? Definitely not, in fact they quite possibly prolonged its life through the late 60s when so many trad forms began to be hybridized(bastardized?) into the Hippie-dominated music of that era.

I loved the KT's popular single, Tom Dooley, as did most of the other kids my age (about 9 at the time). But that folk style became something associated with the College Kids of the late 50s, early 60s, and was completely irrelevant to me as I came into my teen years. The Trio with their flat-top haircuts and button-down collars couldn't have been more square in 1965. Dylan ( along with Ochs, Donovan, and others) made Folk hip, and people like the Byrds who mixed songs like Mr Tambourine Band with traddies like John Riley and Wild Mountain Thyme made me realize that the good folk stuff transcended the stuffed-shirts like the KTrio.

Having said that, I think the Trio did succeed at crossing over the Folk Music of the time by merging it with the kind of Pop Sound that made it palatable to a broad audience in the 50s. The fact that they couldn't see the 60s coming is forgiveable...after all, who did?