Every once in a while I read in one thread or another a statement about who killed folk music. It seems like folks are about equally split between Dylan and the Beatles. I just have a few questions.

First of all, who says folk music is dead? Perhaps it died and I didn't notice? If it's dead, who are we?

What do you mean, dead? No more top 40 folk songs? No more Puff The Magic Dragon, Michael Row The Boat Ashore or the Ballad of Charlie and the M.T.A? When folk music stopped being played on a.m. stations, did it die?

Or maybe people mean that traditional music on the coffee house circuit is dead. That's a little closer to the truth, although even pre-Dylan there was a lot of music being played that wasn't traditional, and there are still places where traditional folk music is welcomed today.

And how did the Beatles kill folk music? By being more popular? Getting the women? If the Beatles hadn't come along, would folk music still rule the airwaves?

Just wondering...

Jerry