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Cathy Wurzer

Dylan goes electric: Remembering the night that split the '60s

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Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most infamous moments in pop music history — the day Bob Dylan went electric. It was a performance at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island.

Dylan's acoustic, socially-conscious songs had made him a darling of the folk music crowd, but for this show, he decided to change things up. He put together a rock band that practiced briefly before playing a very short, very loud, set at the festival.

That performance and the reaction to it have become the stuff of legend. Author Elijah Wald's newest book, "Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the Night That Split the Sixties," takes a deeper look at the show and what it meant for the country at the time. He joined MPR News' Cathy Wurzer.