American folk music revival the UK, protesting the British testing of the H-bomb in 1958, as well as by the ever-proliferating arms race and the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War. Young singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, playing acoustic guitar and harmonica, had been signed and recorded for Columbia by producer John Hammond in 1961. Dylan's record enjoyed some popularity among Greenwich Village folk-music enthusiasts, but he was "discovered" by an immensely larger audience when a pop-folk-music group, Peter, Paul & Mary had a hit with a cover of his song "Blowin' in the Wind". Peter, Paul & Mary also brought Pete Seeger and the Weavers' "If I
The Myddle Class who just had just released a record on RCA Victor. In October, Goffin and King signed the Myddle Class to their new label, Tomorrow Records, to be distributed by Atlantic-Atco. Their first single "Free As The Wind," backed with a full-band rendition of Bob Dylan's "Gates of Eden", was released on Tomorrow in December 1965. "Free as the Wind" combined Goffin and King's commercial flair with garage-informed folk rock. "Billboard" reviewed "Free as the Wind" in its December 1965 issue stating, "New label, new group and new Goffin-King material has smash hit possibilities. Folk rocker is a powerhouse!" The song