Roger McGuinn | |
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 McGuinn in 1976 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Roger McGuin James Roger McGuinn Jim McGuinn |
| Born | James Joseph McGuinn III (1942-07-13)July 13, 1942 (age 83) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1960–present |
| Labels | Columbia |
| Formerly of | The Byrds |
| Website | ibiblio |
James Roger McGuinn (/məˈɡwɪn/; bornJames Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942)[1] is an American musician, best known for being the frontman and leader ofthe Byrds. He was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the band. As a solo artist, he has released 10 albums and collaborated with, among others,Bob Dylan,Tom Petty andChris Hillman. TheRickenbacker 12-string guitar is his signature instrument.[2]
McGuinn was born and raised inChicago, Illinois,[3] son of James Joseph McGuinn Jr (b. 1909) and Dorothy Irene (b. 1911), daughter of engineer Louis Heyn.[4][5] His parents worked in journalism and public relations, and during his childhood, they wrote a bestseller titledParents Can't Win. He attendedthe Latin School of Chicago. He became interested in music after hearingElvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" (a song that he frequently covers as a part of his autobiographical live shows), and asked his parents to buy a guitar for him. Around the same time, he was also influenced by artists and/or groups such asJohnny Cash,Carl Perkins,Gene Vincent andthe Everly Brothers.
In 1957, he enrolled as a student at Chicago'sOld Town School of Folk Music,[6] where he learned the five-stringbanjo and 12-string guitar.[2] After graduation, McGuinn performed solo at variouscoffeehouses on thefolk music circuit where he was hired as asideman bythe Limeliters,the Chad Mitchell Trio, andJudy Collins and other folk music artists in the same vein. In 1962, after he ended his association with the Chad Mitchell Trio, McGuinn was hired byBobby Darin as a backup guitarist and harmony singer. Darin wanted to add a folk roots element to his repertoire because it was a burgeoning musical field. Darin opened T.M. Music inNew York City'sBrill Building, hiring McGuinn as a songwriter for $35 a week. About a year and a half later, Darin became ill and retired from singing.
During 1963, just one year before he co-founded the Byrds in Los Angeles, McGuinn was working as astudio musician in New York, recording with Judy Collins andSimon & Garfunkel. At the same time, he was hearing aboutthe Beatles (whose first American appearances would come in February 1964) and wondering howBeatlemania might affect folk music. When McGuinn saw George Harrison play a 12-string Rickenbacker in the filmA Hard Days Night, it inspired him to buy the same instrument.[2]
By the timeDoug Weston gave him a job atThe Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles, McGuinn had begun to include Beatles' songs in his act. He gave rock style treatments to traditional folk tunes and thereby caught the attention of another folkie Beatles fan,Gene Clark, who joined forces with McGuinn in July 1964. Together they formed the beginning of what was to become the Byrds.[6]
During his time with the Byrds, McGuinn developed two innovative and very influential styles of electric guitar playing. The first was "jingle-jangle", ringingarpeggios based onbanjofinger picking styles he learned while at the Old Town School of Folk Music, which was influential in thefolk rock genre. The second style was a merging of saxophonistJohn Coltrane's free-jazz atonalities, which hinted at the droning of thesitar, a style of playing first heard on the Byrds' 1966 single "Eight Miles High" and influential inpsychedelic rock.
While "tracking" the Byrds' first single, "Mr. Tambourine Man", atColumbia studios, McGuinn discovered an important component of his style. "The 'Ric' [12-string Rickenbacker guitar] by itself is kind of thuddy," he noted. "It doesn't ring. But if you add acompressor, you get that longsustain. To be honest, I found this by accident. Theengineer, Ray Gerhardt, would run compressors on everything to protect his precious equipment from loud rock and roll. He compressed the heck out of my12-string, and it sounded so great we decided to use twotube compressors (likelyTeletronix LA-2As) in series, and then go directly into theboard. That's how I got my 'jingle-jangle' tone. It's really squashed down, but it jumps out from the radio. With compression, I found I could hold a note for three or four seconds, and sound more like a wind instrument. Later, this led me to emulate John Coltrane's saxophone on "Eight Miles High". Without compression, I couldn't have sustained the riff's first note."[7]
"I practiced eight hours a day on that 'Ric,'" he continues, "I really worked it. In those days,acoustic 12s had wide necks and thick strings that were spaced pretty far apart, so they were hard to play. But the Rick's slim neck and low action let me explorejazz andblues scales up and down thefretboard, and incorporate morehammer-ons andpull-offs into my solos. I also translated some of my banjo picking techniques to the 12-string. By combining aflat pick withmetal finger picks on my middle and ring fingers, I discovered I could instantly switch from fast single-note runs to banjo rolls and get the best of both worlds."[8]
Another sound that McGuinn developed is made by playing aseven string guitar, featuring a doubled G-string (with the second string tuned an octave higher). TheC. F. Martin guitar company released a guitar called theHD7 Roger McGuinn Signature Edition that claims to capture McGuinn's "jingle-jangle" tone, which he created with 12-string guitars, while maintaining the ease of playing a 6-string guitar.
AfterMr. Tambourine Man in 1965, "Turn! Turn! Turn!", written byPete Seeger with the lyrics drawn fromEcclesiastes in the Old Testament, was the Byrds' second Number One success in late 1965. In 1966, “Eight Miles High” peaked at no. 14 on the U.S. charts, achieving enduring classic status, even though the song was subject to a U.S. radio ban due to its alleged reference to recreational drug use. 1967 found the Byrds sliding still further in the charts, with “So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star” which peaked at no. 29. “My Back Pages”, another Bob Dylan cover, was released later the same year and was to be their last top 40 hit. In 1969, McGuinn's solo version of the "Ballad of Easy Rider" appeared in the filmEasy Rider, while a full-band version was the title track for the album released later that year. McGuinn also performed a cover of Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" for theEasy Rider soundtrack. 1970'sUntitled album featured a 16-minute version of the Byrds' 1966 hit "Eight Miles High", with all four members taking extended solos representative of the "jam-band" style of playing popular during that period.[9]
In 1968, McGuinn helped create the groundbreaking albumSweetheart of the Rodeo, to which many attribute the rise in popularity ofcountry rock. McGuinn originally conceived the album as a blend of rock, jazz, folk and other styles, butGram Parsons andChris Hillman's bluegrass-western-country influences came to the forefront.
After the break-up of The Byrds, McGuinn released several solo albums throughout the 1970s.[3] In 1973 he collaborated with Bob Dylan on songs for the sound track of theSam Peckinpah moviePat Garrett and Billy the Kid including "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". He toured withBob Dylan in 1975 and 1976 as part of Dylan'sRolling Thunder Revue, cancelling a planned tour of his own in order to participate.[2] In late 1975, he played guitar on the track titled "Ride the Water" onBo Diddley'sThe 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll all-star album. In 1976, he released the albumCardiff Rose where he worked with Mick Ronson.[2]
In 1977, he released an LP titledThunderbyrd, which was also the name of his contemporaneous band. Other members included futureJohn Mayall & the Bluesbreakers andFleetwood Mac guitaristRick Vito, futurePoco bassist Charlie Harrison and drummer Greg Thomas.
In 1977, McGuinn joined fellow ex-Byrds Gene Clark and Chris Hillman to formMcGuinn, Clark & Hillman. The trio recorded an album withCapitol Records in 1979. They performed on many TV rock shows, including repeated performances onThe Midnight Special, where they played both new material and Byrds hits. McGuinn's "Don't You Write Her Off" reached No. 33 in April 1979. While some believe that the slick production and disco rhythms didn't flatter the group, it sold well enough to generate a follow-up. McGuinn, Clark and Hillman's second release was to have been a full group effort entitled "City", but Clark's unreliability and drug problems resulted in the billing change on their next LPCity to "Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, featuring Gene Clark".
Since 1981, McGuinn has regularly toured (primarily playing clubs and small theaters) as a solo singer-guitarist.[10] In 2018 he embarked on a tour with Chris Hillman, a fellow original Byrd, backed by Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Byrds'Sweetheart of the Rodeo album,[11] after which McGuinn returned to touring solo.[12]
In 1987, McGuinn was theopening act for Dylan andTom Petty and he performed atFarm Aid.[2]
In 1991 he took part in the Guitar Legends concerts in Seville, Spain as part of the Expo '92 Seville.
After a decade without a recording contract, he released his comeback solo album,Back from Rio in 1991.[2] It included the hit single "King of the Hill", written together with, and featuring, Petty. He returned with a live band featuringJohn Jorgenson, George Hawkins andStan Lynch.[2]In 1992 McGuinn performed at the 30th Anniversary Concert for Bob Dylan with George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Tom Petty, G.E.Smith, and others.On July 11, 2000, McGuinn testified before aSenate Judiciary Committee hearing that downloading music from the Internet causes artists to not always receive the royalties that (non-Internet based) record companies state in contracts and that, to date, the Byrds had not received any royalties for their greatest successes, "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn, Turn, Turn"; they only received advances, which were split five ways and were just "a few thousand dollars" per band member. He also stated that he was receiving 50 percent royalties fromMP3.com.[13]
He was also part of an author/musician band,Rock Bottom Remainders, a group of published writers doubling as musicians to raise proceeds for literacy charities. In July 2013, McGuinn co-authored an interactive ebook,Hard Listening, with the rest of the group.[14]
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Roger McGuinn has used the Internet to continue the folk music tradition since November 1995 by recording a different folk song each month on his Folk Den site. The songs are made available from his Web site, and a selection (with guest vocalists) was released on CD asTreasures from the Folk Den, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2002 for Best Traditional Folk Album. In November 2005, McGuinn released a four-CD box set containing one hundred of his favorite songs from the Folk Den.[15]
When McGuinn started with the Byrds, he used the name Jim, which he thought to be too plain. He became involved in theSubud spiritual association in 1965 and began to practice thelatihan, an exercise in quieting the mind. He changed his name in 1967[16] upon advice from Subud's founderBapak. Telling McGuinn that it would better "vibrate with the universe", Bapak sent the letter "R" to Jim and asked him to send back ten names starting with that letter. Owing to a fascination with airplanes, gadgets and science fiction, he sent names like "Rocket", "Retro", "Ramjet", and "Roger", the last a term used insignalling protocol over two-way radios, military andcivil aviation.[2] Roger was the only "real" name in the bunch, and Bapak chose it. McGuinn officially changed his middle name from Joseph to Roger and has used the name Roger professionally from that time on.
McGuinn married Susan Bedrick in 1963; however, the marriage was subsequently annulled. From December 1966 to November 1971, he was married to Dolores DeLeon. A fellow adherent of Subud, DeLeon changed her name to Ianthe in 1967 but reverted to her original name after the dissolution of their marriage. With DeLeon, McGuinn fathered two sons, filmmaker Patrick McGuinn and Henry McGuinn. Immediately following their divorce, McGuinn married a third time, to Linda Gilbert in November 1971; this marriage also ended in divorce in June 1975.[17]
McGuinn left Subud in 1977, the same year that he met his fourth and current wife and business manager, Camilla; they married in April 1978.[2] Since that time, the McGuinns have practicedevangelical Christianity.[18][19]
A registered member of theRepublican Party, McGuinn donated $2,000 to theBen Carsonpresidential campaign in 2015 and refused to endorseDonald Trump, noting "I don't like Trump."[20][21][22] He also opposedFlorida Amendment 1 (2016) (an initiative pertaining to thesolar energy industry, of which McGuinn is a longtime advocate) and endorsedFlorida Amendment 2 (2016) (amedical marijuana legalization initiative).[23]
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McGuinn contributes electric 12-string to one track ("Captain Video") onSkip Battin's 1972 self-titled solo album.McGuinn appears onWillie Nile's 1991Places I Have Never Been album. McGuinn also appears on the 1994Arthur Alexandertribute albumAdios Amigo: A Tribute to Arthur Alexander, performing a cover version of "Anna (Go to Him)". He contributed two tracks, "Banjo Cantata" and "Ramblin' On", to a compilation of banjo pieces released by Davon asBanjo Greats (Volumes 1 & 2), re-issued on CD by Tradition in 1996 asBanjo Jamboree. He has also performed the songs "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" and "Ballad of Easy Rider" which were included on thesoundtrack of the filmEasy Rider. Another soundtrack that features McGuinn is the 1977 filmRansom. McGuinn performed "Shoot 'Em" which appears on the anthology albumByrd Parts 2, released on Australia's Raven Records label in 2003. McGuinn also appears with Bruce Springsteen on the live download "Magic Tour Highlights (Live)" singing "Turn! Turn! Turn!" He also did guitar work in The Beach Boys' version of "California Dreaming" video. McGuinn contributed 12 string electric and harmonies toWill Dailey's track "Peace of Mind" fromTorrent, Volume 1: Fashion of Distraction.
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US MSR | US Country | CAN Country | |||
| 1989 | "You Ain't Going Nowhere" (w/Chris Hillman) | — | 6 | 11 | Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album) |
| 1991 | "King of the Hill" | 2 | — | — | Back from Rio |
| "Someone to Love" | 12 | — | — | ||
