Roger McGuinn - WikiHQ

James Roger McGuinn (; born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician, best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock 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 and Chris Hillman. The Rickenbacker 12-string guitar is his signature instrument.

Early life

McGuinn was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, son of James Joseph McGuinn Jr (b. 1909) and Dorothy Irene (b. 1911), daughter of engineer Louis Heyn. His parents worked in journalism and public relations, and during his childhood, they wrote a bestseller titled Parents Can't Win. He attended the Latin School of Chicago. He became interested in music after hearing Elvis 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 as Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent and the Everly Brothers.

In 1957, he enrolled as a student at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, where he learned the five-string banjo and 12-string guitar.

thumb|McGuinn reading [[KRLA Beat in mid-1965 while wearing his distinctive glasses]]

"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 explore jazz and blues scales up and down the fretboard, and incorporate more hammer-ons and pull-offs into my solos. I also translated some of my banjo picking techniques to the 12-string. By combining a flat pick with metal 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."

Another sound that McGuinn developed is made by playing a seven string guitar, featuring a doubled G-string (with the second string tuned an octave higher). The C. F. Martin guitar company released a guitar called the HD7 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.

thumb|Roger McGuinn at [[Holland Pop Festival|Kralingen (1970)]]

After Mr. Tambourine Man in 1965, "Turn! Turn! Turn!", written by Pete Seeger with the lyrics drawn from Ecclesiastes 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 film Easy 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 the Easy Rider soundtrack. 1970's Untitled 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.

In 1968, McGuinn helped create the groundbreaking album Sweetheart of the Rodeo, to which many attribute the rise in popularity of country rock. McGuinn originally conceived the album as a blend of rock, jazz, folk and other styles, but Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman's bluegrass-western-country influences came to the forefront.

thumb|McGuinn with the Byrds at a concert held at [[Washington University in St. Louis (September 1972)]]

Post-Byrds

upright|left|thumb|McGuinn performing in 2009

After the break-up of The Byrds, McGuinn released several solo albums throughout the 1970s. 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, after which McGuinn returned to touring solo.

In 1987, McGuinn was the opening act for Dylan and Tom Petty and he performed at Farm Aid.

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.

thumb|Roger McGuinn solo performing in [[Florence, South Carolina in 2024.]]

Folk Den

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 as Treasures 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.

Personal life

When McGuinn started with the Byrds, he used the name Jim, which he thought to be too plain. He became involved in the Subud spiritual association in 1965 and began to practice the latihan, an exercise in quieting the mind. He changed his name in 1967 upon advice from Subud's founder Bapak. 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 in signalling protocol over two-way radios, military and civil aviation.

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.

A registered member of the Republican Party, McGuinn donated $2,000 to the Ben Carson presidential campaign in 2015 and refused to endorse Donald Trump, noting "I don't like Trump." He also opposed Florida Amendment 1 (2016) (an initiative pertaining to the solar energy industry, of which McGuinn is a longtime advocate) and endorsed Florida Amendment 2 (2016) (a medical marijuana legalization initiative).

Discography

right|thumb|McGuinn performing in 2011

Solo

Studio albums

Roger McGuinn (1973) US #137
Peace on You (1974) US #92
Roger McGuinn & Band (1975) US#165
Cardiff Rose (1976)
Thunderbyrd (1977)
Back from Rio (1991) US #44
Limited Edition (2004)
CCD (2011)
Sweet Memories (2018)
Merry Christmas (2020)

With Folk Den Project

McGuinn's Folk Den, Volume 1 (MP3.com download and CD) (1999)
McGuinn's Folk Den, Volume 2 (MP3.com download and CD) (1999)
McGuinn's Folk Den, Volume 3 (MP3.com download and CD) (1999)
McGuinn's Folk Den, Volume 4 (MP3.com download and CD) (2000)
Treasures from the Folk Den (2001)
In the Spirit of Love (MP3.com download and CD) (2002)
The Sea: Songs by Roger McGuinn (MP3.com download and CD) (2003)
The Folk Den Project, 1995 - 2005 (4-CD set, 2005)
22 Timeless Tracks from the Folk Den Project (2008)
The Folk Den Project: Twentieth Anniversary Edition (4-CD set, 2016)

Live albums and compilations

Born to Rock and Roll (1991)
From The Rock'N Roll Palace Live (McGuinn and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) (1994)
Live from Mars (1996)
3 Byrds Land in London (with Gene Clark and Chris Hillman, recorded 1977) (1997)
Live at the XM Studios May 27, 2004 (download only) (2004)
Live from Spain (2007)
Stories, Songs, & Friends (2014)
Live at the Boarding House (with Clark, Hillman, and David Crosby, recorded 1978) (2014)
Live in New York: Eight Miles High (recorded 1974) (2015)
Turn Turn Turn (with Hillman, recorded 1980) (2015)
Bottom Line Archive Series: In Their Own Words (McGuinn and Pete Seeger, recorded 1994) (2015)
The Living Room Concert '76 (with Thunderbyrd, recorded 1976) (2015)
Electric Ladyland 1991 (recorded 1991) (2016)
Backstage Pass (with Clark and Hillman, recorded 1978) (2016)
Armadillo World Headquarters (with Clark and Hillman, recorded 1979) (2016)

Collaborations

McGuinn, Clark & Hillman (1979) (with Gene Clark and Chris Hillman)
City (1980) (with Chris Hillman, featuring Gene Clark)
McGuinn – Hillman (1981) (with Chris Hillman)

McGuinn contributes electric 12-string to one track ("Captain Video") on Skip Battin's 1972 self-titled solo album.

McGuinn appears on Willie Nile's 1991 Places I Have Never Been album. McGuinn also appears on the 1994 Arthur Alexander tribute album Adios 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 as Banjo Greats (Volumes 1 & 2), re-issued on CD by Tradition in 1996 as Banjo Jamboree. He has also performed the songs "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" and "Ballad of Easy Rider" which were included on the soundtrack of the film Easy Rider. Another soundtrack that features McGuinn is the 1977 film Ransom. McGuinn performed "Shoot 'Em" which appears on the anthology album Byrd 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 to Will Dailey's track "Peace of Mind" from Torrent, Volume 1: Fashion of Distraction.

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2"|Year

!rowspan="2"|Single

!colspan="3"|Chart positions

!rowspan="2"|Album

!width="50"|US MSR

!width="50"|US Country

!width="50"|CAN Country

|1989

|"You Ain't Going Nowhere" (w/ Chris Hillman)

|align=center|—

|align=center|6

|align=center|11

|Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album)

|rowspan=2|1991

|"King of the Hill"

|align=center|2

|align=center|—

|rowspan=2|Back from Rio

|"Someone to Love"

|align=center|12

|align=center|—

References

External links

Roger McGuinn on ibiblio
Roger McGuinn on BlogSpot