Description:
An Evening with Roger McGuinn begins with the stage dark and the sound of Roger’s 12-string Rickenbacker guitar filling the house as he approaches the standing microphone to sing his signature Bob Dylan song “My Back Pages.” He always begins his concerts with this song because he takes the audience on the journey through which his love of folk music took him to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jim McGuinn (he changed his name later to Roger) began playing guitar when he was 14 and left Chicago for his first professional job at 17. The Limeliters sent him an airplane ticket to Los Angeles to play guitar and banjo on their RCA album “Tonight in Person.” It was during that recording time that he joined them at the Hollywood Bowl opening up for Eartha Kit.” Chad Mitchell heard about McGuinn’s abilities and asked him to join his group, “The Chad Mitchell Trio” as the accompanist on guitar and banjo. He was 18 years old. He toured with the CMT for a year or so but when Bobby Darin saw him performing, he immediately offered McGuinn a job paying twice what he was making with Mitchell. Mr. Darin asked Jim to play his guitar and sing a 15 minute set of folk songs in the middle of his variety concert. When Bobby decided to take a break from performing live, he invited Jim to join him in New York city to work at the famed Brill Building as a songwriter for TM Music. It was a day job, so in the evenings Jim would work as a studio musician in the City. He became Judy Collins’ musical director, helped Paul Simon record the demo for “Sound of Silence” and was very active in the recording business as the “go to” guy for 12-string guitar. It was at the Brill Building that Jim first heard the most fascinating music come over the radio. The Beatles were using folk music chords with a rock beat. He was drawn to the idea and began singing ‘rocked up’ folk music in Greenwich Village coffee houses. The performances did not endear him to the folk singers of the time, but the club owner loved it. He put a sign outside advertising “Beatle Impersonations” … which McGuinn found embarrassing. He needed to get out of New York; so he accepted a job in Los Angeles at the Troubadour folk club, opening up for Hoyt Axton. Hoyt Axton was the first person to invite Jim to sing on a recording. He sang harmony on Hoyt’s “Balladeer” album. The folk audience didn’t appreciate the combination of folk songs and a Beatle Beat anymore than the folkies in Greenwich village but there was one musician that did. His name was Gene Clark. It was the beginning of a musical revolution. David Crosby, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke joined the duo and history was about to be made. The Byrds were born! Their first single was penned by Bob Dylan but when the group heard the demo, they weren’t too impressed. Jim had an idea on how to fix the folkie song. He had been an arranger in NYC, so adding a Bach type intro and a Beatle Beat took the song “Mr Tambourine Man” to the number one slot across the world.