Roger McGuinn- thoughts?

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So I just got back from seeing Roger McGuinn solo tonight- fuckin' fantastic show! He played by himself and went from electric 12-string to a 7-string acoustic to banjo. His voice still sounds great and he had lots of great stories about the origins of his songs. He played blues songs from 1929, Clancy Brothers' stuff, some ridiculous surf song he wrote in 1963 for Bobby Darin, lots of Dylan (of course), Leadbelly, "Eight Miles High," "Feel a Whole Lot Better," "Chestnut Mare,"...too many to list.

I was a little worried about hearing some of these songs without all the harmonies and backing but he really pulled it off. He had the entire crowd in the palm of his hands. He's a very skillful guitarist.

Anyway, there is a Byrds thread but nothing on McGuinn. Anyone ever seen him live or have any thoughts?

― ColinO, Sunday, 25 March 2007 04:15 (nineteen years ago)

i've never seen him live, but i've seen lots of clips of his live show of the past 20 years or so. there' s something weirdly robotic about the dude, like he just came up with a routine one day and he's been stickin' with it ever since. former byrds have commented on his detatched/passive agressive manner, and i think the whole born-again thing made it worse. some of the early to mid seventies stuff that shows up on youtube shows a much "wilder" performer, but i assume he was all coked up or on speed or something. he was (and stills is?) a very gifted guitarist, and his voice, though limited in range, is actually quite moving in the right context.

― gershy, Sunday, 25 March 2007 07:54 (nineteen years ago)

Hmmm, that's a kind of intresting take. I've never seen any live clips and I'm really only familiar with some of the Byrds stuff. I got one of the CD's he was selling at the show (live solo stuff from Spain) and much of the banter and arrangements are the same as what I saw. Maybe he isn't somebody one would want to see perform multiple times.

Nonetheless, the show he has put together is really quite brilliant and convincing. He may have been doing it for a while but it came across to me as a testament to his formidable influence- he really made you believe the claims that he invented the idea of "folk music with a Beatle beat", regardless of whether it's true.

― ColinO, Sunday, 25 March 2007 13:50 (nineteen years ago)

I saw RM on TV on some oldies thing, and he did look somewhat closed in. Nonetheless, the guy invented not only a very cool guitar style, but he did probably create the whole post-Beatle folk-jangle thing. I have a ton of respect for him, because altho he might be a difficult guy, he really was an open-minded, experimental pop musician back then. And his Thunderbyrd record, with his take on Peter Frampton's "All Night Long," is fine indeed.

― whisperineddhurt, Sunday, 25 March 2007 14:53 (nineteen years ago)

five years pass...

i've been listening to a bunch of middle period byrds (5D, Younger Than Yesterday, Notorious) and can't help thinking that it's a shame McGuinn didn't record an album exploring his guitar hero side. dude is an INCREDIBLE guitar player. "why", "universal mind decoder" "eight miles high" etc. has he really played lead guitar on a record since the late 60s? [obviously i love the clarence white era of the band too, you can see why he might step aside lead guitar-wise at that point].

― tylerw, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 21:52 (fourteen years ago)

remember this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1hGd26Phec

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 21:56 (fourteen years ago)

The guitar solo in Change is Now is so transcendent.

― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 21:56 (fourteen years ago)

i think king of the hill was the first time i'd heard of mcguinn. i was monstrously into full moon fever as a 10 year old.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 22:01 (fourteen years ago)

& yeah, change is now/universal mind decoder, i just want them to be 40 minutes long or something.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 22:02 (fourteen years ago)

same w/ the guitar break in WHY too.
got me thinking -- what was the byrds' live set like during that period? I've only heard that stockholm 67 bootleg, and it is kind of a straightahead thing. are there 1967 tapes where the band is in super-psych mode?

― tylerw, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 22:05 (fourteen years ago)

McGuinn live is a super show.

Basically I could listen to his arpeggios all day.

― the pinefox, Thursday, 19 April 2012 07:57 (fourteen years ago)

two years pass...

Any love for the apocalyptic, synthesizer laced weirdness of "Time Cube"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfPdCSIHvxM

― the asterisk is the most sensitive part of the d*ck (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 2 July 2014 12:52 (eleven years ago)

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