Welcome to another edition of On That Note - A weekly music post brought to you by the triumvirate of @cyclones500, @CycloneRulzzz and myself.
One of the original ideas we had for the weekly posting was to focus on particular artists or themes and bring them to the table for discussion and interaction with you. Of course it's easier to do the theme posts and the responses are greater; in those cases we feel like our efforts are worth it. That being said, I will break from that this week and do an artist profile posting. And yes, it is too long. But he's worth is so please bear with me. TIA.
The subject is Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, and to a major extent, the group too. Those of us who are old enough to remember the mid/late 60's I'm sure DO venerate his contribution and talent and influence on popular music. I hoping a few younger folks will read this and it will serve to create a few more fans.
Roger was born James Joseph McGuinn III in Chicago in 1943. Like many of the 60's influencers he was a fan of the pioneers of rock and rockabilly - listening to Chicago's rock and roll stations at the time, WJJD and WIND on his portable transistor radio. He asked for his parents to purchase him a guitar and that set him on his way.
After attending a show, possibly an assembly at his school, he became interested in folk/roots music and enrolled at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, where he improved his skills on the guitar and also learned the 5 string banjo.
His musicianship allowed him to perform and tour with early folk acts including Judy Collins, The Chad Mitchell Trio and the Limeliters. He said he could not become an "official" singing member of the Chad Mitchell Trio since there were already 3 members. They were successful and not wanting to risk dropping "Trio" from their name. Here he is performing on Banjo and Guitar during his stint with the CMT in early 1962 on the Bell Telephone Hour. (Musical portion begins at approx 1:25). It's pretty long but offered more for historical reference than for listening pleasure. At least that's my intent...
Spotting his talent and wanting to branch into folk music, Bobby Darin hired him away from the CMT and finally he was allowed to sing. Later that association led to a short tenure at Darin's Brill Building writing/publishing company where McGuinn was told to listen to the hits of the day and write songs like them.
That resulted in a Capitol records release in the surf genre. Here's McGuinn telling the story, singing the song, and then a posting of the original recording.
.
A few months later the Beatles broke huge in the States. McGuinn was struck by their combining of folk chords and harmonies, with rock and roll playing. His folk purist buddies were not a fan when he started playing more traditional folk songs in the Beatles style. He soon migrated to the west coast and hanging around the Troubadour nightclub he eventual found a few other guys who shared his combined affinity for Beatles rhythms and folk themes and harmonies - First Gene Clark and then David Crosby - the trio perform briefly under the name "The Jet Set."
Drummer Michael Clarke was recruited to the group, basically because he looked the part - his blond-banged hair looked like Brian Jones. Crosby was friends with Jim Dickson who worked at World Pacific Studios where the group began to rehearse and coalesce their folk--rock sound. A single by the group recorded there was released under the British Invasion influenced name "The Beefeaters" in '64 but failed to chart.
A pre-release acetate of the Bob Dylan song Mr Tambourine Man fell into the possession of Dickson and the group. Initially unimpressed by it, nevertheless they began dissecting and reconstructing it, changing the time signature to a more traditional 4/4 and selecting only the coolest sounding versus to compact the song to a more commercially viable length. Eventually they saw the potential and even coaxed Dylan into the studio to hear their take. Dylan's enthusiastic response eliminated all doubt.
Country mandolin player Chris Hillman was soon recruited as the group's bass player and the initial lineup was set. Dickman called in his chips with Columbia Records and a contract was signed in November '64. The group name was changed from the Jet Set to the Byrds around Thanksgiving, with the name continuing the flying image established with the previous Jet Set name, while also incorporating the intentional misspelling as the Beatles had done.
In January McGuinn joined producer Terry Melcher (Son of Doris Day and eventual missed murder 'target' of the Manson Family) in the studio with the Wrecking Crew playing the other parts. Vocals were added to the instrumental track by McGuinn, Clark, and Crosby and the single was pressed. Released in April '65 Mr. Tambourine Man topped charts worldwide including both in the US and the UK. Meanwhile the rest of the group improved their playing and became a local sensation at Ciro's, gathering local press and praise from Hollywood's hip community. Session musicians were not used on the rest of the LP.
The LP was released in July. The musical style was dubbed folk-rock by the press and imitators soon followed.
Hits followed for several years
Turn, Turn, Turn
End, part 1 of 4
One of the original ideas we had for the weekly posting was to focus on particular artists or themes and bring them to the table for discussion and interaction with you. Of course it's easier to do the theme posts and the responses are greater; in those cases we feel like our efforts are worth it. That being said, I will break from that this week and do an artist profile posting. And yes, it is too long. But he's worth is so please bear with me. TIA.
The subject is Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, and to a major extent, the group too. Those of us who are old enough to remember the mid/late 60's I'm sure DO venerate his contribution and talent and influence on popular music. I hoping a few younger folks will read this and it will serve to create a few more fans.
Roger was born James Joseph McGuinn III in Chicago in 1943. Like many of the 60's influencers he was a fan of the pioneers of rock and rockabilly - listening to Chicago's rock and roll stations at the time, WJJD and WIND on his portable transistor radio. He asked for his parents to purchase him a guitar and that set him on his way.
After attending a show, possibly an assembly at his school, he became interested in folk/roots music and enrolled at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, where he improved his skills on the guitar and also learned the 5 string banjo.
His musicianship allowed him to perform and tour with early folk acts including Judy Collins, The Chad Mitchell Trio and the Limeliters. He said he could not become an "official" singing member of the Chad Mitchell Trio since there were already 3 members. They were successful and not wanting to risk dropping "Trio" from their name. Here he is performing on Banjo and Guitar during his stint with the CMT in early 1962 on the Bell Telephone Hour. (Musical portion begins at approx 1:25). It's pretty long but offered more for historical reference than for listening pleasure. At least that's my intent...
Spotting his talent and wanting to branch into folk music, Bobby Darin hired him away from the CMT and finally he was allowed to sing. Later that association led to a short tenure at Darin's Brill Building writing/publishing company where McGuinn was told to listen to the hits of the day and write songs like them.
That resulted in a Capitol records release in the surf genre. Here's McGuinn telling the story, singing the song, and then a posting of the original recording.
.
A few months later the Beatles broke huge in the States. McGuinn was struck by their combining of folk chords and harmonies, with rock and roll playing. His folk purist buddies were not a fan when he started playing more traditional folk songs in the Beatles style. He soon migrated to the west coast and hanging around the Troubadour nightclub he eventual found a few other guys who shared his combined affinity for Beatles rhythms and folk themes and harmonies - First Gene Clark and then David Crosby - the trio perform briefly under the name "The Jet Set."
Drummer Michael Clarke was recruited to the group, basically because he looked the part - his blond-banged hair looked like Brian Jones. Crosby was friends with Jim Dickson who worked at World Pacific Studios where the group began to rehearse and coalesce their folk--rock sound. A single by the group recorded there was released under the British Invasion influenced name "The Beefeaters" in '64 but failed to chart.
A pre-release acetate of the Bob Dylan song Mr Tambourine Man fell into the possession of Dickson and the group. Initially unimpressed by it, nevertheless they began dissecting and reconstructing it, changing the time signature to a more traditional 4/4 and selecting only the coolest sounding versus to compact the song to a more commercially viable length. Eventually they saw the potential and even coaxed Dylan into the studio to hear their take. Dylan's enthusiastic response eliminated all doubt.
Country mandolin player Chris Hillman was soon recruited as the group's bass player and the initial lineup was set. Dickman called in his chips with Columbia Records and a contract was signed in November '64. The group name was changed from the Jet Set to the Byrds around Thanksgiving, with the name continuing the flying image established with the previous Jet Set name, while also incorporating the intentional misspelling as the Beatles had done.
In January McGuinn joined producer Terry Melcher (Son of Doris Day and eventual missed murder 'target' of the Manson Family) in the studio with the Wrecking Crew playing the other parts. Vocals were added to the instrumental track by McGuinn, Clark, and Crosby and the single was pressed. Released in April '65 Mr. Tambourine Man topped charts worldwide including both in the US and the UK. Meanwhile the rest of the group improved their playing and became a local sensation at Ciro's, gathering local press and praise from Hollywood's hip community. Session musicians were not used on the rest of the LP.
The LP was released in July. The musical style was dubbed folk-rock by the press and imitators soon followed.
Hits followed for several years
Turn, Turn, Turn
End, part 1 of 4
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