McGuinn: The Solo Years 1991-1997

BYRDWATCHER: A Field Guide to the Byrds of Los Angeles

ROGER McGUINN
The Solo Years: 1991-1997

Roger McGuinn Discography

Roger McGuinn Bibliography

Copyright © 1997 George Felton

McGuinn graciously poses for a picture after his show at Wilbert's, Cleveland, Ohio, July 22, 1997.

Kennedy Center salute:

Sadly, in the conservative climate immediately after the 1994 election, this seemingly innocuous tribute caused a minor political flap for Bill Clinton. Conservative pundits like Pat Buchanan gleefully took the President to task for saluting Seeger, whom they described as "an unrepentant apologist for Josef Stalin." Apparently 1994 was a time for red-baiting, but not for research -- Seeger has in fact expressed regret for not breaking with Stalin.

The salute followed closely on the heels of the 1994 election; the ambiguous lyrics of "Turn! Turn! Turn!" took on a bittersweet poignancy as they marked what many believed was the end of institutionalized liberalism. Seeger seemed to recognize that the beliefs he fought for would not likely be in the ascendancy again during his own lifetime. Perhaps he took some comfort from the promise of those same lyrics that the dominant views of that day would not prevail forever.

Still, the highlight of the evening was not McGuinn's performance, or Joan Baez's rendition of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone." Rather, it was when all the singers concluded with a rousing version of "This Land Is Your Land" and Arlo Guthrie altered the lyrics to include a swipe at Proposition 187, the anti-immigrant ballot issue that had just passed in California. Seeger clapped and laughed with delight, and Mrs. Clinton laughed with him.

This moment would have been the perfect ending for the evening, but the organizers of the program apparently agreed with critics of the administration that it was a time "to refrain from embracing." Rather than close with "This Land Is Your Land," the last number in their last tribute, they deemed it wise to end the show with a gratuitous version of "America the Beautiful."

To read about McGuinn's adventures between McGuinn, Clark & Hillman and Back to Rio, see Roger McGuinn, the Solo Years: 1981-1991.

Back from Rio

Having achieved a sense of closure on the past with the Rock Hall ceremony and the release of the Boxed Set, McGuinn launched the next phase of his career with Back from Rio (Arista, 1991), his first solo album in 14 years and easily his best post-Byrds work. For the first time on any album since leaving the Byrds, McGuinn sounded comfortable with his history: Hillman and Crosby appear on three tracks, and McGuinn's trademark Rickenbacker sound is featured prominently. McGuinn's musical legacy is represented by a host of guest stars, including (in rough chronological order) Timothy B. Schmit, Tom Petty and several of the Heartbreakers, Elvis Costello, Stan Ridgway, John Jorgenson and Michael Penn.

McGuinn co-wrote nine of the album's eleven tracks. Three songs were composed with his wife Camilla: the mid-tempo opener "Someone to Love"; the ballad "Without Your Love," featuring creamy harmonies from Crosby and Hillman; and "The Trees Are All Gone," a warning of environmental disaster (with lyrics about government complicity nearly as blunt as the comments that got Crosby in trouble at Monterey) and a tough arrangement by Tom Petty.

Petty also co-wrote and sang on the album's single, "King of the Hill," which remains a part of McGuinn's live set to this day and reappears on Live from Mars. McGuinn, Petty, and fellow Wilbury/ex-Electric Light Orchestrator Jeff Lynne get co-writing credit for the brief "Back from Rio Interlude," an intriguing snippet from a discarded title song, again featuring Crosby and Hillman. Heartbreaker Mike Campbell co-wrote the snarling rocker "Car Phone," which features a couple snatches of McGuinn's patented "Eight Miles High"-style guitar and a funny car phone conversation between Ridgway and Kimmy Robinson of Twin Peaks. Ex-Eurythmic Dave Stewart (like Lynne, a former Petty producer) and McGuinn co-wrote the pseudo-psychedelic "Your Love Is A Goldmine."

McGuinn co-wrote another pair of songs with one Scott Cutler: "Suddenly Blue" and "The Time Has Come," both songs about lost love, the former highlighted by backing vocals by Crosby, Hillman, and Penn. Fleshing out the album are two terrific covers, "You Bowed Down" by Elvis Costello (to which Costello also contributes backing vocals) and "If We Never Meet Again" by Jules Shear. Although the album fell between the cracks of 1991's rigidly formatted radio, it nevertheless did comparatively well on the charts, peaking at #44.

Three Tributes

Unfortunately, despite a respectable showing on the charts for Rio, McGuinn was once again without a label by the mid '90s. But three special appearances in the next few years demonstrate that McGuinn was keeping active and thinking about the sources of the Byrds' music.

In 1993, McGuinn took part in a gala celebration of Bob Dylan's 30th anniversary. In August, Columbia released a 2CD set with highlights from the event. Among these was McGuinn's rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man." McGuinn also took part on the all-star finale jam on "My Back Pages," along with Dylan, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison.

Early in 1994, McGuinn appeared on the compilation, Adios Amigo: A Tribute to Arthur Alexander (Razor & Tie, 1994), singing "Anna (Go To Him)," a song covered on the first Beatles LP, Please Please Me (Capitol, 1963). His version of the song (one of John Lennon's favorites) is sensitive, and notable as his first attempt at soul music since "You Don't Miss Your Water" on Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

As the year drew to a close, McGuinn appeared as part of a Kennedy Center salute to Pete Seeger. Seeger was visibly moved as McGuinn sang "Turn! Turn! Turn!" -- just then enjoying a resurgence in popularity, thanks to its use in the soundtrack to Forrest Gump (1994) -- for an audience that included First Lady Hillary Clinton, Vice-President Al Gore, and the Gore family. As McGuinn sang, he reclaimed the song from Gump, VH-1 and fusty oldies radio, and offered it back to Seeger. It was a fitting tribute to one of McGuinn's greatest influences.

The Folk Den

Always one to explore new gadgets, McGuinn was an early adopter of the Internet, with a Compuserve account dating back into the mid '80s. In the early '90s, McGuinn began to take part in discussions on Usenet groups such as alt.music.byrds and rec.music.dylan. Before long, he had composed his own FAQ, and then set up Roger McGuinn's Byrds Homepage, with help from fan Kenton Adler. As the capabilities of the Internet improved, McGuinn created The Folk Den (also available at the above site). There he posted audio files made from home tapes of public domain material. Some of these tapes date from before the Byrds, though most are more recent. McGuinn also subscribes to Richard Russell's Byrdmaniax mailing list and regularly answers questions there. (To subscribe, send e-mail to rrussell@q-net.net with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.) More recently, McGuinn has launched his own domain name, mcguinn.com. There you'll find a page with information about his most recent release, Live from Mars.

Live from Mars

In November '96, McGuinn released a project he'd been planning for several years. It was a wonderful live album capturing the career retrospective he had developed during the late '80s, including the informative song introductions. As a special treat, two bonus studio tracks were included, recorded with Gary Louris and Marc Perlman of the Jayhawks. "Fireworks" and "May the Road Rise" were both co-written by Camilla McGuinn and feature attractive melodies. The accompaniment is sympathetic, as one would expect from a band whose love for the Byrds is obvious in almost every track of their own albums.

Live from Mars proves that McGuinn is at peace with his past, willing to tell his story to others, happy to work with those whom he influenced, but also eager to share his more recent efforts. We can only hope we don't have to wait another five years before his next album.

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This page was last revised on August 15, 1997.

ROGER McGUINN The Solo Years: 1991-1997

ROGER McGUINN
The Solo Years: 1991-1997