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St James Infirmary was the first of the plugs for the “Limited Edition CD” which would be on sale afterwards (£20 with autograph). McGuinn avoids singalongs, but elicits several clap-a-longs, which this one was. The themes start just about where I got interested myself, with the Easy Rider soundtrack, linked to Sweetheart of The Rodeo and Dr Byrds and Mr Hyde for Drug Store Truck Driving Man. McGuinn had been playing acoustic 12 string for years before that, and when The Byrds got their advance for equipment, he saw George Harrison with a 12 string Rickenbacker in A Hard Days Night, and bought one. When I saw The Searchers recently, they played Mr Tambourine Man, and said they had inspired its twelve string sound. He tells a lot of stories, which is why the show would benefit from a more intimate, club-like space. He also tells us the story of this unusual 7-string model, which he had commissioned with just the G string doubled like a twelve string. He alternates between the Rickenbacker and his Martin HD7 acoustic. He begins standing with 12 string electric Rickenbacker doing My Back Pages, then sits. Inevitably, The Byrds greatest hits remain, and he still closes with his sublime version of the old Irish blessing May The Road Rise To Meet You.
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The show has been reworked, and McGuinn has lost the early years material about Elvis, folk clubs and Bobby Darin.
ROGER MCGUINN JOLLY ROGER LYRICS PLUS
While one of the icons of rock was playing The Theatre, which is the smaller hall, an Elvis impersonator plus tribute band was playing the larger one.Īnother friend declined to go to the Poole show, having seen two solo shows at a ten year interval, and finding they were much the same. The Lighthouse at Poole shares its public areas between the Theatre and the larger Concert Hall. It was November 5 th, Guy Fawkes Night, and because it fell on a Saturday, the fireworks parties were all concentrated on one day, the right day for a change. The Theatre was much less than half full. In Britain, Roger McGuinn might benefit from doing the same: ‘The Voice of The Byrds.’ Rock fans might find it inconceivable that people don’t immediately flash ‘McGuinn … The Byrds’ but a lot of younger fans don’t. Rodger Hodgson has the sense to bill himself prominently as ‘The Voice of Supertramp’. There was no sign of even a roadie, which contrasts with the other solo Roger, Rodger (with a “d”) Hodgson who has a range of stringed and keyboard instruments, and carefully choreographed lighting to lift the one man show experience. Given his altercations with bandmates over many years, and through the battles over the Byrds name, you can see why the idea of travelling with his wife, a van, two guitars, a chair and a potted palm appeals. McGuinn has stuck with solo shows for a long time, and recorded one on Live From Mars in 1996. McGuinn has one of the ultimate instant recognition rock voices, a point few of his bandmates willingly accepted as their pay ticket back in the day.
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After that my attention drifted, though I have every Byrds album up to (Untitled) on CD.
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A year on, The Byrds (Untitled) double album was on constant rotation. Because of him, I got to listen to a whole lot more than the singles I already knew, and I had a Byrds buying spree myself … The Notorious Byrd Brothers, Sweetheart of The Radio, Dr Byrds & Mr Hyde, Ballad of Easy Rider were all purchased over a couple of months. He was devoted to McGuinn’s work, and still called him Jim McGuinn (McGuinn had changed his name to Roger under the influence of the Subud faith in 1967). I had a friend in Norwich, years ago, who placed Roger McGuinn with Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Jerry Garcia, Frank Zappa, Steve Miller, Jim Morrison and Paul Kantner at the peak of his personal pantheon of rock creativity. Tonight was red, but it might just be the lighting. What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?
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