Rock and roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn and his wife, Camilla, recently stopped by the Growing Bolder Radio Show for the entire hour, and our cameras were rolling. With his guitar in hand, Roger takes an intimate look back at his 50 years in the music business and tells us how he continues to grow and evolve.
Go behind the scenes for an unforgettable session with a legend.
In Part 2, Roger tackles his group’s breakthrough hit — Mr. Tambourine Man. He shows us how the song started as a demo and recalls how his bandmate David Crosby felt the original version would never play on radio. See for yourself how Roger tweaked the song and turned it into the classic that we all know and love today. Plus, find out how the rest of The Byrds reacted to the record label’s decision to only let Roger play on the first recording of Mr. Tambourine Man.
(Editor’s Note: In this segment, Roger discusses what it was like to play with the legendary studio musicians of The Wrecking Crew. Danny Tedesco, whose father Tommy was a guitarist in the Wrecking Crew, appeared on the Growing Bolder Radio Show in 2008 to discuss the documentary he made about the band. Click here to find out much more about these titans of the music industry.)
You can also listen to an audio version of the complete hour by clicking here.
Click here to watch Part 1, during which Roger explained how his parents’ “fear” of Elvis Presley made him want to play music even more, and he described the earliest days of The Byrds.
Click here to watch Part 3,
and find out what it was like for the still-broke Byrds to suddenly
be the band behind the country’s hottest song and about some of the
smaller parties they played in the early days, including Jane Fonda’s
birthday party. And Roger gets out his guitar to explain how he
learned “Turn! Turn! Turn!” from Pete Seeger and put his own “Beatle
beat” on it.
Click here to watch Part 4, and
find out what life on the road is like for Roger these days. He
explains why he’s very specific in the venues he chooses and what
prompted him to leave the big record labels behind and become his own
company. And Roger gets out this guitar for one of his newer songs, “On
and On.” Roger says he wrote the song about his life in the early
1960s when he was working for Bobby Darin and playing in coffeehouses
in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Click here to watch Part 5,
and listen to Roger describe his Grammy-nominated Folk Den Project and
explain why he felt such an urgency to preserve the songs and history
of folk music. And Camilla opens up about their 30-plus years of
marriage and reveals how their shared faith in God is a key part of
their successful relationship.
Want more Roger? Click on the Related Media tab for more exclusive videos, including a recording session for his Grammy-winning Folk Den Project and see how he’s turned into one of the greenest rockers around.