Roger McGuinn
“I’VE just learned a new word today,” marvels Roger McGuinn when Uncut catches up with him between dates on his latest tour. “Hodophile. It’s a Greek word about being in love with the road.” This is particularly fitting in McGuinn’s case. For the past couple of decades he’s been travelling the highways and byways of America and Europe, accompanied by his wife Camilla, regaling audiences with songs and tales from his storied career with The Byrds and beyond. “We’ve kind of refined the road to a very pleasant experience,” he says. “I absolutely love it.”
McGuinn’s musical journey began in the early ’60s, as sideman for the likes of Bobby Darin and Judy Collins, before his Rickenbacker sound powered The Byrds through folk-rock, psychedelia, raga-pop, cosmic country and more.
Factor in famous soundtracks, solo albums, collaborations, reunions and his online Folk Den series – active since 1995 – and it’s been quite some trip. “I did The Byrds for nine years and I’ve been doing the Folk Den series for over 20, so I suppose that’s my legacy,” he says. “But you really need to look at the whole picture.”
JUDY COLLINS JUDY COLLINS 3
ELEKTRA, 1964
McGuinn had featured on albums by The Limeliters and the Chad Mitchell Trio before landing his first major gig as guitarist/arranger on Collins’ third LP, which includes future Byrds staples “The Bells Of Rhymney” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!”
[Guitarist] Walter Raim was a friend of Bobby Darin and also a studio musician in New York. He got me the gig with Jac Holzman and I kind of became Elektra’s 12-string guy. I did a lot of acoustic work for them and Judy was on the roster, so it was natural that I ended up on this album. I’d gone to a prep school, so I’d gotten into the habit of dressing up.
