Roger McGuinn

The Byrds first hit big with Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," if not inventing at least popularizing what was called folk rock. Group leader Roger McGuinn, known back then as Jim McGuinn, cut quite a figure with his twelve-string guitar and his dark rectangular granny glasses. After their initial folksy start the group got extremely unearthly with "The Notorious Byrd Brothers," which they followed up with one of the best country albums ever, "Sweetheart of the Rodeo." It's hard to imagine now how groundbreaking that was, the idea of the most psychedelic group around suddenly going into the purest country. (By the way, it's still one of the best country albums ever.) From folk rock to psychedelic rock to country rock. It was quite a journey.



McGuinn, true to his folk roots, keeps going, most notably with his Folk Den site. You can listen to a lot of classic music there, free for the taking. He talked recently to NPR about this, the Byrds, and among other things, covering Dylan:

"... I've gotten his words wrong before, and he got mad at me. One time we did a song, a country song called "You Ain't Going Nowhere," and I reversed the order; I said, 'Pack up your money and pick up your tent.' And about six months later he recorded it, and it came out 'pick up your money and pack up your tent, McGuinn.'"

If you've lost track of McGuinn, catch up: The Byrds' Roger McGuinn Works To Preserve Folk Music

[Via Boing Boing.]
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