ROGER McGUINN
Interviewed by Andy Bassett via email in February 1998
Roger McGuinn encourages contact via his Web site, so he was the first person I approached when I began the Folkus email interviews. I was amazed when he emailed me back and said yes. As an interview subject, he was interesting, yet guarded. His answer to the Gram Parsons question is an object lesson in succinctness!
AB: What are you up to these days (any follow-up to Back From Rio in the making)?
McGuinn: In the fall of 1997 I released "Live From Mars."
See: http://sunsite.unc.edu/mcguinn/mcguinn/cdinfo.html for more on this.
I know you have a longstanding interest in communications - I believe that your choice of the name Roger had, in part, to do with its use on walkie-talkies. What does the Internet offer you (apart from the chance to talk to fans in New Zealand)?
The Internet is a wonderful way to stay in touch with friends from all over the world and to make new friends. I have a web site: http://mcguinn.com where I put up my tour itineraries, have sound files, pictures, and the Folk Den where I play an entire traditional song complete with chords and lyrics, every month. These are all still available for people to listen to if they have a sound card and RealAudio or can play .wav files.
You were once quoted as saying that you preferred the Clarence White-era Byrds as a live band and the original line-up as a recording band. How do you rate them these days?
I still feel that way. There was no other guitarist like Clarence on stage!
What are your memories of the short-lived line-up with Gram Parsons?
Fun while it lasted!
I and other people I know have always enjoyed the Byrds 1973 reunion album, despite what the critics said at the time. After 25 years, how does it stand up for you?
We had a blast in the studio when we were recording it, and for that reason I'll always have fond memories of that album.
In 1989, you guested with Crowded House in LA, which they subsequently released as the Byrdhouse Tapes, on the CD single of "Weather With You." They sound like vintage Byrds. How did this meeting come about and was there ever any talk of taking this further?
I filled in for Richard Thompson on a tour with Crowded House, and it was one of the most fun tours of my life! What a great band and great guys! They asked if they could sing along on the Byrds tunes in my "solo" set and it turned into that recording. I'd love to work with them again if the situation ever came up, but there are no such plans now.
In recent years, you have been performing solo shows, which must make travelling between gigs easier. Any chance of bringing your shows down to New Zealand and Australia?
Yes to both questions. There's a tour in the works right now.
Postscript: McGuinn played one solo show in NZ a few months after this interview. Alas, it was on a Tuesday night in Auckland and I couldn't make it.