The Byrds
'In 1964, McGuinn hit upon the idea of playing Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man' in the musical style of the Beatles. A huge success, it can be considered the first contemporary rock recording. After it, all hell broke loose'
--by Mike Jahn
The following is a clip of my June 17, 1972, syndicated column in which I interviewed Roger McGuinn about the past and future of the Byrds. This particular clip is from The Chicago Sun-Times. Thanks to Kat from Chicago for hanging onto it for 31 years and sending it to me.
I was in the office of then-Columbia Records President Clive Davis one time when Roger walked in, unannounced. He was just off the plane from L.A. and wearing an oxygen mask and carrying a silver bottle of oxygen under his arm. Later he told me he didn't want to breathe the air in New York -- the air is so much better in L.A., right? But when he walked into Clive's office, no one thought to say "oh, you just walked in from L.A. without calling first and you're wearing an oxygen mask." They just pretended he was a normal human being acting normally.
I love rock and roll.
A few days after first uploading this story, I got the following email --
"Thanks for the memories Mike, I got a real hoot out of the Clive Davis office story! :-) All the best, Roger"
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