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There was a time when the Byrds were viewed as America’s answer to the Beatles. Almost overnight, buoyed by the success of their debut No. 1 hit single, “Mr. Tambourine Man,” they became one of the most popular bands in the world.
Time magazine proclaimed they had invented a new musical movement called folk rock, and in quick succession the Byrds were credited with also helping to create psychedelic rock and country rock.
The influential group’s principal singer and lead guitarist, Roger McGuinn, still performs today, and will make his Maui debut Tuesday at the Historic Iao Theater in Wailuku.
In a DVD that accompanies his latest album, “Roger McGuinn: Stories, Songs & Friends,” legends like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty marvel at the impact of the Byrds’ founder.
“Roger really invented folk rock,” says Springsteen. And Petty adds, “Without Roger, there would be no me.”
About the opening guitar riff of “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Springsteen says, “That riff, I mean, it is ‘the’ classic 12-string riff of all time.”
After the Byrds demise, in the 1980s McGuinn reinvented himself as a solo artist and has continued to tour through the decades.
“I like the rapport with the audience,” McGuinn explains. “I do a kind of a one-man play that’s autobiographical in nature. I talk about how I came up in the business, and the songs and the people, and it’s very rewarding.”
Does he ever miss a backing band?
“Not a bit,” he responds. “I’m very comfortable playing my acoustic guitar.”
Released last year, the double CD “Roger McGuinn: Stories, Songs & Friends” serves as a snapshot of his solo act, where he weaves Byrds’ favorites with folk songs, blues and sea shanties. Recorded at the Fox Tucson Theater in Arizona, the album includes stories about the genesis of such classics as “Mr. Spaceman,” “Chestnut Mare” and the “Ballad of Easy Rider.”
The bonus DVD includes footage of the Byrds’ induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the aforementioned interviews with a number of musicians from Springsteen to Pete Seeger.
Was he aware Springsteen was such a huge fan?
“No, it was a complete surprise,” he says. “I’ve always been a fan of his, so I was delighted to find it out. I didn’t know he even knew who I was.”
In the interview, Springsteen reveals it was the Byrds who first turned him onto Bob Dylan.
“I had not heard Dylan’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ before,” Springsteen says. “I was a child of Top 40 radio and I heard it through Roger and the Byrds.”
“I was amazed to hear that too,” McGuinn adds.
Over the years, McGuinn has had an extensive connection with Dylan’s music, including an invitation to play on stage with Dylan, along with George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Neil Young and Petty in 1992, at Dylan’s 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration at Madison Square Garden.
“It was a big thrill,” he recalls. “It was amazing. There’s a funny anecdote about that. I learned one of (Dylan’s) songs, ‘My Back Pages,’ phonetically off the record. And at the concert, they had teleprompters at the foot of the stage. I was looking down at the teleprompter going, ‘Oh, that’s not the way I learned it off the record.'”
Besides Dylan’s “My Back Pages” and the chart-topping “Tambourine Man,” McGuinn and the Byrds also covered “All I Really Want to Do,” “Chimes of Freedom,” “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” “Lay Down Your Weary Tune” and “The Times They Are A-Changin.’ “
“He loved it,” says McGuinn about the Byrds’ coverage of Dylan’s songs. “He said nice things about the Byrds initially. He’s like an older brother to me.”
McGuinn’s connection to Dylan later led to him singing and playing guitar on “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” featured on the soundtrack of the Western “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.”
“Bob and I were neighbors at the time and he used to come over to my house, and he invited me to the movie studio,” he recalls. “It was a big thrill.”
Famous for his distinctive, jangly guitar sound, McGuinn was inspired by the Beatles.
“George Harrison played a Rickenbacker 12-string in the movie ‘A Hard Days Night,’ and I went out and got one,” he says. “It’s all I’ve ever played. I picked it like a banjo.
“George and I got to know each other pretty well. I would see him on and off at different places. We both played the Rickenbacker 12-string. I borrowed some tricks from George. He was a fan of the Byrds and I was a fan of the Beatles. We had a lot in common.”
While the Byrds were enamored with the Beatles, the California group also influenced the Beatles, and in particular, Harrison’s song “If I Needed Someone.”
“Derek Taylor (Beatles’ publicist) came over from London with a tape from George and he said, ‘George wants you to know his song was inspired by your guitar work on ‘Bells of Rhymney,'” McGuinn says.
Ever inventive, after the Byrds scored No. 1 hits with “Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!,” they created the free jazz and Indian-raga flavored “Eight Miles High,” influenced by jazz legend John Coltrane and Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar.
Initially recorded in December 1965, and available in March 1966, it was the world’s first psychedelic rock song, released a month before the Beatles recorded “Tomorrow Never Knows.” While it was banned in a number of states, the groundbreaking song charted in the Top 20.
“We weren’t really trying to go psychedelic with it, although we were experimenting with psychedelics at the time, ” McGuinn explains. “Our main point was to try and expose John Coltrane and Ravi Shankar, musicians we were so inspired by.”
Later innovations included their marriage of rock and country on the seminal “Sweetheart of the Rodeo,” released in 1968.
“It was a breakthrough,” he notes. “It hadn’t been done before. There was a stigma associated with country music to the rock people, and a stigma associated with rock to the country people. So we were bringing two worlds together that really didn’t get along very well.”
Five decades after the formation of the Byrds, McGuinn remains a pioneer, now dedicated to bringing the centuries-old folk music tradition to a new generation.
“I noticed back in 1995, the new folk singers were singer-songwriters and they were neglecting the traditional end, so I thought I’d do something about it,” he explains. “I started putting songs on the Internet for free download, and we’re coming up on 20 years of that in November. It is a mission; it’s a labor of love. My hope is that people will learn the songs and keep them alive.”
The Folk Den project has turned into a massive undertaking. He has recorded new versions of hundreds of folk songs, and uploads a new post (all available free) at www.folkden.com with information about the song, on the first of every month.
McGuinn provides fascinating insight into the various historic folk songs.
“‘The Eclipse’ was one of the first seafaring songs to grab my attention,” he writes about one of his latest uploads. “It tells the true story of three ships whaling in Queen Victoria’s year of Jubilee 1887. The trip was a miserable failure.”
Performing as a folk singer suits him better than trying to remain a rocker, he says.
“I think it’s very dignified to be a folk singer at my age. I just turned 73,” he says. “I didn’t feel comfortable being a rock star anymore. I was in the Byrds for nine years, and I’ve been doing the Folk Den for almost 20 years. Being a folk singer is fun.”
McGuinn still keeps in touch with one of his former Byrds band mates, David Crosby, through Twitter. They often exchange messages.
“It’s fun,” says McGuinn. “The problems we had in the ’60s are long gone. David wants to get the Byrds back together, but I really don’t. I’m very content to just be a solo artist.”
*****
The Polynesian band Te Vaka will return to our island to play the Maui Theatre in Lahaina on Oct. 28. Disney just announced that the band’s award-winning leader, Opetaia Foa’i, will compose songs for the forthcoming animated feature “Moana,” scheduled for a November 2016 release.
The film is set in the ancient South Pacific world of Oceania, where Moana sets sail in search of a fabled island on a journey that includes teaming with the legendary demigod Maui (played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson).
A collective of musicians and dancers from Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Cook Islands and New Zealand, Te Vaka has been praised as one of the greatest South Pacific bands of all time.
* Tickets are now on sale at the Maui Theatre box office, priced at $38 and $58 for adults, and $28 and $48 for kids 12 and younger. For more information, call 856-7900.