"Eve of Destruction" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Barry McGuire | ||||
from the album Eve of Destruction | ||||
B-side | "What Exactly's the Matter With Me" | |||
Released | July 16, 1965 [1] | |||
Recorded | July 15, 1965 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:35 | |||
Label |
| |||
Songwriter(s) | P. F. Sloan | |||
Producer(s) | Lou Adler, P. F. Sloan, Steve Barri | |||
Barry McGuire singles chronology | ||||
|
"Eve of Destruction" is a protest song written by P. F. Sloan in mid-1965. [4] Several artists have recorded it, but the most popular recording was by Barry McGuire, on which Sloan played guitar.
The song references social issues of its period, including the Vietnam War, the draft, the threat of nuclear war, the Civil Rights Movement, turmoil in the Middle East and the American space program.
The American media helped to make the song popular by using it as an example of everything that was wrong with the youth culture of the time. [5] Its controversial lyrics caused it to be banned by some American radio stations, "claiming it was an aid to the enemy in Vietnam". [6] [7]
The song was offered to the Byrds as a potential single in the style of their Bob Dylan covers, but they rejected it. The Turtles, another L.A. group, recorded a version instead. The Turtles' version appeared as a track on their October 1965 debut album It Ain't Me Babe in July 1965, shortly after McGuire's version was released. The Turtles version was later released as a single in 1970 and hit #100 on the Billboard Hot 100.
McGuire's recording was made between July 12-15 1965 and released by Dunhill Records. The accompanying musicians were P. F. Sloan on acoustic guitar and "Wrecking Crew" session musicians Hal Blaine on drums and Larry Knechtel on bass guitar. McGuire's vocal track was not intended to be the final version, but a copy of the rough mix "leaked" out to a disc jockey, who began playing it. [8] The song was an instant hit, and as a result the more polished vocal track was never recorded.
McGuire recalled in later years that "Eve of Destruction" had been recorded in one take on a Tuesday morning, with him reading lyrics scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper. He said the following Monday morning he received a phone call from the record company at 7am telling him to turn on the radio, his song was playing. [9] McGuire's single hit #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1965.
Sloan recalled: "Barry McGuire was the lead singer for a popular folk group at the time called the New Christy Minstrels. [He had written and sung] his own Number 1 hit, "Green,Green". He had just left the group and was on his own and looking for material to record. He wound up at my publishing company and was told there was a quirky songwriter he might want to listen to. Barry didn't like the song "Eve of Destruction" that much. He liked a few other songs of mine better. When he was ready to record he picked four songs, and "Eve" was the fourth to be recorded if there was time. If you listen to the recording, he's rushing because of the time constraints and he was reading it for the first time off a piece of paper." When the record was released "Eve of Destruction" was the B-side. [5]
In the first week of its release the single was at No. 103 on the Billboard charts. In August 12 Dunhill released the LP, Eve of Destruction . It reached its peak of #37 on the Billboard album chart during the week ending September 25. That same day the single went to #1 on the chart, and repeated the feat on the Cashbox chart, where it had debuted at No. 30. [10] McGuire would never again break into the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. It went to #1 in Norway for two weeks. [11]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
In addition to its being banned in some parts of the U.S., the song was also banned by Radio Scotland. [25] [7] It was placed on a "restricted list" by the BBC, and could not be played on "general entertainment programmes". [26] It was however featured on Top of the Pops on television one week while in the Top 10.
Researcher Justin Brummer, founding editor of the Vietnam War Song Project. has identified 25 answer records referring to "Eve of Destruction". [27] A group called The Spokesmen released "The Dawn of Correction" which became a Top 40 hit. Singer Tony Mammarella released a positive answer song titled "Eve of Tomorrow". [28] A few months later, Green Beret medic SSgt. Barry Sadler released the patriotic "Ballad of the Green Berets". Johnny Sea's 1966 spoken word recording, "Day For Decision", was also a response to the song, and was a Top 40 hit. The British musician Alan Klein included a parody of the song attacking protest singers, entitled "Age of Corruption", on his album Well at Least It's British. [29]
The Temptations' 1970 song "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" mentions the song title.
The song is prominently featured in the second season episode of The Greatest American Hero , entitled "Operation Spoilsport". The song is played during the fourth-season finale of The A-Team , "The Sound of Thunder".
The song, like many other popular songs of the day, gave its name to a gun truck used by United States Army Transportation Corps forces during the Vietnam War. The truck is on display at the U.S. Army Transportation Museum and is believed to be the only surviving example of a Vietnam-era gun truck. [30]
The song is featured in the soundtrack of Mafia III . [31]
The song is played in its entirety in the Italian film Rose Island from 2020.[ citation needed ]
"The Ballad of the Green Berets" is a 1966 patriotic song in the ballad style about the United States Army Special Forces. Written and performed by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, it was one of the few popular songs of the Vietnam War years to cast the military in a positive light. Sadler's version became a major hit in January 1966, reaching No. 1 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and four weeks on Cashbox. It was also a crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart and No. 2 on Billboard's Country survey.
Barry McGuire is an American singer-songwriter primarily known for his 1965 hit "Eve of Destruction". He was later a singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music.
"Happy Together" is a song written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon and recorded by American rock band the Turtles. It was released as a single, backed with (b/w) "Like the Seasons", in January 1967, and peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's first and only chart-topper there. It also reached the top 20 in various countries, including number 2 in Canada and number 12 in the UK. It was later included on the Turtles' third studio album Happy Together (1967).
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John and Michelle Phillips in 1963 and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in December 1965. The lyrics express the narrator's longing for the warmth of Los Angeles during a cold winter in New York City. It is recorded in the key of C-sharp minor.
Philip Gary "Flip" Sloan, known professionally as P. F. Sloan, was an American singer and songwriter. During the mid-1960s, he wrote, performed, and produced many Billboard Top 20 hits for artists such as Barry McGuire, the Searchers, Jan and Dean, Herman's Hermits, Johnny Rivers, the Grass Roots, the Turtles, and the Mamas and the Papas.
"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single. In April 1968, it topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed poorly in the United States because Larry Newton, the president of ABC Records, disliked the song and refused to promote it.
Lester Louis Adler is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of high-profile musical artists, including The Grass Roots, Jan & Dean, The Mamas & the Papas, and Carole King. King's album Tapestry, produced by Adler, won the 1972 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and has been called one of the greatest pop albums of all time.
"Brandy", later called "Mandy", is a song written by Scott English and Richard Kerr. It was originally recorded by English in 1971 and reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart.
"Eloise" is a song first released in 1968 on the MGM label. It was sung by Barry Ryan, and written by his twin brother Paul Ryan. Running for over five minutes, it features strong orchestration, melodramatic vocals, and a brief slow interlude. It sold three million copies worldwide, and reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart as published by Record Retailer, but hit No. 1 in the NME and Melody Maker charts. It topped the chart in 17 countries, including Italy, the Netherlands and Australia.
Steve Barri is an American songwriter and record producer.
"I Can't Let Go" is a song co-written by Al Gorgoni and Chip Taylor, who also wrote "Wild Thing". "I Can't Let Go" was originally recorded by the blue-eyed soul singer Evie Sands' on George Goldner's Blue Cat label, which was popular in New York City in 1965. The song became popular in 1966 for the group the Hollies, who charted at number two in the UK Singles Chart with their version. Linda Ronstadt covered the song in 1980 and had a number 31 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The Spokesmen were an American pop music trio. They scored a hit single in the U.S. in 1965 with the tune "The Dawn of Correction", which was a partially sarcastic counterpoint and answer record to Barry McGuire's protest song, "Eve of Destruction". The song was written by the group's members, John Medora, David White, and Ray Gilmore, the latter a long time radio personality at WIBG (Wibbage) 990AM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The tune hit #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. They also released a remake of the Beatles' "Michelle" as a single on Decca Records that got significant airplay on WIBG.
"You Showed Me" is a song written by Gene Clark and Jim McGuinn of the Byrds in 1964. It was recorded by the Turtles and released as a single at the end of 1968, becoming the group's last big hit in the U.S. The song has also been covered or partially incorporated into other songs by a number of other acts over the years, including the Lightning Seeds, Salt-N-Pepa, Lutricia McNeal and Madison Beer.
Terry Black was a Canadian pop singer and teen idol, born in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"Let's Live for Today" is a song written by David "Shel" Shapiro and Italian lyricist Mogol, with additional English lyrics provided by Michael Julien. It was first recorded, with Italian lyrics, under the title of "Piangi con me" by the English band the Rokes in 1966. Later, when "Piangi con me" was to be released in the United Kingdom, publisher Dick James Music requested that staff writer Julien compose English lyrics for the song. Julien composed new lyrics, rather than translating from the Italian, and it was his input that transformed "Piangi con me" into "Let's Live for Today".
"Rose Garden" is a song written in 1967 by American singer-songwriter Joe South. It was first recorded by Billy Joe Royal on his 1967 studio album Billy Joe Royal Featuring "Hush". Versions by South himself and Dobie Gray appeared shortly after the original. Gray's version became a minor hit in North America in 1969.
Where Were You When I Needed You is the debut studio album by the American pop band the Grass Roots, released in October 1966 by Dunhill Records. Most of the album is performed by the songwriter/producer duo of P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. Some of the album features members of a San Francisco band that became the first Grass Roots. The members who recorded are vocalist Willie Fulton and drummer Joel Larson. The A and B side singles released are "Mr. Jones ", "You're a Lonely Girl", "Where Were You When I Needed You", "(These Are) Bad Times", "Only When You're Lonely", "This Is What I Was Made For", Tip of My Tongue" and "Look Out Girl".
"You Baby" is a song written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri and was originally recorded by the Vogues in 1965, though their version was not released until 1996.
"Let Me Be" is a song by the American rock band the Turtles. It was released in 1965 as the band's second single, following their successful cover of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe". In the United States, the single peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1965. It reached number 14 on Canada's RPM chart.
Eve of Destruction is the debut studio album released by American folk music singer-songwriter Barry McGuire, released in 1965. The album features McGuire's signature song "Eve of Destruction", written by P.F. Sloan, who also wrote many other songs on the album. It also features McGuire's cover versions of songs by several artists, including Bob Dylan. Eve of Destruction peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 album chart and spent a total of 21 weeks on the chart.
As a pop song, it's raw and snarly, but it never takes flight the way the best pop music of the era did.