Roger McGuinn & Band

Last updated
Roger McGuinn & Band
Roger McGuinn and Band cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 1975
Genre Rock
Label Columbia
Producer John Boylan
Roger McGuinn chronology
Peace on You
(1974)
Roger McGuinn & Band
(1975)
Cardiff Rose
(1976)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg link
Christgau's Record Guide C [1]

Roger McGuinn & Band was Roger McGuinn's third full-length solo album and was released in 1975. Recorded in Los Angeles, the album was McGuinn's third attempt to re-establish himself as a significant musical force without The Byrds. The titular band included Stephen A. Love (electric bass), Richard Bowden (second guitar), David Lovelace (keyboards) and Greg Attaway (drums). The album peaked at number 162 in the US. [2]

Contents

Produced by John Boylan, Roger McGuinn & Band was different from McGuinn's previous solo albums in that he allowed the musicians he had assembled to contribute to the songwriting of the album in the name of esprit de corps. Additionally, whereas McGuinn's previous albums showcased his ongoing songwriting partnership with lyricist Jacques Levy, two of his four contributions ("Lover of the Bayou" and "Born to Rock and Roll") were re-recordings of previously released Byrds songs. Unfortunately, while the band brought a tight, energetic groove to the music on the album, their songwriting contributions were disparaged by the contemporary press. [3] Referring to the album many years later, McGuinn himself admitted that "A band should be a benevolent dictatorship. Democracy is a great form of government, but it doesn't work in rock & roll." [4]

After the release of the album, McGuinn and the band spent a year touring to promote the record as an opening act for such bands as The Eagles and The Doobie Brothers (including performances at Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall) before McGuinn finally dissolved the group.

Roger McGuinn & Band has been reissued on CD a number of times; first by Columbia Records in the early 1990s, with bonus tracks in 2004 by Sundazed Records and coupled with McGuinn's fourth album, Cardiff Rose , by BGO Records in 2007.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Roger McGuinn; except where indicated

  1. "Somebody Loves You" (Stephen A. Love, Allen Kemp)
  2. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan)
  3. "Bull Dog" (Richard Bowden)
  4. "Painted Lady" (Greg Attaway, David Lovelace)
  5. "Lover of the Bayou" (Jacques Levy, Roger McGuinn)
  6. "Lisa"
  7. "Circle Song" (David Lovelace)
  8. "So Long" (Richard Bowden)
  9. "Easy Does It"
  10. "Born to Rock and Roll"

Bonus tracks

2004 CD reissue

  1. "Wasn’t Born To Follow" (live) (Carole King, Gerry Goffin)
  2. "Chestnut Mare" (live) (Jacques Levy, McGuinn)

Personnel

Related Research Articles

Roger McGuinn American singer-songwriter and guitarist

James Roger McGuinn is an American musician. He is best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. As a solo artist he has released 10 albums and collaborated with, among others, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Chris Hillman. The 12-string Rickenbacker guitar is his signature instrument.

<i>Younger Than Yesterday</i> 1967 studio album by The Byrds

Younger Than Yesterday is the fourth album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released on February 6, 1967 on Columbia Records. It saw the band continuing to integrate elements of psychedelia and jazz into their music, a process they had begun on their previous album, Fifth Dimension. In addition, the album captured the band and record producer Gary Usher experimenting with new musical textures, including brass instruments, reverse tape effects and an electronic oscillator.

<i>Ballad of Easy Rider</i> (album) 1969 studio album by The Byrds

Ballad of Easy Rider is the eighth album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in November 1969 on Columbia Records. The album was named after the song "Ballad of Easy Rider", which had been written by the Byrds' guitarist and singer, Roger McGuinn, as the theme song for the 1969 film, Easy Rider. The title was also chosen in an attempt to capitalize on the commercial success of the film, although the majority of the music on the album had no connection with it. Nonetheless, the association with Easy Rider heightened the Byrds' public profile and resulted in Ballad of Easy Rider becoming the band's highest charting album for two years in the U.S.

<i>The Notorious Byrd Brothers</i> 1968 studio album by The Byrds

The Notorious Byrd Brothers is the fifth album by the American rock band the Byrds, and was released in January 1968, on Columbia Records. The album represents the pinnacle of the Byrds' late-‘60s musical experimentation, with the band blending together elements of psychedelia, folk rock, country, electronic music, baroque pop, and jazz. With producer Gary Usher, they made extensive use of a number of studio effects and production techniques, including phasing, flanging, and spatial panning. The Byrds also introduced the sound of the pedal steel guitar and the Moog modular synthesizer into their music, making it one of the first LP releases on which the Moog appears.

<i>The Byrds Greatest Hits</i> 1967 greatest hits album by The Byrds

The Byrds' Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in August 1967 on Columbia Records. It is the top-selling album in the Byrds' catalogue and reached number 6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, but failed to chart in the UK.

<i>Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde</i> 1969 studio album by The Byrds

Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde is the seventh studio album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in March 1969 on Columbia Records. The album was produced by Bob Johnston and saw the band juxtaposing country rock material with psychedelic rock, giving the album a stylistic split-personality that was alluded to in its title. It was the first album to feature the new band line-up of Clarence White (guitar), Gene Parsons (drums), John York (bass), and founding member Roger McGuinn (guitar). Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde is unique within the band's discography for being the only album on which McGuinn sings the lead vocal on every track.

<i>Untitled</i> (The Byrds album) 1970 studio album / Live album by The Byrds

(Untitled) is the ninth album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in September 1970 on Columbia Records. It is a double album, with the first LP featuring live concert recordings from early 1970, and a second disc consisting of new studio recordings. The album represented the first official release of any live recordings by the band, as well as the first appearance on a Byrds' record of new recruit Skip Battin, who had replaced the band's previous bass player, John York, in late 1969.

<i>Byrdmaniax</i> 1971 studio album by The Byrds

Byrdmaniax is the tenth album by the American rock band the Byrds. It was released in June 1971 on Columbia Records at a time of renewed commercial and critical success for the band, due to the positive reception that their two previous albums, Ballad of Easy Rider and (Untitled), had received. The album was the second by the Byrds to feature the Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gene Parsons, and Skip Battin line-up of the band and was mostly recorded in early 1971, while the band were in the midst of an exhausting tour schedule. As a result, the band had little time to hone their new songs before recording commenced and thus, much of the material on the album is underdeveloped. Byrdmaniax was poorly received upon release, particularly in the United States, and did much to undermine the Byrds' new-found popularity.

<i>Farther Along</i> (The Byrds album) 1971 studio album by The Byrds

Farther Along is the eleventh album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in November 1971 on Columbia Records. For the most part, the album was recorded and produced by the Byrds themselves in London, England, over the course of five work-intensive days in July 1971. It was quickly released as a reaction to the commercial failure of the Byrds' previous album, Byrdmaniax, and as an attempt to stem the criticism that album was receiving in the music press.

<i>The Best of The Byrds: Greatest Hits, Volume II</i> 1972 greatest hits album by The Byrds

The Best of The Byrds: Greatest Hits, Volume II is the third greatest hits album by the American rock band the Byrds, but only the second to be released in the United States, since the earlier The Byrds' Greatest Hits Volume II had only been issued in the UK. The album was released in the U.S. by Columbia Records on November 10, 1972 in lieu of any new Byrds' product during that year. It spent a total of thirteen weeks on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart and peaked at number 114.

<i>Byrds</i> (album) 1973 studio album by The Byrds

Byrds is the twelfth and final studio album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in March 1973 on Asylum Records. It was recorded as the centerpiece of a reunion among the five original band members: Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke. The last time that all five members had worked together as the Byrds was in 1966, prior to Clark's departure from the band. During the reunion, the current, latter-day lineup of the band continued to make live appearances until February 1973, with McGuinn being the only member common to both versions of the group.

<i>The Byrds</i> (box set) 1990 box set by The Byrds

The Byrds is a four-CD box set by the American rock band the Byrds. It features music that had previously been released between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, along with a number of previously unreleased tracks and some new recordings from 1990. The box set was issued on October 19, 1990 by Columbia/Legacy and reached number 151 on the Billboard albums chart.

<i>The Essential Byrds</i> 2003 greatest hits album by The Byrds

The Essential Byrds is a comprehensive two-CD compilation album by the American rock band the Byrds. It was released in 2003 as part of Sony BMG's The Essential series. The Essential Byrds did not chart in the U.S. or the UK. A 3.0 edition of the compilation released in 2011 contains a third disc with six additional tracks: "Spanish Harlem Incident", "I Knew I'd Want You", "The World Turns All Around Her", "I See You", "Change Is Now", and "One Hundred Years from Now".

<i>Roger McGuinn</i> (album) 1973 studio album by Roger McGuinn

Roger McGuinn is the first full-length solo album by Roger McGuinn, released in 1973.

<i>Cardiff Rose</i> 1976 studio album by Roger McGuinn

Cardiff Rose is a solo studio album by American singer/songwriter and ex-The Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn, released in 1976. The album, produced by Mick Ronson, was recorded on the heels of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue 1975 tour, in which both McGuinn and Ronson had participated. The album includes a pirate tale "Jolly Roger", a song about King Arthur's "Round Table", and a classic version of Joni Mitchell's "Dreamland", which later appeared on her 1977 album Don Juan's Reckless Daughter.

<i>There Is a Season</i> 2006 box set by The Byrds

There Is a Season is a four-CD and one DVD box set by the American rock band The Byrds that was released on September 26, 2006 by Columbia/Legacy. It comprises 99 tracks and includes material from every one of the band's twelve studio albums, presented in roughly chronological order. The bonus DVD features ten clips of the Byrds lip-synching their hits on television programs between 1965 and 1967. Upon release, the box set failed to reach the Billboard 200 chart or the UK Albums Chart. There Is a Season supplants the band's earlier box set, The Byrds, which was released in October 1990.

<i>Thunderbyrd</i> Album by Roger McGuinn

Thunderbyrd is American singer-songwriter and guitarist Roger McGuinn's 5th solo studio album, released in 1977 on the Columbia Records label. Following the success of his 1976 album Cardiff Rose, McGuinn intended to make another album in collaboration with its producer Mick Ronson. This project however never materialized. Instead he put together a new band, Thunderbyrd, and recorded this album with them.

<i>Born to Rock and Roll</i> 1991 compilation album by Roger McGuinn

Born to Rock and Roll is a compilation album by the ex-Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn, released on Columbia Records in August 1991. It was issued following the success of McGuinn's comeback solo album Back from Rio earlier that same year. Born to Rock and Roll contains songs from all five of McGuinn's solo albums of the 1970s, released after the final breakup of The Byrds in 1973. It was the first time that material from these albums had been released on Compact Disc.

<i>Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971</i> 2008 live album by The Byrds

Live at Royal Albert Hall is a live album by the American rock band the Byrds, released in 2008 on Sundazed Records. The album consists of recordings from the band's appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England on May 13, 1971. Although the tapes had been in lead guitarist Roger McGuinn's possession since the concert took place, the album represents the first official release of all tracks. In addition to the regular CD release, Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971 was also released as a double album vinyl LP.

<i>History of The Byrds</i> 1973 greatest hits album by The Byrds

History of The Byrds is a double album compilation by the American rock band the Byrds and was released on May 18, 1973 by CBS Records. The compilation was released exclusively in Europe and the UK, peaking at number 47 on the UK Albums Chart, but it was also available in the United States as an import.

References

  1. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 7, 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  2. "Roger McGuinn". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  3. "Robert Christgau: CG: Roger McGuinn".
  4. Roger McGuinn & Band (2004 CD reissue liner notes)