This reporter is a first-generation Byrds fan who met McGuinn in 1978,
when
serving as editorial director in the press department at Capitol Records.
I had
the honor of writing the liner notes for the “McGuinn-Clark-Hillman”
album in
’79.
We last met a few years ago when McGuinn played the Troubadours of Folk
festival at UCLA. Backstage, he introduced me to Tom Petty, who'd shown
up to
sit in with him, and I introduced both of them to Richie Havens, for
whom I'd
been doing press, then just shut up and enjoyed listening to the three
folk/rock legends shoot the breeze.
I recently discovered Roger's MP3.com page and his own homepage while
researching another story, and had to re-connect with him. Knowing
his history,
I wasn't surprised to see that he was into bleeding-edge technology,
right
along with all the youngsters just starting out.
We "chatted" on Good Friday, April 2, 1999, Roger in Orlando, Florida,
and
yours truly in Santa Clarita, California.
-- Stephen K. Peeples
____________
PEEPLES: People who know your background know what a gadget/tech nut
you are,
and the story behind adopting “Roger” as your first name. When we first
met, in
1978 at the Capitol Tower, I seem to recall you had a big bulky cell
phone, and
that was your latest gadget. Am I remembering right? And like,
who the heck
were you TALKING to back then?
McGUINN: What I had then was a briefcase telephone, a 25-watt VHF full
duplex
transceiver that connected to the commercial land mobile telephone
service. I
could make calls to, and receive them from, anyone in the world. I
did then
what people do now with cell phones, but back then you could use them
on
airplanes. I have some great road stories of how the phone saved the
show. I
got my first one in 1971.
PEEPLES: Please give us a short history of your involvement with computers
and
the Internet.
McGUINN: My first computer was a gift from my mother, in 1980. It was
a small
Radio Shack MC-10. Then I was given a Color Computer, based on Motorola's
6809e chip set. I hacked that to do all of our [accounting] books.
Then I got
an IBM Convertible, one of the first laptops. There has been a succession
of
286, 386, 486, and Pentium machines since. Most of them still work.
I got on-line in the early '80s with a commercial service called Easy
Street.
We used that to communicate from home to the road, even from Europe.
Then I got
on CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online. I discovered the Internet
in the
early '90s using usenet and email, then the Web a year or so later.
I found
that a good ISP was better than the services I'd been using.
PEEPLES: At what point did you create your own Website at http://mcguinn.com?
Who hosts and manages it? It's loaded with good stuff covering all
aspects of
your past, present, and future...
McGUINN: After writing a Byrds
FAQ and posting it on alt.music.byrds, I got an
offer from Kenton Adler at the University of Arkansas to host a Byrds
Home
Page. I contributed to that for a year or two, and then gradually built
my own
home page.
My virtual domain name http://mcguinn.com is hosted by a local Orlando
ISP.
That's a funnel to my Web site hosted by the University of North Carolina's
MetaLab. UNC's Paul Jones offered me Web space on their site so that
I would be
able to present my Folk Den songs in streaming technology by RealMedia.
I'm the
Webmaster of my site and do all the HTML work and media updates myself.
PEEPLES: Tell us more about the Folk
Den -- its mission, and how you
have posted a “new” folk song there each month for the last few years.
McGUINN: The idea of preserving traditional folk songs on the Internet
came to
me, after I began to develop a concern that these songs might get lost
in the
strict formatting of the commercial music business. Very few radio
stations
were playing these wonderful songs, and the new breed of "folk singers"
were
writing their own material. I wondered what would happen when Pete
Seeger and
Odetta passed away. So I decided to do my part, continuing the folk
process --
that is, the singing of songs and telling of stories in the oral tradition,
but
on the Internet.
So each month I record a traditional folk song in my digital home studio.
I
format these songs as .WAV, RealAudio and sometimes MP3 files. They
are free.
I've made a CD of some of these songs available through MP3.com,
and
plan to release more CDs in the months to come.
PEEPLES: Is it fair to say that some of your recent recordings sound
a lot like
your earliest recordings?
McGUINN: Yes, and actually one of the songs on my "McGuinn's Folk Den,
Vol. 1
CD," "John Henry," was recorded in 1959.
PEEPLES: No wonder it sounds so adenoidal! Now, who among the current
generation of folk artists do you see carrying on that same tradition
and
spirit?
McGUINN: Dar Williams, Wilco, and Son Volt come to mind.
PEEPLES: Back to the tech stuff -- at what point did you get into streaming
audio and video, and MP3?
McGUINN: As soon as I got on the Web, I found RealAudio. It took me
a while to
get it working, but now I use it every day. In 1995, a friend's son
came to my
house and downloaded my first MP3 encoder for me. I loved the idea
of being
able to compress CD quality files into such a small space.
PEEPLES: Tell us how you connected with MP3.com.
McGUINN: Someone from the site contacted me and asked if I had anything
I
wanted to post. My first CD, "McGuinn's Folk Den, Vol. 1," has been
on MP3.com
for just over a month [as of 4/2/99]. The first week I was Pick of
the Day!
Already my track "James Alley Blues" has reached the MP3.com Weekly
Top 10. I'm
very honored to have reached this position on the foremost MP3 Web
site! The
exposure is tremendous. My songs get thousands and thousands of downloads!
And
MP3.com has been great to work with.
PEEPLES: What kind of emails are you getting? Fans? Industry? Long-lost
one-time accomplices like me?
McGUINN: Both fan mail and industry invitations have resulted from my
being on
MP3.com. Lots of old friends have discovered where to find me.
PEEPLES: Are you seeking a major label deal right now, or would you
rather stay
independent?
McGUINN: The idea of being told what to do by a record label is repugnant
to me
at this point in my life. I really love being able to create whatever
music I
like and post it. Some record company would have to come up with an
awful lot
of money to get me to sign with them, and they aren't going to do that.
PEEPLES: What's your take on SDMI and similar efforts to curb illegal
digital
copying of music on the Web? What do you think will happen?
McGUINN: There are too many ways for MP3 files to get around on the
new, for
anyone to be able to regulate them. I enjoy being on the legal side
of the MP3
wars. We'll just have to see how it all plays out. This reminds me
of FM radio
in the late '60s when the free-form format was starting. It was an
exciting
time for music!
PEEPLES: What do you think about the convergence of media on the Web?
McGUINN: It's inevitable, and I like it very much! I like the idea of
a
one-stop box that will cover all of your communication needs.
PEEPLES: Back in the analog world, how often do you go out to play gigs?
McGUINN: I spend between 50 and 100 days a year on the road. This year
many
will be in Europe. You can always see where I'll be at:
http://metalab.unc.edu/jimmy/mcguinn/tour.html.
Most of my shows are solo, with
my Rickenbacker 12-string and my new Martin D12-42RM 12-string guitars.
Sometimes I use a band as well. I've played with Wilco recently.
PEEPLES: Tell us about your new Martins.
McGUINN: The
Limited Edition D12-42RM Roger McGuinn 12-string is a 14-fret
Dreadnought. There a lot more information about it at my Website.
PEEPLES: Please give us brief track-by-track commentary on the stories
behind a
few of the songs you have posted now at MP3.com, starting with "James
Alley
Blues."
McGUINN: "The James Alley Blues" is Song #61 in the Harry Smith Anthology.
It
was originally recorded by Richard (Rabbit) Brown in New Orleans, on
March 5,
1927. Brown was one of the first musicians to learn the 12-bar blues
pattern,
and was one of the most important New Orleans folk singers to record.
He was
famous for his dramatic guitar playing, which was similar in style
to that of
bluesman Willie Johnson.
I have tuned to the key of the original recording, which is
somewhere
between C and C#, and have emulated the tempo and blues
licks Brown played.
PEEPLES: "Finnegan's Wake."
McGUINN: An old Irish tune, but these words were added later for music-hall
use
during the Victorian era. Some Irish people have objected to them as
an
English-inspired stereotype, but I first heard this song sung by the
Clancy
Brothers and Tommy Makem, at the Gate of Horn in Chicago, in the late
'50s. To
me, no one was more Irish than they were.
PEEPLES: "John Henry."
McGUINN: The legend of John Henry dates back to the early 1870s during
the
building of the Big Bend Tunnel through the West Virginia mountains
by C & O
Railroad workers. To carve this tunnel, then the longest in the United
States,
men worked in pairs to drill holes for dynamite. One man used a large
hammer to
pound a huge drill, while another man screwed it into the rock.
John Henry was renowned for his strength and skill in driving the steel
drills
into the solid rock. One day the captain brought a newly invented steam
drill
to the tunnel to test. Which was stronger, man or machine? John Henry,
the
strongest steel driver of them all, beat the steam drill, but according
to the
song, the effort killed him.
PEEPLES: "John The Revelator" -- and c'mon, who's the anonymous backing
singer?!
McGUINN: This was recorded originally in 1930 by Blind Willie Johnson.
He was
one of the foremost African American singers of religious songs, with
30
records to his credit. On his recording of this song, his wife, Angeline
sang
the answer-back part. I have tried to keep as close to the original
sound as
possible, but the person who sang the answer-back part on my recording
would
prefer to remain anonymous.
PEEPLES: Fair enough; had to ask! A few Byrds questions...Sony's releasing
a
remastered "Byrds Greatest Hits" collection with three bonus tracks...
McGUINN: ..."It Won't Be Wrong," "Set You Free This Time," and "Have
You Seen
Her Face."
PEEPLES: Of course, "Mr. Tambourine Man" will be on it. I've heard the
tape of
the complete January 1965 session with Terry Melcher and the Wrecking
Crew
guys, all 22 takes or whatever it was. It's a revelation. What you
were
thinking when you guys nailed "the keeper"?
McGUINN: The feeling was one of joy and disbelief! We couldn't fathom
that we'd
created something so overwhelming.
PEEPLES: In general, have you been okay with how Legacy has handled
the Byrds
catalog? How involved have you been?
McGUINN: I'm very happy that the Sony SBM reissues are coming out now,
and are
of such high quality! I have been involved in the mixing of the last
eight CDs.
Bob Irwin does an excellent job with the remastering.
PEEPLES: What do you think of the work the writer John Rogan [author
of the
Byrds bio "Timeless Flight"] has done to document the band's history?
McGUINN: At first I found Rogan's work lacking in factual detail and
overburdened with personal opinion. Now with the release of "Timeless
Flight
Revisited" I find that he has corrected the problems that had bothered
me in
his previous work. The liner notes for the "Byrds Greatest Hits" are
excellent
in their attention to detail.
PEEPLES: What else is in the wings?
McGUINN: "Untitled," "Byrdmaniax," and "Farther Along" will be out this
summer.
They all sound great, complete with bonus tracks!
PEEPLES: How about your SOLO catalog? That is also worthy of a box set,
or at
least a 2-CD anthology!
McGUINN: So far Sony hasn't shown any interest in releasing my solo
albums on
CD. My first is out on Edsyl. You can find out more about it at
http://metalab.unc.edu/jimmy/mcguinn/RM.html.
PEEPLES: What's your plan for the next several years?
McGUINN: Andres Segovia was scheduled to play Carnegie Hall the month
he died.
He kept doing what he loved until he couldn't do it any longer. That's
what I
plan to do!