He was devoted to McGuinn’s work, and still called him Jim McGuinn (McGuinn had changed his name to Roger under the influence of the Subud faith in 1967).
I had a friend in Norwich, years ago, who placed Roger McGuinn with Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Jerry Garcia, Frank Zappa, Steve Miller, Jim Morrison and Paul Kantner at the peak of his personal pantheon of rock creativity.
Tonight was red, but it might just be the lighting. (exeunt stage left, pursued by saxophone).What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor? She’s more than the her that comes after the his and she wants to be more than a lay There’s something that’s different about herĪnd she knows what she likes and she knows what she is Oh and, incidentally, here are the lyrics. It sounds like what the Byrds may have been doing as a unit post "Notorious" more than anything on the reunion album.Īs regards Rogers solo output, it is, sadly, a mixed bag, everything except the execrable "Roger McGuinn and Band" has good moments though, "Back to Rio" and "Cardiff Rose" probably being the best IMO. I think they work exceptionally well here and altogether it's a great performance all round.McGuinn could have played the Lloyd parts to be sure, but it's nice to have another texture there. Sadly, Cardiff Rose didn't fare especially well on the sales charts, which is a shame - it finds McGuinn in excellent form, and proves he could have moved outside of the musical framework of the Byrds and still had plenty to say with the right collaborators.Ĭlick to expand.First time I've heard that, if true then it's unbelievable that "Sweet Mary" or "Born to Rock'n'Roll" made the final cut and this didn't.it's head, shoulders, dammit even ankles above most of that album.pity about the flat production though (credited to McGuinn.not Crosby as the reunion album was).Ĭrosbys scat vocals are a reprise of the backing vocals he did on "Ballad of the Chrome Nun" on the Kanter/Slick "Baron von Tolbooth and the Chrome Nun" album and, earlier, "Marrakesh Express" (at least the accoustic live versions that he and Nash did). The result, 1976's Cardiff Rose, is easily one of McGuinn's finest solo efforts with fellow Rolling Thunder veterans Rob Stoner, Howie Wyeth, and David Mansfield joining McGuinn and Ronson in the studio, the band sounds tight and enthusiastic from front to back, and while this rocks a good bit harder than the average McGuinn effort, Ronson's six-string swagger never gets in the way of the songs, and Mick's production is unexpectedly sympathetic, adding the right seafaring touches to the pirate tale "Jolly Roger" and coming up with a lovely old-timey arrangement for "Pretty Polly." McGuinn also had a better batch of material at his disposal than on his previous set, Roger McGuinn & Band he wrote a handful of strong originals, including "Partners in Crime" (a witty salute to Abbie Hoffman, then on the lam), the charging rockers "Rock and Roll Time" and "Take Me Away," and the beautifully atmospheric "Jolly Roger," while he was also lucky enough to receive fine contributions from Bob Dylan ("Up to Me") and Joni Mitchell ("Dreamland"). On the surface, Roger McGuinn, the former leader and 12-string jangle-meister of the Byrds, and Mick Ronson, who contributed the wicked guitar crunch to David Bowie's Spiders from Mars period, might seem like a wildly unlikely musical combination, but the two became friendly when they both toured as part of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, and after that road trip came to a close, Ronson went into the studio with McGuinn to produce his next solo album.
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