Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I saw Roger McGuinn last night, and he is still as good as ever. Really good vocals and Excellent 12-string guitar skills.

Here's exactly what Roger played in order at the Ohio Theatre in Cleveland Ohio 11/08/2002:

1. My Back Pages
2. Ballad of Easy Rider / Wasn't Born to Follow
3. Pretty Boy Floyd
4. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
5. Mr. Spaceman
6. a Leadbelly tune "They hung him on a Cross"
7. "Railroad Bill"
8. In the Evenin'
9. Finnegan's Wake
10. Chestnut Mare
11. "James Letterman Blues" (?)
12. Dreamland
13. Jolly Roger
14. The Bells of Rhymney
15. Mr. Tambourine Man
16. Turn! Turn! Turn!
17. Eight Miles High (extended acoustic 12-string version)
18. So You Wanna Be a Rock 'n Roll Star / I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better
19. If I Needed Someone
20. King of the Hill
21. "May God Hold You in the Palm of His Hand"

It was great to hear the crowd singing along with some of these Classic tunes. Everyone around us was really getting into the harmony parts on "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better". It was great.

"Chestnut Mare" was BRILLIANT. It was the best version of it that I've ever heard. I could never really get into that song before, but this time it seemed so intimate and beautiful... "I'm gonna catch that Hoss if I can" [8-)]

"Jolly Roger" was awesome too. Riverdance was playing in the theatre next door, so the Celtic vibes in the area were strong. "Finnegan's Wake" seemed appropriate then, and so did "Heave away me lads, to the Cardiff Rose, and hoist the Jolly Roger!!" [:-)]

"Eight Miles High" kicked ***. It was an amazing extended acoustic 12-string version that went out into hyperspace.

"Mr. Tambourine Man" was really cool because he told the story of how no one at Columbia liked Dylan's version and didn't want to release it. So, the Byrds tried to do it, but Crosby thought it sounded wrong for some reason. It was in 2/4 time, so Roger changed it to rockin' 4/4 and the Byrds thought it sounded much better that way. Roger demonstrated a little bit of it in the Dylan 2/4 time on acoustic guitar, but then he put down the acoustic and picked up the Rickenbacker 12-string and said, "We thought it would sound a little better this way", and played the now Classic groove we all know... A sound that helped usher in an era. Roger played All the verses of the song last night, which was awesome. The old Byrds version of that song is so heavenly, but too short because it only does one verse. It was done in the 2 and 1/2 minute radio style of that era. But still, perhaps that's part of what makes you listen to that track again and again and again... to hear that little slice of heavenly sound over and over. I read somewhere that when Dylan first received an acetate copy of the Byrds version of "Tambourine Man", he played it so much that he wore it out!

"Ballad of Easy Rider / Wasn't Born to Follow", were played to slide right into each other. Roger also did that on, So "You Wanna Be a Rock 'n Roll Star / I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better". I love it when songs just slide right into each other like that.

Roger talked a lot about his roots and influences, and really cool stuff like just hanging out with Pete Seeger at Seeger's house. It was really cool. I had a Great time. [8-)]

How was his rendering of "If I Needed Someone"?

>> How was his rendering of "If I Needed
>> Someone"?

It was Cool. He played it right after "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", and played it with a very similar "jangley" Rickenbacker riff as that song. It sounded like it could've been a classic Byrds song. The Byrds and the Beatles definitely influenced each other. In this case it was the Byrds influencing the Beatles (George Harrison in particular). The following is an excerpt from a (www.allmusic.com) review of the Beatles' UK release of Rubber Soul:

"While the Beatles still largely stuck to love songs on Rubber Soul, the lyrics represented a quantum leap in terms of thoughtfulness, maturity, and complex ambiguities. Musically, too, it was a substantial leap forward, with intricate folk-rock arrangements that reflected the increasing influence of Dylan and the Byrds... George Harrison was also developing into a fine songwriter with his two contributions, "Think for Yourself" and the Byrdsish "If I Needed Someone."

Of course, the fellow beside me mentioned to his wife as Roger was playing the song, "Roger got the idea to get an electric 12-string from the one he saw George Harrison playing in the movie Hard Days Night". And, what that dude said to his wife was true. Roger played acoustic 12-string before all that, but when he saw the electric 12-string in that film, he knew that he wanted an electric one. Well, it was a Rickenbacker (of course). I too wanted a Rickenbacker after the first time I saw one, and I'm sure that's true with a lot of people here!

If you would like to hear Roger McGuinn play "If I Needed Someone", you may soon get a chance... I used the google search engine and found a site that said the following:

"A tribute album to the late George Harrison will be released on February 25, which would have been his 60th birthday... LAUNCH has learned that McGuinn will record the Rubber Soul track "If I Needed Someone"

Sounds pretty cool to me. A lot of other cool people are going to be on this upcoming tribute album too, go searchin' and read all about it.

Ok, after some research on my part, I want to correct the names of two songs that I wasn't sure about in my initial post on what Roger played in Cleveland two nights ago. Song # 11 is actually called "James Alley Blues". And, song # 21 is actually called "May the Road Rise". I got the rest of them right though. Yee-Haww !!!

Lee: My wife and I also had the pleasure of attending the Cleveland show. We had also seen him ~10 years ago with a backup band on the Rio tour.

His shows have such an intimate air to them. Roger is so talented and its clear that he is having the time of his life when he's up there doing his thing.

His guitars sounded beautiful! The Martin was so rich and full. The 8 Miles High riff blew me away. But the Ric... wow! He IS truly Mr. Rickenbacker. No debate. They should give him a piece of the company LOL.

With his frequent tuning, he must be tuning quite low these days. Interesting to me was that he transposed King of The Hill. On the recording, the verses begin with an A chord, and he did them in G. Easier on the throat I suppose.

If you guys have an opportunity to see him... GO!

(side note): We did the R&R HOF the next day. The Lennon exhibit is marvelous and its closing after December I believe. If you should make it there... bring plenty of Kleenex

Cool to hear that you were there, David. We were sitting in the 6th Row over on the right side of the Theatre. What view of the show did you get? Also, did you get any pictures? I saw some people had digital cameras with basically no flash at all, I think it would be cool to find some photos of this show. We forgot to bring a camera. If you have a picture, or know someone who does, we could post one on this page. Roger came out wearing a funky leather bluesman's hat, a black leather jacket, and alligator boots. Man, I hope someone took a picture of that!

We were in the 6th row as well, but on the opposite side. Funny... the seating chart showed us to be right in the center LOL Oh well... its all good. Yep we forgot our camera too. The funky hat was a nice touch Actually, I kinda remember seeing a pic of him on the web somewhere with it on, but I can't recall where.

One thing I'm curious about. Next day at the R&R HOF there was a RM guitar on display 370/12 with (hi-gain) pickups!? Is this a for real McGuinn guitar?

Yeah, the funky hat was cool

As to the RM 370/12 on display at the R&R Hall of Fame, I have no idea. I imagine if it's one of his signature guitars, then it is a McGuinn guitar, but I'm not sure if he ever used that one or not or when if ever. I don't know how we could find out unless someone has the number of that guitar and/or perhaps works at Rickenbacker and might be able to find something specific about this particular guitar.

This is Roger McGuinn's 1970 Model 370/12 Mapleglo Rickenbacker. The above link will take you to an article on the Byrds and the R&R Hall of Fame and to Terry Oberlander's research with regard to this insturment. Terry's work is well documentated and certainly recommended reading for Byrds' fans who are interested in McGuinn's 12 string Rickenbackers.

Thank you Peter. Terry was kind enough to email me with the details and a link to that site as well. Thanks also to you Terry.

There were alot more obvious differences in that guitar, I'm being told, than what I noticed. The headstock routed through for example!? LOL The pickups just caught my eye.

Guess I stayed out too late the night before