1965: Barry McGuire – Music AmneZia1965: Barry McGuire

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Born in Oklahoma City during 1935, McGuire had relocated to New York City and joined up with folk revivalists the New Christy Minstrels by the early ’60s. He was anointed the band’s lead singer and appeared on several albums and their first hit single, “Green, Green” (which was co-penned by McGuire).

Eve of Destruction (song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Soon after, however, McGuire caught the attention of both record producer Lou Adler and singer/songwriter P.F. Sloan, resulting in the guitarist/singer leaving the New Christy Minstrels and launching a solo career, signing on with Adler’s Dunhill Records. McGuire’s solo debut, The Barry McGuire Album, was released in 1963, but it wasn’t until two years later that McGuire scored a massive hit with the Sloan-penned track “Eve of Destruction,” which topped the U.S. charts (peaking at number three in the U.K.) and was taken from his sophomore full-length, Barry McGuire Featuring Eve of Destruction. McGuire became good friends with another Adler-guided outfit, the Mamas & the Papas (who mentioned him in some of their song lyrics), while further solo albums were issued, including This Precious Time and The World’s Last Private Citizen, but none spawned any singles as successful as “Eve.” By the early ’70s, McGuire had turned his back on folk music and he re-appeared as a Christian/gospel artist, signing on with the Myrrh label and issuing such standout albums as 1973’s Seeds, 1975’s Lighten Up, and a live recording, 1982’s To the Bride, among countless others. In the 1980s, McGuire left the music industry, and settled for a time in New Zealand with his New Zealand wife Mari (former secretary of McGuire’s Agape Force associate, Winkie Pratney). He returned to the United States in the 1990s, teaming up with Terry Talbot and recording as Talbot McGuire. The duo released four albums between 1996 and 2000. Barry even did a brief stint with The New Mamas and the Papas in 1997-1998. In 1990, McGuire published a novel co-written with Logan White. A paperback, In the Midst of Wolves told a story about a group of bikers who come to know God. As of 2006, he takes engagements which include a few songs and talks on a mixture of topics, by both McGuire and his wife. The McGuires resided in Fresno, California on their return to the United States but have since moved back to New Zealand. On March 12, 2008, McGuire appeared on the Australian music comedy/game show, Spicks and Specks, performing an updated version of “Eve of Destruction”, with new lines such as, “You’re old enough to kill/ you just started voting” and “… can live for ten years in space”. The reference to “Red China” was also removed. In 2009 McGuire released “Eve 2012” where the text had been greatly modified to reflect contemporary problems (mostly environmental problems) rather than the problems of the 1960s. In 2008, McGuire teamed up with former member of The Byrds, John York, for a live tour called “Trippin’ the ’60s”, which McGuire describes as “…taking the songs and the truth that was in those songs from the 1960s and bringing them into the present moment…It’s not a cover pack, it’s us singing songs that we sung with a lot of our friends that aren’t around anymore to sing them.