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Barry McGuire

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Barry McGuire was born in 1935 in Oklahoma City and grew up in California. He worked as a fisherman and as a pipefitter before he began singing in a bar. In the early 1960s he formed the folk duo Barry & Barry with Barry Kane, who performed in folk clubs in Pasadena and Hollywood. He then became a member of the folk group The New Christy Minstrels, for whom in 1963 he co-wrote and sang their biggest hit: Green, Green.

Music and breakthrough

In 1965 McGuire went solo, as a singer of folk rock. He recorded Eve of Destruction, written by P. F. Sloan. According to McGuire, this happened in one take, on a Thursday morning, with the lyrics on a crumpled piece of paper; where he could not read a word, he sang a drawn-out sound. The song was an angry catalogue of war, racial hatred and the threat of the atom bomb. In September 1965 it knocked The Beatles' Help! off the top spot in America. It remained his only big hit. On his next album The Mamas & the Papas sang along on California Dreamin'.

Influence

In 1968 he spent a year in the musical Hair on Broadway. In 1971 he became a committed Christian, and after that he made mainly Christian music, such as the album Cosmic Cowboy (1978). Eve of Destruction continued to define his name. The song shows how folk rock in the mid-1960s became a voice for young people who were worried about the future of the world.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Eve of Destruction. Notice the raw, hoarse voice of Barry McGuire and the harmonica. Hear how each verse lists a new series of problems, each time followed by the same bitter question in the chorus.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists