Roadie Report 26-The Winter of 2007 by Camilla McGuinn

For years we have eschewed the opportunity to drive north in February, but in 2007 we opened our schedule to driving everywhere in spite of the weather because the American roads are kept pretty clear during adverse weather conditions. We packed a couple of warm coats and we were ready for a winter adventure.

Our arrival in Fairfield, Ohio on February 2 was greeted with a blast of cold arctic air. Everyone was talking about the weather but the weather couldn't keep the fans at home. People remembering where they were in 1965 and people not even born then, warmed the Fairfield Community Arts Center.

Farm Niente was on our way home. Linda and Bill greeted us for an overnight reunion. It snowed that night and it was cold enough to crack the S.Pellegrino bottles in our van. Those winter coats were being put to good use.

The weather was warming up in March, so we thought the winter was going to sleep. While on our second winter adventure of the year, a surprise snow and sleet storm woke us up on Friday morning in Littleton, Massachusetts. I called the promoter and arranged for him to have someone pick us for the concert. The show was sold out and in spite of the icy roads, most of the seats were filled.

Snow was still coming down when I peeked out of the hotel window early Saturday morning. It looked peaceful, but we had hundreds of miles to drive before another concert that night. I put on my coat, pulled a hat over my ears and headed out the door to see if the van was buried in snow. It wasn’t buried, but I was sinking up to my knees in white powdery snowflakes.

While Roger was packing the guitars and equipment onto the hotel cart, I decided to shovel the snow. Amazingly, I had just bought a snow scrapper for the windshield that had a small shovel attached. For the first fifteen minutes I laughingly shoveled and enjoyed some else’s weather but it didn’t take long for me to quit seeing the humor in the situation. We had miles to go and the parking lot was much too big for me to shovel. Drastic measures became necessary. I went in search of the hotel maintenance office and pleaded for their snowplow to get us out of the parking lot.

Roger arrived with the equipment minutes before the snowplow. I left him to pack the van and I went to check out. When I got back to the van, we were ready to go. Even though the snow was unrelenting, we were on a mission to make it to Fairfield, NJ in time for our day-of-show lunch at 2pm. Our snow and mud caked van slid into an icy parking lot just in time for that welcomed meal.

We had a few days off before our next concert at Monmouth University in Long Branch, NJ. After we found a much-needed car wash that could handle our high-top van, we headed to the Sheraton On The Hudson to spend a few nights and to hop the ferry for some appointments in New York City.




While at the Sheraton, our first shipment of “Live From Spain” was delivered from Oasis CD Manufacturing to our hotel suite. Our record label’s (April First Productions) third CD is a live show which was recorded for radio broadcast from the Azkena Rock Festival in Vitoria-Gasteiz Spain on September 10, 2004. The master of the recording sat on my desk for over a year and it was during a “Creative Saturday” moment that I picked it up and took it to Roger’s studio for him to analyze. He immediately put it on and before I could get back to my office, I stopped, turned around, went back to his studio door and stood listening with my mouth slightly ajar. The recording is of a very high quality because it was for radio broadcast and the show has an interesting flair since Roger had targeted it for the Spanish audience. There is even a rare guitar solo on one of the songs. When we heard the solo, we simultaneously said, “I didn’t know that was there!”

Then the fun began. I called Oasis CD Manufacturing and arranged for quotes and a design team. Roger and I had the same vision for the cover - an Old World map of Spain with flames. The Internet and the wonderful art department at Oasis made it possible for the cover and contracts to be completed within the week. Roger asked me to write a Roadie Report about the trip to put on the inside cover and then with an overnight delivery of the master, the finished product was scheduled to be in our hands during the next tour. All I had left to do was to arrange the publishing licenses for wonderful songs written by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Jacques Levy, Goffin and King, and other gifted writers.

We gave the first copy of "Live From Spain" to Roger’s son, Patrick, at dinner that night.

Roger was not only performing a concert at Monmouth University; he was also presenting a lecture about his experiences in musical history and about the advantages of computer recording. We went to West Longbranch a day early to sing some songs live on WBJB radio and to help with their fund raising. The weather was still cloudy and cold.

The sold out concert in Albany in the Swyer Theatre at The Egg, had a few technical problems before the show could begin. I seriously thought about beginning a career in comedy while we waited for the equipment to be fixed, but I could hear Roger's voice in the recesses of my mind calling with a Cuban accent, “Luu..cy! What are you doing?” The equipment got fixed just in the nick of time. Not only was the audience patient, they were appreciative.

The weather had cleared in the morning when we headed to Beacon, NY to Pete Seeger’s house for a BBC radio interview about the song, “Bells of Rhymney.” We drove past patches of ice banks along the long rutted driveway up to the Seeger home. Roger had recorded Pete at his mountain top house in 2000 for the Grammy nominated CD “Treasures From The Folk Den.” Walking through the front door into the arms of Toshi and Pete was like another homecoming.

Toshi and Pete Seeger found their mountain acres in 1949. They met in NYC at a square dance and because of empty pockets, they started looking north of the city for a place to live. They found their homestead and built their house with their own hands and with the help of everyone who came to visit. Pete tells of having a hammer ready for every pair of hands that shook his hand.

Pete told me that Toshi was the quintessential pioneer woman. With a baby on her hip, she would walk down to the creek for water. Her small frame stands taller than the highest mountain tree and she is my hero. As she was heating water for tea, I asked her if she still drove up the long steep, driveway to their house. She replied, “Everyday.” I mentioned I was glad to hear that because I wondered how long I would be able to drive the roads as Roger’s roadie. Toshi smiled and said emphatically, “ You will do it as long as you need to.”
Disciple and Teacher

We drove down the mountain and headed for Buffalo late that afternoon with our emotions deeply touched by two of the inspirations for both of our lives, Toshi and Peter Seeger.

Coxsackie, NY is home to another amazing couple, Mary and Bob Irwin. Bob and Roger met while working on the first Byrds Box Set in 1990. He and Mary formed Sundazed Music in 1989. The label is a meticulous labor of love. Bob loves music and searches for rare jewels to encase in supreme packaging from vinyl to compact disc. We stopped by for a quick hello which turned into a lunch that lasted all afternoon. By the time we left, Bob expressed a desire to package “Live From Spain” on vinyl. You never know what a day may bring forth.
Bob, Mary and Roger


A day off between concerts is always an opportunity to explore. Such were the days before the concert at Rockwell Hall on the Buffalo State College campus. We had visited Niagara Falls before, so while reading about the area, I discovered a small town called Niagara on the Lake in Canada. We set the GPS and found ourselves spending the day and evening in a charming quaint town surrounded by vineyards. We had no idea the Canadian wine country existed and we can’t wait for another opportunity to visit and thoroughly explore the area.

The previous time we were in Buffalo, Roger and I were walking through the Walden Galleria and heard the sound of a wonderful voice drifting our way. The mall was celebrating something, as malls often do, with a stage and music. An attractive woman was standing bravely on stage by herself singing her heart out to shoppers passing on their way. We stood by a store window and listened to her last song. Roger loved her voice. I approached her and asked her name and contact information telling her that my husband would someday like to have her as his opening act.

Later in the evening at Rockwell Hall, I mentioned to Jeff, the promoter, that Roger would like to have Maria Sebastian open for him the next time he played the venue. Jeff was familiar with Maria and made a note of Roger’s request. When this show was scheduled, Jeff arranged for Maria to be on the bill.

I opened The Buffalo News on March 30 looking for advertisements for Roger’s show. The headline that I saw on the front page of the entertainment section was, “THE WEEK: Maria Sebastian is a storyteller with a guitar.” Mark Sommer, a reporter we have worked with for years, interviewed Maria about how she became the opening act for Roger McGuinn. She told Mark about the day a woman approached her about opening for her husband but she didn’t recognize the musician's name. That night she Googled him and was shocked and embarrassed. She wasn’t the first one to be caught unaware by this quiet troubadour.

Maria was the sparkling local celebrity singing to happy hometown crowd at Rockwell Hall on March 30, 2007. Roger enjoyed listening to her through the speakers in his dressing room. I enjoyed musicians coming to my “lemonade stand” and letting me know when they would be performing at the mall. There were a lot of smiles leaving the venue that night.

The Buffalo show was followed by concerts in Indiana, Pennsylvania and the beautifully restored State Theater in State College, PA. It was at the State Theater that we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary on April First. We enjoy celebrating special occasions while we are working at what we love. Mike Negra, director of the theater, and Wanda, his wife, filled the dressing room with special refreshments to take back to our hotel room for a wonderful quiet party after the concert .

We stopped in Hershey, PA on our way to The Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA. We often pass by the exit signs for Hershey and I had always thought of it as a tourist area built around a chocolate bar, but with a few days to get south, we decided to see if there was anything unusual about the town.

The Hershey Hotel is a grand old place, maybe a little too old. There was a mold problem, but we loved the view of the grounds from our room for one night. The hotel had a television channel continually playing the Biography Channel’s story of Milton Hershey. We were amazed at the heart of this man who built a city with chocolate. The model community he designed for his factory workers did not exploit them, but provided for their happiness and welfare. We wondered if Mr. Hershey inspired Walt Disney. Had Walt lived, would he have been able to make EPCOT a working living community just as Milton Hershey had done?

Driving through the town brought a smile to our faces. The lights that illuminate the streets are in the shape of Hershey Kisses. Chocolate Avenue meets Cocoa Avenue.

Our hotel room rate included tickets to the Hershey Gardens and to the Hershey Museum. It was too cold for the gardens, so we went to the museum. The town has a big amusement park but luckily for us it wasn’t the season to be open, so the traffic was very light on the small streets.


We also went to Chocolate World. I wanted to go into the factory, but that opportunity no longer exists. Chocolate World has a ride that takes you through a mock up of the factory. It spills you out into a store filled with all the chocolate Hershey makes and as I was typing this, I realized some of that chocolate was still in our refrigerator, calling for me to leave my computer and to share a bit of it with Roger. After all, “Creative Saturday” ends at 2pm.




All photos by Camilla McGuinn


If you enjoyed reading this - email the roadie at mcguinnroadiereport@gmail.com

Roadie Report 25- Jim McGuinn with Bobby Darin, Art & Paul, Judy Collins, Dion and John Sebastian in Greenwich Village in 1963 by Camilla McGuinn

New York Library (photo by Camilla)

1963

It was a summer’s morning in 1963 when Jim McGuinn stood looking up at the number on the door of the Brill Building and comparing it with the address on the slip of paper Bobby Darin had given him. He wasn’t familiar with the history of the Brill Building at 1619 Broadway; it was just the place Bobby was setting up shop.

The building was constructed in 1931 and named after the haberdasher Morris Brill who owned the building’s ground floor clothing store. The Brill Building was the home of the publishers' empire, “Tin Pan Alley.” Publishers nurtured and owned the works of Gershwin, Joplin, Berlin and other prolific composers. These were the last days of the publishers' bastion and Jim was walking into those halls now graced with new writers: Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach, Neil Sedaka, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Carole King and Gerry Goffin.

Mr. Darin had a large office at the south end of a hall where he talked on the telephone until lunch time. Then he would call his stable of writers out of their five by nine stalls to join him for cheeseburgers and Dr. Brown’s cream sodas. The nine to five work day for Jim was tedious compared to all the adventures he had enjoyed on the road.

Jim was instructed to listen to the radio and to emulate the songs he heard. He kept three radios playing tuned to the top three stations: 1010 Wins, WABC and WMCA. After listening to repeated hits by the Beach Boys, Jim teamed with Frank Gari and wrote a song they called, “Beach Ball.” When they played it for Bobby, he called the Brill Building demo studio and booked it that hour.

The three-track recorder was switched on while Bobby Darin played drums, Frank played piano and Jim played guitar. After the instrument track was recorded, all three stood around one microphone and sang the song in harmony. Capitol Records released the single under the group name, “The City Surfers.” None of these city boys had a love affair with a surfboard, but it was the wave of the times.

“Beach Ball” was played by the New York City radio stations, but it was a recording of it by Jimmy Hannan in Australia that sent the song to the top ten on the “Down Under” music charts. Harmonies on the song were sung by a group of brothers named Gibb. They later became known as the Bee Gees.

The Brill Building’s intense requirements for hit songs and its daily grind was stifling to Jim. It was the evenings in Greenwich Village that gave him a release and hope for his music. The Village was teeming with venues for musicians and comedians in which to practice their art. Café Wa?, The Gaslight, The Bitter End, Israel Young’s Folklore Center, The Village Gate and Gerdes Folk City were showcasing Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Bob Dylan and the unofficial mayor of Greenwich Village, Dave Von Ronk.




















The Café Playhouse was the venue for the unsigned itinerant musicians - John Sebastian, Richie Havens, Peter Tork, Tiny Tim - and that’s where Jim would go to get in front of an audience as Bobby had tutored him to do.

On November 22, 1963, Jim gathered with a group of friends at Bob Carey’s apartment and stared with shock at his black and white television while they listened to the news reports of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. In his grief, Jim turned to his source of comfort, a guitar. As he strummed the music to the old folk song “He Was A Friend of Mine” these words came to him as he sang:

He was a friend of mine
He was a friend of mine
His killing had no purpose
No reason, or rhyme
He was a friend of mine

He was in Dallas town
He was in Dallas town
From a sixth floor window
A gunner shot him down
He died in Dallas town

He never knew my name
He never knew my name
Though I never met him
I knew him just the same
Oh, he was a friend of mine

Leader of a nation for
Such a precious time
He was a friend of mine

He finished singing, laid down his guitar and held his aching head as tears dropped to the floor. Bob gave him a tranquilizer and told him to lie down.

In the morning, he walked the streets of the Village joining the wave of despair that had engulfed the City and the nation. He ended up sitting at the bar of Minetta’s Tavern, nursing a beer and thinking about meaning of his life. Folk music seemed more important than ever to him. Songs were still a way to carry the news, the pain and the hope of people. Songs were a way to make a difference and differences were on the way. Jim seldom went back to his stall in the Brill Building.

John Sebastian was born in New York City and raised on MacDougal Street. Jim and John applauded each other’s performances at the Café Playhouse – music was their bond.

One night in front of the Café Wa?, John showed Jim a pair of small oval-shaped sunglasses with cobalt blue lenses. John suggested he try them on and lift his eyes upward toward the streetlight. Jim loved the effect and vowed that as soon as he got some money he would get a pair with prescription lenses. At the moment, he was wearing only one contact lens. He had lost the other one and everything was very expensive to him.

Electra Records producer, Paul Rothchild would often scout the Village for new talent. Sebastian introduced him to Jim. Paul was impressed with Jim’s guitar technique and arranged for him to do some recording session work. One session was with the duo, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle. They called themselves, Tom and Jerry. They had wanted to use their first names, Art and Paul, but Jim’s former Los Angeles roommate, Art Podel along with his partner Paul Potash had already taken the name.

Rothchild recommended Jim to Jac Holzman, the president of Electra, to play guitar and banjo on “Judy Collins #3” album.
Jim would go to Judy’s West Village apartment to work with her on arrangements before the studio time was booked for the recording. He arrived at her home always on time, wearing a suit and tie. Bobby Darin’s tutelage remained evident in Jim’s life. Judy, a consummate professional, was open to all Jim’s suggestions, which included non-traditional folk instruments such as cellos and strings. They were both influenced by Pete Seeger and working on Pete’s “Bells of Rhymney” and “Turn, Turn, Turn” was a treat for Jim. Jac Holzman and Judy gave Jim a “Musical Director” credit on the album.

This time in the village was a homeless one for Jim. He migrated from one friend’s apartment to another. One drifting night, he got off the bus near Washington Square and walked through the park to the Earl Hotel. The hotel was beautifully situated for a folk musician. The folk clubs were close and every Sunday the sounds of 5-string banjos, 12-string guitars, 6-string guitars, mandolins, fiddles and tambourines flowed around the circular fountain in the middle of the park.

Shawn Phillips, a folk singer from Texas, smiled at Jim as he struggled through the door into the lobby of the Earl Hotel burdened with his guitar, banjo, portable record player and suitcase. “Hey Jim, looks like you’ve got all your worldly possessions. Are ya checking in?”
“Thinking about it. Do you know how much the rooms are?”
“The one I just checked out of was three dollars a night and its got a great view of the park.”
“That sounds good. What’s the room number?”
“707, like the plane, man. I know you’ll like it. I was there for a month.”

Jim walked into room 707, laid down his gear and opened the window to let in the winter’s night air. He had given the hotel clerk half of all his money for the weekly rate of fifteen dollars.

Money wasn’t important to Jim – music was. He made a beeline to the record store on the corner of Eighth Street. He had to get the new album “Meet the Beatles,” and analyze their style as he had done years before with Elvis Presley, Bob Gibson, Scruggs and Flat, and Pete Seeger. He loved the sound of the Beatles because they were using folk music chord patterns with modal forth and fifth harmonies, and combining it with elements of jazz, blues, Bossa Nova and rock 'n' roll. He was amazed at their innovative approach to music and decided to incorporate their “Beatle Beat” into his folk repertoire, much to the chagrin of the Village folkies.

Joe Stevens, the proprietor of the Café Playhouse, offered Jim a steady job, which meant he got paid by passing his hat around to the customers. Joe liked Jim’s new musical style so he put a sign on the sidewalk - “Beatle Impressions.” Jim hated the sign but the gig sustained his room rent and his daily meal of a twenty-five cent piece of pizza.

Michelle and John Phillips lived in a suite at the Earl Hotel. Jim had met them a few years earlier in San Francisco, so it was natural to spend time in their suite sharing songs, drugs and their better view of Washington Square Park.

Bobby Darin was still watching out for his protégé and sent Dion Di Mucci to the Earl Hotel to audition Jim for his next touring band. Dion listened to Jim’s “Beatle Beat’ repertoire, then invited him to lunch. It was a welcome invitation. Food was always on Jim’s mind and seldom in his stomach.

They walked to Jim’s regular pizza stand on MacDougal Street and ordered two sausage sandwiches. Dion paid with a five-dollar bill. Five dollars was a lot of money to Jim and he thought that “Runaround Sue’ and “The Wanderer” must have made Dion rich.

Walking back to the hotel, Dion asked Jim, “What do you think it’s all about?”
“What do you mean?”
“Life. It isn’t about money and it isn’t about being a rock star. So what is it about?”
“Well… not sure. I don’t have money. I’ve never been a rock star. I don’t know, maybe it’s just about getting high.”
Dion paused, then said quietly, “Your style is really interesting and I think you should stick with it, but you’re not exactly what I need for this tour.”

The long winter was coming to an end and Jim was ready for a change when Bob Hippard called from Los Angeles. Bob was Hoyt Axton’s tour manager and he had convinced The Troubadour’s owner, Doug Weston, to let Jim open for the three week engagement of Axton and Roger Miller. Bob told Jim to get on the next plane to the coast and he would meet him at the airport. Jim had no money for the airplane ticket, so this time his parents fronted the cost.

Bob almost didn’t recognize Jim as he walked toward him from the airline gate. This 21 year old who had toured two continents, played Carnegie Hall, been on national television, performed with world renowned musical artists, recorded on hit records now looked like a vagabond. His hair was long and combed forward, his big black crumpled raincoat looked huge over his thin frame and his pale skin was a sharp contrast to the warm southern California sun … but there was a glint of expectation in his eyes and in his walk.

2006

We did what tourist always do in New York City on Thanksgiving. The night before we made a pilgrimage to watch the parade balloons blow up to the size of small buildings.
The next morning, we braved the wind and cold to watch the parade from a sidewalk covered with a sea of umbrellas. We then found warmth and shelter in two different restaurants - one for appetizers and one for the tradional meal. Patrick, Roger's son and New York resident, joined us and we all ate more food than we should have before catching the ferry back to our hotel.


The photos of the venues and parade were taken in 2006 by Camilla

Roadie Report 24 - Bobby Darin by Camilla McGuinn

Photo by Camilla

We had a week to unpack and answer a month's worth of mail before we hit the road again. On November 17, Roger was scheduled to perform at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA on the same bill with the legendary Doc Watson. Nothing like playing on the same stage graced by a legend, to get your adrenaline pumping. We were both excited all evening. I was delighted to hear people tell me after Roger’s show how surprised they were at his guitar technique. The audience was packed with Watson fans who came to see the fingers fly.

Saturday night we spent a quiet evening with our friends, John and Mary Ann, then arose early Sunday morning for a trip to New York City. Roger had an interview with Dave Marsh on Sirius radio. It was so close to Thanksgiving and because of the heavy seasonal traffic, we decided to stay and enjoy the holiday atmosphere of the City.

Dave Marsh and Roger at Sirius Radio. Photo by Camilla


One of our favorite hotels is the Sheraton On The Hudson in Weehawken, NJ. The view of Manhattan from this all suite hotel is incredible and when you want to go to the City, the ferry is easy to catch - right out the front door. The ferry docks after an enjoyable 10 minute cruise across the Hudson River at the West 39th St. terminal where there are free buses to transport you all around town. It is a real Epcot Center adventure - in the old days, I would have said it was an “E” ticket. Thanksgiving spent in New York is so much fun that we invited our friends to join us there for the celebration. Michael, the hotel concierge, arranged for us all to have rooms close together.

The view of the Ferry and City from our hotel room. Photo by Camilla

Two of our friends, Pat and Theresa, arrived earlier than the others because we promised them a “Roger McGuinn's 60’s Flash Back Tour of Greenwich Village.” On Tuesday morning, we all boarded the ferry and Roger began telling the story of how he ended up living in Greenwich Village.

1962

After The Chad Mitchell Trio finished their opening show for Lenny Bruce at the Crescendo, Jim ( Roger) stood backstage smoking a cigarette leaning against the wall in the hall. Two men approached him and the shorter one began the conversation. “I’m Bobby Darin. This is Steve Blauder my manager. I liked your act up there tonight kid. Can you sing harmony?

Jim nodded.

How would you like to work for me?

“Well, I’ve been thinking about joining the New Christie Minstrels.” Jim replied as he slowly stood a little straighter and lowered his cigarette behind his back.

Bobby shook his head, “You don’t want to do that. You’ll get buried in a group that size. How much are these guys paying you?”

Jim felt like a kid talking to the principal so he reluctantly told him, “Two fifty a week.”

“I’ll double it.” Bobby said very pragmatically.

It didn’t take long for Jim to realize that he was standing in front of “The Bobby Darin” who had just offered him a job for a lot of money. He dropped his cigarette on the floor, extinguished it with his foot, looked Bobby in the eye and asked, “When do I start?”

“Be at my house tomorrow morning at seven. Steve will give you directions.” Then Mr. Darin turned and walked away.

Jim walked in the front door of the house he was sharing with Art Podell and was handed a joint by Bob Hippard. Jim got a beer from the sparsely stocked refrigerator then joined them in the haze of smoke. Later they remembered Jim had been working that night so they asked about his gig. He told them about the Bobby Darin conversation. As he talked it all seemed unreal to him, especially the 7am directive to be at Bobby’s house. It was already past midnight and he usually watched the sun rise in the eastern sky before he closed his eyes for dreamland.

Art didn’t like the idea and kept reminding Jim that he’d joined the Christie Minstrels for the cover photo of TV guide. Bob took a different approached and encouraged Jim to go bed and to get up early. This opportunity was too good for a nineteen year old musician to sleep through.

Jim knocked on the door of Darin’s Sunset Plaza Drive house promptly at seven in the morning. Bobby opened the door, dressed like a business man, and directed Jim to the dining room. His authoritative manner made Jim feel very young even though Bobby was only a few years older.

Bobby told Jim to help himself to coffee and sweet rolls, then disappeared. The coffee was what Jim craved but it added to his apprehension. He didn’t dare move from the dining room, but he kept his eyes glued through the door to the rest of the house. Sandra Dee, Bobby’s pretty young wife, walked through the living room wearing a red sweatshirt and white shorts, obviously oblivious to the guest staring at her. Finally Bobby returned.

“Okay, Jim, this is what I want you to do. I’m going to add a folk segment to my show. I’ll do fifteen minutes with the band then I’ll bring you out. Then just the two of us will do a couple of folk songs. You’ll sing harmony and play your 12-string. You even get your own spotlight. We start rehearsals at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas next week. Charlie Mafia will take care of all the arrangements. Write your phone number on that pad over there.”

Jim was stunned. He had brought his guitar to the house for what he thought would be an audition and walked out feeling like he had just been adopted by a rich godfather.

A week later, Jim boarded a plane with Bobby’s rhythm section bound for Las Vegas. He was still the youngest musician in the band but he had worked Vegas before with the Chad Mitchell Trio, so he had a little confidence. Rehearsals with Bobby were on time and intense. Darin was a perfectionist who didn’t tolerate sloppy habits. Jim was always on time with his black mohair suit pressed, his shoes shined and his guitar tuned.

On opening night, just before he was about to walk on stage and join Bobby, stage fright tapped Jim on the shoulder. He checked his guitar tuning and was horrified at the out of pitch strings. His nerves were distorting his sense of pitch and he frantically tried to get the 12-strings in tune before his entrance. Bobby began taking off his jacket, which was the cue to walk onto the dark stage. Jim tentatively moved to the center stage microphone and began playing “It Makes A long Time Man Feel Bad.” Miraculously the guitar was in tune. The song’s opening lick was fast and intricate. It required so much total concentration that the “stage fright monster” was forced out the back door.

Bobby walked over to his microphone. Two spotlights illuminated the two lone figures on stage as they sang the song together. Jim’s dream of singing and playing as a professional entertainer came to fruition that night. The audience exploded into applause.

In the audience that night, Sandra Dee was sitting with Peter Fonda, her co-star in “Tammy and the Doctor.” I wrote about that meeting in Roadie Report 8.

Jim became Bobby’s apprentice and followed him everywhere. Bobby was very generous with his mentoring and Jim wanted to know everything Bobby knew - from performing to everyday living. Bobby was always on the search for talent and Jim tagged along the night Darin saw the Newton brothers in a hotel lounge. Bobby told Jim that he was impressed with Wayne, but not the combination with the brothers.

Darin told Jim that the most important thing about performing was to get in front of an audience every chance you could. He said it didn’t matter how good you were in front of your mirror at home, you had to test it under fire. He also told him that the future was in rock ‘n’ roll.

Returning to Las Vegas as part of Bobby Darin’s show elevated Jim from accompanist to performer. One night after the Flamingo show, Jim went over to the Sahara to see Don Rickles’ show. Don recognized him and decided Jim would be a good recipient of one of his famous insults. “There’s a kid back there who works for Bobby Darin. He’s been in the business about two weeks and he goes around saying ‘I’m a star, I’m a star!’” Darin’s spotlight on Jim had brought him into the big arena.

Bobbie was very disappointed in Jim when he turned down the role of the banjo playing character in Jackie Cooper’s “Petticoat Junction.” Jim couldn’t see himself playing a Hollywood hillbilly. Bobby also gave Jim a lecture about showmanship. One night, after Jim’s part in the show, he joined his friends at a table to watch the rest of Bobby’s act. They had a riotous good time and Bobby noticed. After the show, Charlie Mafia, tapped Jim on the shoulder and told him to report to Bobby’s dressing room. Before he got in the door, Bobbie was yelling, “While I was on stage you were laughing and talking. You were showing me no respect!” It was a lesson Jim never forgot and to this day he is very careful when he is a member of an audience. He always listens and says very few words while someone is performing.

Jim toured with Bobby until the doctors told Darin he needed to slow down because of his heart condition. Trying to slow Bobby Darin down was like trying to stop a train. He needed to be working so he decided to move to New York City to concentrate on his publishing company, TM Music. He invited “skinny mcguinny”, his moniker for Jim, to join him in the famed Brill Building for the guaranteed fee of $35 week.

Bobby pointed out that even though it was a big cut in pay, he could do session work and play the folk clubs in the Village. “ You can buy a lot of cheeseburgers.” Those words were the only encouragement Bobby gave him to take the job. Once again, Jim took the job offered to him and Bobby Darin payed for his airplane ticket to New York City.

2006
Just as Roger finished telling the story of how he ended up living in the Village, the Ferry Bus stopped at Minetta Lane and the memories continued as we walked the tree line streets.

To be continued….
Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. Photo by Camilla

Roadie Report 23 - The United Kingdom and "Crowded House" Flash Back by Camilla McGuinn

Bristol,England (photo by Camilla)

The first UK show was at The Coliseum near Aberdare, Wales. It is 23 miles from Cardiff so Steve Walker, the CMP rep/tour manager, picked us up at the Cardiff Hilton at 4pm. Steve has been working with us on every tour to the UK since 1997. His capable hand makes touring in the UK a delightful, stress free adventure. We of course ran into traffic - the world’s afternoon traffic starts at 4pm - but it gave us time to catch up on Steve’s life in Australia and the antics of Gemma, his daughter. He flies to England once a year to work with the CMP concerts.

At the theater we had our first meeting with Jade Gallagher. CMP had sent me the “MySpace” links of two performers they wanted Roger to consider for his opening act. I went to Jade’s site first and knew she was the one Roger would choose. She has not only a beautiful voice - she is gorgeous.

This was Jade’s first national tour and her enthusiasm and that of her producer, Guy was a delightful fresh breeze. We quickly developed an after-show pattern: while Steve was packing the equipment, Jade and Guy would come to Roger’s dressing room and share our Champagne which the promoter always so graciously provided. We would spend about half an hour sharing stories and road experiences. It reminded me of a tour that we’d done with Crowded House in 1989.

1989
Crowded House was on tour after the release of their “Temple of Low Men” recording. Their manager suggested Roger as their support act for the West Coast concerts. Elizabeth Rush, Roger’s agent at the time, negotiated for us to ride on their tour bus with them. It was a bit awkward going into the situation because none of us had ever met and their tour manager wasn’t sure he wanted to share their bus with us. I talked to him for a while, and told him that Roger always has a relaxed attitude and that we didn’t need bunks on the bus since there was only one overnight trip and we would be fine on the couches.

We flew to Vancouver and met the group for the first time at sound check. After Roger’s sound check, all three of them approached Roger and asked if they could play on the BYRDS’ songs. I pointed out that if they joined Roger that early, they would be dissipating their own entrance for their show. They didn’t care one bit - they wanted to play with Roger. Every night they joined Roger on stage with the precision of master musicians. I recorded the shows on cassette. At the last concert, while their Capitol records A&R man was talking with me, I took the earphones from my Walkman Pro, placed them on his head and said, “Listen to this.” I watched his face as he listened and his eyes almost jumped out of their sockets. Capital released my cassette recording of Roger and Crowded House.

Capitol Records never paid any royalties to us and knowing record companies, they probably didn’t to Crowded House either, but it was magical and I’m glad some people have a copy of that piece of history.

Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and Paul Hester performed one of the best high-energy shows I have ever seen. Roger and I would sit on the side of the stage, sip some Champagne and be thoroughly entertained by a different show every night. Their love of the music and the fun they were having, spilled over onto the audience and onto the equipment box we were sitting on.

Other magical moments of that tour were on the tour bus. When we boarded the bus the morning after the Vancouver concert, the group pointed us in the direction of the back suite. This is the primo property of a tour bus and they had decided that it was to be Roger’s. We were overwhelmed. During the drives we spent a lot of the time in the front of the bus getting to know the group. It didn’t take long for us all to become very comfortable with each other and then the fun began. The conversations were filled with so much witty repartee, my head was spinning from all the puns. Then the quiet moments would begin. Neil would ask Roger a musical question, then a Byrds’ question and then a 60’s question. The banter between Nick, Paul and Neil would cease as they reverently listened to the music sage answer their deeply inquiring questions of the times and music of the 60’s decade. I enjoyed watching their faces and wondered if my face still showed excitement when I was in the presence of someone who had made an impact on my life. As I write this I realize that these guys made a big impact on our lives. I was probably sadder when they disbanded than when the Beatles did and I'm thankful we will always have the memories of that magical tour in 1989.

2006
Steve drove us back to Cardiff after the concert and in the morning we boarded the train to Preston. We had asked Nick, Roger’s agent, to have CMP arrange the tour schedule with concerts two days in a row and then one day off. We wanted to have time to enjoy our work and not become exhausted.

After Preston, we had a day off. Glasgow was only a few hours away by train, just enough time for a picnic on the train. Our Glasgow hotel, The Carlton George, was close to the train station. I chose that hotel because it is in the middle of the town, on the square. Glasgow is a fun town! On one of the streets there is a very large statue of a unicorn which has always had an orange traffic cone on its horn every time we’ve seen it. I’m told that the authorities take down the cone, and sometime during the wee hours of the morning, it’s mysteriously put back.

From Glasgow, we trained to Newcastle where Roger performed at the beautiful new concert hall, The Sage. We only spent one night in Newcastle, then caught the train to Cheltham to spend two nights at the charming inn, Hotel on The Park.(Photo-The Hotel on the Park) We arrived in time for dinner in their intimate restaurant, Parkers, and decided to have lunch there the next day prior to the concert.

The small restaurant was full when we went down for lunch at 1:30pm. There was a group of ladies with a small baby celebrating something and I knew that the setting would not be conducive for us to work on the song list for that night’s concert, so I asked the waiter if he could find us a quiet place for lunch. He invited us into the library and arranged the coffee table for our service.(Photo-The Library at the Hotel on The Park)) After we discussed the night’s songs and were waiting for our food, my eyes glanced at the bookshelf next to me and rested on the Charles Dickens' book “A Tale of Two Cities.” It had been required High School reading but when I slid the book out of its place, opened the first page and started reading it aloud to Roger, the creative work of the author painted a new vivid picture of another time. The weather outside was overcast, the library was quiet except for the sound of my voice and we were engrossed in a classic story written over a hundred years ago by an English author. We had forgotten our stomach’s hunger and had developed a renewed hunger for this story.

Our food arrived and I reluctantly put the book back on the shelf, but Roger told me not to worry- it is a public domain story and he would download it from the University of North Carolinas’ web site, ibiblio , the site which host his web site, mcguinn.com and the Folk Den. The book can be found at ibiblio Favorites: Project Gutenberg.

Roger had a concert on the day of my birthday in Basingstoke. I am very fond of working on special occasions because we love our work and there is no better way to celebrate. When Roger sang the last encore song we went to his dressing room where we were surprised with balloons, banners and gifts from Steve, Jade and Guy. I was touched that they'd taken time out of their tight travel schedule to buy and prepare a surprise for me.

My private celebration for turning the blessed age of five and fifty was enjoyed at the Forbury Hotel in Reading, UK. We had three nights in this wonderful hotel. It rained all three days, but we didn’t care. Our room was cozy, the hotel’s restaurant was wonderful and each evening after the concerts, I read to Roger “A Tale of Two Cites” by the glow of the fireplace and the computer screen.

From October 23- 27, I was able to position us in Manchester and have Steve drive us to the surrounding towns for the concerts. We stayed in a very modern hotel, which was a sharp contrast from the Forbury Hotel, but our room had a great view and we were within walking distance to some wonderful restaurants. Everyday we found another culinary delight for lunch simply by walking around the neighborhood.

(1.The view from our room. 2.The Manchester City Hall)








After the 5-day stay in Manchester, the tour was winding down, just three more concerts and we didn’t want it to stop. The last concert was in London - a great city to finish a UK tour. We stayed at a townhouse hotel on Beaufort Gardens, a side street just around the corner from Harrods and a favorite restaurant, Patara Thai Cuisine. It had been the most relaxing tour of the UK that we had ever experienced. The enthusiastic audiences in beautiful concert theaters, Nick Peel’s and CMP's diligent scheduling, the picnics on the trains, the hotels, Jade’s beautiful performances and Steve’s steady hand painted a picture of perfection and we even had time to picnic on the trains and to smell the roses.
(Picnics on the trains)

All photos by Camilla McGuinn


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Roadie Report 22 - Germany, Denmark & Cardiff by Camilla McGuinn

Danish Street (photo by Camilla)


The German autobahn is a delightful roadway on which to put the pedal to the metal. The drivers keep a safe distance and only drive in the passing lane when they are passing. Some of them are passing all the time - at about 200 mph.

Roger found a comfortable speed at 200klm/h, I found one at 160klm/h. The roads are in very good condition but we found ourselves laughing, “The good news is you can go as fast as you want. The bad news is – you can’t!" There was road construction every 50 miles. The GPS had a great feature. It would pick up on traffic jams and tell us in a very refined voice, “Traffic ahead. Recalculating route. Thanks to the GPS, we can say that we drove the country roads of Germany.

Le Meridian Hotel in Hamburg is a few blocks away from Lange Reihe, the restaurant row of the neighborhood. We strolled down the street, peering in the restaurant windows looking more for ambiance than for food. Our knowledge of the German language was rusty, so we were hoping that when we found the right lighting and tablecloths, there would be a helpful waiter. It didn’t take long before I saw the table I wanted to sit at for the evening’s feast. It was a corner table, by the window in an Italian restaurant, Casa Di Roma. There was a good chance we might be able to decipher something on an Italian menu written in German.

The first person to greet us inside the restaurant door didn’t want to seat us at the table I wanted, but a more authoritative gentleman saw our reluctance to follow the greeter and came to our rescue. He returned my smile and guided us to the prize spot in the restaurant. As he seated us, I asked in my best English, “Do you take credit cards?” “ Of course Madame.” he replied in better English. He was our table captain for the evening and it was not only romantic, it was delicious.

My original plan for travel to Copenhagen was to take the ferry, but the GPS knew that the new bridge connecting the islands of Denmark was the faster way to go. The big new bridge is a toll bridge and I only slightly panicked when I realized I was going to have to choose the right lane to get into and how to pay. We ended up in a credit card only lane and thankfully it accepted our card.
We didn’t have a clue how much the toll was until we checked our card statement later in the week. It was almost $35.

The concert promoters in Denmark arranged the hotels and the majority of them were very good. Most of them were close to the downtown areas which made it easy to discover the charm of the cities. The streets of Esbjerg, Denmark (photo by Camilla)

In Copenhagen the Danish agent, Bent, arranged a radio interview for Roger. He emailed me that Robin Cox, the interviewer, would meet us at our hotel and guide us on a 30 minute drive to Roskilde. Then he told me Robin is blind. I started shaking my head. So we were going to have a blind guide. Hmm, sounded like a case of the blind leading the blind. I emailed back and asked if that seemed strange to anyone? In the end, Robin and a sighted friend of his picked us up at the hotel and drove us to Roskilde.

Robin is a fascinating gentleman with an incredible radio voice. His father is English, so his accent sounds like a very proper 1940’s English actor. When he mentioned that he had read mcguinn.com the night before, I started shaking my head again, “You just said you read Roger’s web page. How did you read it?” He explained that he had a machine that read for him. I wanted to turn the interview into questions for him.

On the ride back to the hotel, he was very open to answer all my questions. He told me about his life long blindness and that it has never stopped him from pursuing his dreams. He navigates all around Denmark using public transportation, a cane and the kindness of the wonderful people of the land.

Even though the official language of the people in the Kingdom of Denmark is Danish, the majority of the people also speak English. Everyone explained to us that they are a small nation of about 5 million people and they can’t expect people to learn their language, so they learn other languages. It made communicating with everyone very easy but all the signs are in Danish. We had trouble parking the car in a self pay lot, using self-service gas stations and we couldn’t read the road signs. We would have been real lost without a GPS and the kindness of others.

Time for a romantic lunch (photo by Camilla)

Roger’s concerts were scheduled for every other day. That is dream scheduling for a singer and for traveling. Our longest drive within Denmark didn’t take longer than 4 hours, so we had the time to explore each of the cities, visit the food markets and have romantic meals. It was fun to walk the streets of the nation of Roger’s mother’s grandparents, the Heyns.

The last Danish concert was in the very small town of Aarup. A group of music lovers had banded together, and with the help of the government, restored an old theater so they could bring live music to their tiny town. The only hotel on the main street didn’t have private baths, so we stayed in the town of Middlefart at the Hotel KongebroGaarden. We were told that Sir Paul McCartney had once rented the whole hotel for his tour. Fortunately, Roger was the only artist appearing locally, so they had a room available.The view on the pathway from the hotel into the town of Middlefart, (photo by Camilla)

The day after the concert, we hit the road early because we had over 500 miles to drive. We needed to turn in our rental car before the Sixt Rental desk closed at the hotel in Brussels at 6pm. Since we were once again driving through Germany, we could quickly make the trip. Roger did complain that I hogged most of the Autobahn driving on the way back to Brussels. I had developed a need for speed.

On October 11, we caught the Eurostar from Brussels to London’s Waterloo Station, hailed a taxi to the London Paddington train station, had our BritRail passes stamped and boarded a First Great Western train to Cardiff, Wales.

In our possession was a bottle of Champagne that the porters on the Eurostar had given me as a souvenir. After lunch on the Eurostar, I explored the train and spent a lot of time talking with the porters and inquiring about their lives. When we stepped off the train, our porter whispered to me that I should go to the other car because there was a present for us. My new friends wanted to send us away with a gift.

I love the train trip from London to Cardiff. Wales is the land of all the cities of the song “The Bells of Rhymney.” I always feel like I’m coming back to a very familiar setting because the song is one of Roger’s favorites and he loves to sing it in his concerts. My favorite memory of the song is the night he sang it at the Bottom Line in NYC for a songwriter’s showcase. Allan Pepper, the owner, asked me if Roger would participate in this event and I told Allan if he could get Pete Seeger to do it, then Roger would. A few days later Allan excitedly called me and said Pete said, “yes!” The showcase featured Pete Seeger, Joe South, Ted Hawkins and Roger. At the end of the second show that night, the moderator, Vin Scelsa, asked Roger to sing a song he wished he had written. During the first show Roger sang, “Turn, Turn, Turn” but this time he sang Pete’s song, “Bells of Rhymney”. After the show, Pete came to Roger’s dressing room, stood at the door and said, “ Bells of Rhymney”…I’ve never heard it sung so well.”

Tears flooded our eyes as Pete turned and walked away.

The postcard Pete sent to Roger after the Bottom Line show. The last line mentions "Bells of Rhymney" -Bells of R

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Roadie Report 21 - The Trip to London by Camilla McGuinn

Winter Park Train Station ( photo by Camilla)


On September 23, 2006, we boarded Amtrak’s Silver Star train in Winter Park, FL for our overnight ride to New York City. The Silver Star is beginning to get a little shabby, but the compartments are still cozy and the porters always accommodating. Drifting to sleep to the sounds of the train while looking out the window at the moon beams dancing through the trees is the perfect recipe for imaginations and dreams.

The train pulled into Penn Station almost on time. It gave us enough time to check into the Waldorf Astoria, courtesy of the Hilton Honors programs, then catch a taxi to Greenwich Village to have dinner with Melani and Ed Rogers. One of the great benefits of recording on Arista Records was working with Melani who was the head of the publicity department in 1991. We quickly became friends with her and her husband, Ed, and have remained close ever since. Roger has even played guitar on Ed’s recent CD, "You Haven't Been Where I've Been."

Just before I began to work on the itinerary for this tour, the
airports in England experienced an unfortunate threat from terrorists, so Roger asked me to find an alternative to Heathrow and Gatwick, which actually is always a good idea, because those airports are wall to wall with people most of the time. During my research, I found a new airline flying between New York’s JFK and London’s Stansted airport. Stansted is north of London, 70 minutes by train to the city. The airline is called EOS. Not only did it meet our requirement to avoid the major airports, it’s fleet consists of 757 aircraft configured with only 48 seats. The seats recline fully for sleeping and because of a back problem, this is a necessity. There were some wonderful promotional fares available, so the cost of the round trip, including the train compartment from Florida, was less expensive than flights out of Orlando.

As part of the ticket price, EOS had a car pick us up at the hotel at 3:30 on September 25th for our 7:15pm flight to England. When we arrived at Stansted and processed through immigration, an EOS attendant was standing by our luggage. She gave us First Class tickets for the express train to London and even walked us to the train. We felt like we were living in a different era of plane travel. It was a good way to begin this 45-day adventure.

The Marriott County Hall, courtesy of the Marriott Rewards program, was our home for three days. All those one night stays in freeway hotels were beginning to pay off. The first week of the tour was the perfect time to cash in on hotel frequent guest points. We napped for a few hours, then set the hand held GPS for Shepherd Market to meet Roger's agent, Nick Peel, for dinner.

The walk from the hotel took us past Buckingham Palace and through Green Park. It was an unusually warm evening for late September and people everywhere were catching the last rays of sunlight standing outside the pubs with their suit jackets thrown over their shoulders.

As we walked, we talked. England’s history has affected the whole world but in 1963 the sound of four innovative English musicians changed the consciousness of music. I was 13 when I first heard the Beatles but it wasn't until 1987 that I actually met one. Walking the streets of London, we reminisced about that night almost 20 years ago.

1987
Tom Petty had a day off from his touring schedule in St. Petersburg, FL and invited Roger to hang out with him at the Don Cesar Hotel. While they were flying kites, Tom mentioned his upcoming tour of Europe with Bob Dylan called "Temples In Flames." Roger told him how much he enjoyed the Rolling Thunder Tour with Bob and that he would love to experience that camaraderie again. Tom said he would ask Bob if Roger could join them. Within the month, Roger received a call from Dylan’s manager and he was on the tour starting in Israel.

I joined Roger for the last dates of the tour in London for 4 performances at Wembley Arena. While Roger was touring, Rickenbacker Guitar was finishing the prototype of the Roger McGuinn 12-string Rickenbacker and had it sent to Wembley for Roger to play for the first time.

Roger opened the show with the Heartbreakers backing him. It was a honor for Roger when they approached and asked if they could play like a Byrd. A lot of musicians learned their craft from the BYRDS and I love to catch the twinkle in the eye of musicians when they are playing with Roger on “Mr Tambourine Man” and “Eight Miles High”.

On the first night of the Wembley concerts, Roger strapped on his new Rickenbacker. I was at the sound board and was horrified at the sound. The different settings of the knobs on the electronics were still new to Roger and the knob got turned to one of the more shriller settings.

I knew Roger would be joining Tom and Bob for the encore, so I ran to the stage and found Roger sitting and talking to a friendly looking chap. The run and concern over the sound had me breathing hard as I rushed to tell Roger of my description of the guitar sound. Roger smiled and told me to take a breath and that he wanted to introduce me to a friend of his. I smiled at the friend, shook his hand, told him it was nice to meet him - just as my father had always taught me to do - then quickly turned back to Roger with all my sound concerns. He said he would fix it and I went back to the sound board very preoccupied with the guitar sound.

When I returned to the board, I stopped dead in my tracks, grabbed my head with both hands and my lips moved silently screaming, “I just met a Beatle!” Roger had introduced me to George Harrison and I so wanted to call Winkie, my best friend when I was 13 years old. We were both going to grow up and marry George! We never thought about how that could be accomplished, it was just the fantasy of two young teenage girls living on a far away island called Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Now I was in London and I had just shook the Beatle’s hand and told him it was very nice to meet him! I could imagine the sounds of her 13-year old screams as I screamed telling her. Music had transported me back to a moment in time.

The next day, George sent a car to our hotel for us. Joan and Derek Taylor were in the car. Derek had been the Beatles and the Byrds publicity agent and we were all going to Friar Park to have dinner with the Harrisons.
Derek Taylor's last picture of the Beatle's and the Byrds' 12-string players at Friar Park. George, Olivia, Roger, Camilla and Joan


As we were getting out of the car by the front door of the Victorian neo-Gothic mansion, George leaned out the window above the door and said to come on in. I kept whispering to myself, “Sure wish I could call Winkie.”

Me and Winkie on the island Guam in the Pacific in 1964 (photo by some teenage boy who didn't have chance when the Beatles were playing on the juke box)

2006

As we walked through Green Park, we laughed about that night of my introduction to a Beatle, then a moment of quiet over took us both - memories of George.

I chose the County Hall hotel because of its proximity to the Waterloo train station. The Eurostar was our next form of travel after three days of radio and press interviews for the tour, the new Martin Roger McGuinn 7-string and the new BYRDS’ box set, “There is A Season.”

On Friday, September 29, we caught the Eurostar to Brussels. When we arrived at the hotel we went straight to the Sixt rental car desk and got the keys and GPS instructions for the BMW that would be our transportation for the next 11 days. Our mode of travel in the States is a Ford Van, but Roger was looking forward to the Autobahn and requested a high powered vehicle to keep up with the other drivers in Germany. I had never driven in Europe, but we had some long drives, so I too was looking forward to seeing how fast I felt comfortable driving.

We opened our eyes early on Saturday morning, loaded the car then set the GPS for Le Meriden Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. Our teeth were clinched as we navigated through the busy streets of Brussels. Once through the congestion of the city, we relaxed, feasted our eyes on the sites of Belguim and Germany as the GPS talked us through the countryside. The complexities of buying gas for a different car in a different language was only one of the challenges facing us on this adventure. Which side was the gas tank on?


Backstage on the Last Night of the "Temples in Flames" Tour


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Roadie Report 20 - Aug & Sept and the New Martin D7-string - by Camilla McGuinn

The new Martin D7-string. Photo by Camilla

August is a good month to leave Florida. It does get hot, but this year, it was hot everywhere. We had three concerts scheduled for the month and we were hoping for a respite from the heat. The first show was in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for the annual Musikfest. Roger had played the theater before, so once again it was like coming home. Unfortunately it was hotter there than it was at home in Florida.

A few weeks before the Musikfest concert, I received an email from Chris at Martin Guitar. He said the prototype for Roger’s new D-7 seven string was ready (Roadie Report 13). I told him to keep it a secret because I suddenly cooked up one of those “I Love Lucy” schemes.

Roger is not a fan of surprises unless they come in a brightly covered box with a bow, but I thought that maybe this time he wouldn’t mind. My plan was to get Dick Boak from Martin to surprise Roger with the D-7 during his concert in Bethlehem. The Martin guitar factory was really close, just around the corner in Nazareth. This is beginning to sound like a Christmas story.

I just needed to figure out a way to get Dick on stage without Roger being surprised to see someone walking toward him from the audience. One day after prayer, I brought up the subject of the 7-string and how wonderful Dick has been in supporting the project. Roger readily agreed. That’s when I suggested that maybe it would be nice to give Dick a well deserved thank you during the Bethlehem concert. To my delight, Roger liked the idea so we immediately began planning the best time to ask Dick to stand up and take a bow.

Later that day, I called Dick and asked if he would mind presenting the new 7-string prototype to Roger on stage. He thought it would be fun. Then I told him the rest of my plot. I really didn’t want to spoil Roger's surprise for Dick of asking him to take a bow, but I felt someone on the surprise list needed to be in the know. I could tell Dick liked the idea and on the day of the concert, he arrived, smiling with the guitar in hand.

Roger doesn’t like to see anyone prior to a show, but I did confirm to him that Dick was in the audience. During the concert, Roger began explaining the intricacies of the 7-string and told the story of how he and Dick designed the guitar on a paper napkin during lunch one day. At that point Roger sprung his surprise and asked Dick to stand up, then Dick not only stood up, he started walking toward the stage with a guitar case.

For one quick moment, Roger had a look of shock on his face, but then he saw the case and it all became evident…Dick was bringing him the new D-7!

Dick told a funny story about carrying it on the shuttle bus to the concert and being asked for his autograph, then he handed the beautiful hand crafted 7-string to Roger to play. It was a great surprise!

If you are ever near Nazareth, Pennsylvania - tour the Martin factory. It has a wonderful museum and the luscious smell of fine wood being hand tooled into instruments for making music will linger in your sense memory for a long time. When you give a guitar player a Martin guitar, one of the first things he will do is put the guitar to his face and take a deep breath, and then smile.

Our next show was a week and a half later at Chastain Park, Atlanta: co-billed with THE JAMES GANG. Chastain Park is an unusual amphitheater. The ground level has tables and chairs for people to bring their candelabras and gourmet picnics. The first time an artist plays in front of this candle-lit Champagne sipping, caviar eating audience they are usually a bit puzzled. Some artists demand the eating to stop, but Roger has played the venue so many times that he finds it amusing; I find it whets my appetite and I stay hungry throughout the whole show.

Roger's guitars and banjo after sound check at Chastain Park

From Atlanta, we drove to the South Side of Chicago. Even though Roger was born in Chicago, he seldom got to that part of the city. We were both enchanted with the small town feel of the community. The Beverly Arts Center, where he was performing, could be a model for all community arts centers.

The Beverly Arts Center stage set for Roger. Photo by Camilla

Mike, the executive director, took me on a tour of the facility. It is a non-credit School of the Arts with rooms for dance, music, theater, pottery, painting, photo workshops and new plans for every spare space. The center also offers performing arts, independent film series and art exhibits. The stage is intimate and when there aren’t live performances; feature movies are shown in the auditorium. I drove away from the center thinking about how blessed that south side of Chicago neighborhood was to have a place to gather, to learn and to experience the visual arts.



During the drive back to Orlando, I used my time off from driving to begin the task of putting the pieces of the puzzle together for Roger’s up-coming tour of Denmark and the United Kingdom.

Touring in the states is a walk in the park for us, but Europe has a few interesting logistical points to overcome. Here, we wing almost every hotel – when it is time to stop, there always seems to be a good place to stay at the next exit. Most hotels here have free high speed Internet, breakfast and some even have great pillows.

We have toured the UK and Europe many times, but I wanted this time to be extra special. I felt it was time to smell the roses, so it was necessary to orchestrate the travel carefully.

The Internet was the key to putting the pieces of the puzzle together. We needed to fly across the Atlantic, take a train to Belgium, rent a car to drive through Germany and up to Denmark, perform concerts in 4 cities in Denmark, return to Belgium, catch the Eurostar to London, catch a train to Cardiff, start the 14 city concert tour of the UK, find a pillow every night and still smell the roses. It was a challenge!
Take time to smell the roses. Photo by Camilla

Roadie Report 19 - May , June, July - by Camilla McGuinn

Photo by Camilla

People often ask me if the constant packing and unpacking gets tiring. Most of the time while they are asking the question they throw looks of consolation in my direction. I smile, no I giggle, because this life of ours is summed up in Roger’s adapted words of the folk song “Wandering” – “This is what God made me for.”

We drove up to Oaklyn, New Jersey for one show at the Ritz Theater. The stage was set for a running play, but with moving just a few of the props, we set the scene for Roger’s show.

The next morning, we hit the road early for home. Our basic rule is that if we can spend two days at home, it is worth the trip. This time we were going to spend four days touching home base before a three-week tour.

The tour had concerts in some new places for us. The first concert was in Madison, Indiana for the first Ohio River Valley Folk Festival. The river front setting was a beautiful place to listen to music, but it did rain and even though it was May, I spent the evening shivering under the soundboard tent. I marveled at the fans who sat under their umbrellas and sang along with Roger for the whole concert.
The Ohio River (photo by Camilla)

On May 20, we drove 246 miles to Jorma Kaukone’s Fur Peace Ranch in Pomeroy, Ohio. Roger had co-billed with Jorma years ago and it was fascinating to see the guitar teaching ranch he and his wife had developed. People come for miles to learn guitar techniques from masters. That night Jorma and Roger co-billed again. Some fans came from as far away as Washington DC to see the show. Jorma had posters printed to promote the concert, but it sold out before the posters could be distributed. A mood of excitement and anticipation filled the air as the audience walked into the theater.

Ohio has some beautiful rolling terrain and the drive to Lexington Kentucky the next day was very relaxing. Lexington is the home of Michael Johnathon’s “The Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour.” The show is a labor of love, produced by dedicated volunteers. They always arrange lodging for us at the charming historical hotel, The Gratz Park Inn, which has a gourmet restaurant. I had sent Michael a copy of “The Folk Den Project.’ When he listened to it, he contacted me and invited Roger to appear on his show as the featured guest. Lexington was on the way to the next concert, so the routing and timing were perfect for recording of the radio show and exploring the streets of the “Horse Capital of the World.” A copy of the show can be seen on mcguinn.com. Or just right click here and save target as woodsongs-398.wmv.

After a few days in Lexington, it was over the mountain and through the woods to my grandma’s home state, North Carolina. Now every Carolina descendant knows that you can’t drive through the Tar Heel State without finding some Carolina Bar-B-Que. We found it in Winston-Salem on our way to Oriental, NC.

All my relatives live in North Carolina and I did for awhile, but I had never heard of Oriental. It is another one of those places that the people must keep secret because it is beautifully untouched by the urban expansion of the masses.

The promoters of the concert, Dave and Marsha, have a fascinating history. He retired from the dot.com business he inspired and moved to Oriental to spend his days sailing. The couple enjoys good meals so being entrepreneurs, they decided to open a restaurant. The restaurant was a success but too time consuming for people who had retired, so they sold it. Then they wanted to hear good music. The town of Oriental has The Old Theater that was sitting dark, so Dave and Marsha jumped in feet first into another new venture, concert promotion.

Oriental, North Carolina (photo by Camilla)

Dave arranged for us to stay for three nights at the Oriental Marina & Inn, located on the harbor in the heart of the small fishing town. I didn’t know it was a condo-hotel until I looked at the pots and pans in the small kitchenette. There was a huge pot for boiling a feast from the sea that the fishing boats brought to shore everyday.

The hotel had wi-fi but it wasn’t working. The editor/owner of the local newspaper, Frieda, was helping with the promotion of the show, so during a telephone conversation I mentioned my need to communicate with the world. She told me to go on down to her office and she would leave the door unlocked for me. Small towns with big hearts – still is a way life in some places.

Roger performed two nights in The Old Theater and each night after the show we would sit and talk with Dave, Marsha and Frieda. Dave has his roots in technology, so he and Roger are in contact via the Internet about important matters such as the best GPS for the job, secrets of the UNIX operating system, or will the hurricane hit Forida and North Carolina?

The next concert was in Natick, Massachusetts, but we had time to stop in New York to work with SONY on the “ THE BYRDS- There is a Season” box set. While we were there, we went to the Town Hall Theater to see Roger’s old “Rolling Thunder Review” friend, T Bone Burnett.

Photo by Camilla

New York reunions are so much fun. When we got to the theater Willie Nile was standing by the door. While catching up with each other’s life adventures, a young girl approached us with a pamphlet about T Bone’s new CD. We each took one and then she asked if she could take a picture because her boss wanted to be sure she wasn’t just throwing them away. I realized that she didn’t recognize Willie or Roger, so I suggested that she just take a picture of the two of them holding the pamphlet. I wonder if her boss recognized the two guys in the picture.

The opening act for T Bone was Jacob Dylan in a solo performance. Roger had not seen Jacob since he was a little boy and he was blown away by the high quality of his solo show. Being a female, I was blown away by his good looks. I love being a secure, happily married five and fifty-year-old woman – I can make remarks like that about young men!

After the concert at The Center for the Arts in Natick, Massachusetts we hurried back to Florida for a Vero Beach concert, a week of telephone interviews, then on to Kent, Ohio for a show at the Kent Stage theater.

Even though we love touring, there is a detriment - the toll it takes on relationships with our friends. We are blessed with friends all over the world and our travels often take us to their doorsteps but when there is time to bring them all together, it is a time of childlike rejoicing. We finished off the month of June with a party at our home for the group of friends who usually celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Our touring will put us in New York in November, so we took the opportunity to gather everyone together on this 4th of July weekend.

July is the month of Roger’s birthday and his favorite way to celebrate is to be on the road. We celebrated all month with a Festival in Pleasantville, NY; a concert in the quaint town of Francestown, NH and at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusettes.

At the Old Meeting House in Francestown, the announcer asked people to be sure to turn off their cell phones. Then she paused and commented that it didn’t really matter since there was no cell phone service available anyway. The drive to Francestown was over small roads wide enough for two wagons to pass. We felt like we were in another era and time had slowed down. We barely missed the cell phone service or the Internet. At our hotel after the show, we listened to the sound of the crickets.

If you enjoyed reading this - email the roadie at roadiereport@folkden.com