Sat, Apr 10, 2027
An Evening with ROGER MCGUINN begins with the stage dark and the sound of Roger’s 12-string Rickenbacker guitar filling the house as he approaches the standing microphone to sing his signature Bob Dylan song “My Back Pages.” He always begins his concerts with this song because he takes the audience on the journey through which his love of folk music took him to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Jim McGuinn (he changed his name later to Roger) began playing guitar when he was 14 and left Chicago for his first professional job at 17. The Limeliters sent him an airplane ticket to Los Angeles to play guitar and banjo on their RCA album “Tonight in Person.” It was during that recording time that he joined them at the Hollywood Bowl opening up for Eartha Kit.”
Chad Mitchell heard about McGuinn’s abilities and asked him to join his group, “The Chad Mitchell Trio” as the accompanist on guitar and banjo. He was 18 years old.
He toured with the CMT for a year or so but when Bobby Darin saw him performing, he immediately offered McGuinn a job paying twice what he was making with Mitchell. Mr. Darin asked Jim to play his guitar and sing a 15 minute set of folk songs in the middle of his variety concert.