Roger McGuinn is a Byrd Still in Flight

 

(Roger McGuinn performing on stage at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, MA on April 25, 2026)

This evening, I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Roger McGuinn in concert at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, just north of Cambridge.

I have been the Regent Theatre previously most recently in May 2025 when I attended a screening of the Jackson C. Frank documentary Blues Run the Game. Tonight, however, was the first time I would attend a concert at this venue.

McGuinn, of course, is best known for his association with The Byrds and his jingly-jangly folk rock guitar riffs on his 12-string Rickenbacker. Prior to this evening, I had seen and heard McGuinn perform live although not as the main act. The first time I saw and heard McGuinn perform live was at the 2000 Boston Folk Festival at UMass Boston where I would also see and hear acts like Richie Havens, Steeleye Spam and The Paperboys (featuring Tom Landa with whom I had attended high school in Thunder Bay). 

Another 19 years would pass before I would be in McGuinn's presence again. This time it would be at New York City's famed Radio City Music Hall where he was part of a 50th anniversary screening of Easy Rider. 

McGuinn, 83, has been touring along the East Coast for the past month or so with one more date scheduled next weekend at Monmouth University before stepping away from the road until he embarks upon a West Coast tour in the fall.

As soon as he hit the stage playing "My Back Pages", it was immediately apparent to me that McGuinn's voice was noticeably weaker than it was when I saw and heard him at Radio City Music Hall nearly 7 years ago. Of course, this is inevitable with the passage of time. No one can realistically expect McGuinn to sing like he sang when he was 23. For his part, McGuinn frequently asked the audience to sing along with him. 

I think the audience was just happy to be in McGuinn's presence and hearing his stories. Interestingly, most of those stories centered around his life before he joined The Byrds. McGuinn told the audience he fell in love with rock 'n roll when he heard "Heartbreak Hotel" on WJJD as a wee lad growing up in Chicago before becoming interested in folk music and learning it at the Old Town School of Folk Music where he would learn songs such as "Well, Well, Well" by Bob Gibson (the folk singer, not the Hall of Fame pitcher), Lead Belly's "Rock Island Line" and Pete Seeger's adaptation of "Turn! Turn! Turn!" from the Book of Ecclesiastes. Eventually McGuinn started writing his own material such as the "Gate of Horn", inspired by a folk club he frequented in Chicago.

McGuinn regaled the audience with stories of his time with the Limeliters and The Chad Mitchell Trio. While with the latter group, he would tour South America at the behest of the Kennedy White House. During this tour, McGuinn was alone near a cliff overlooking the ocean and began writing the chords of what would become "Chestnut Mare", a latter day hit for The Byrds. 

Before joining The Byrds, McGuinn would have a working relationship with Bobby Darin both in L.A, Vegas and later at the Brill Building in New York. It was through Darin that he met Peter Fonda and would later contribute "The Ballad of Easy Rider" to the film of the same name. While working for Darin in NYC, McGuinn would be part of the short-lived band The City Surfers and presented his attempt at surf music called "Beach Ball". The Bee Gees would record a version of this song in Australia. McGuinn quipped he will occasionally get a royalty check for $6. 

McGuinn reminisced about his times with Bob Dylan. As it turned out, Dylan liked basketball and McGuinn had a basketball hoop but didn't own a basketball. This would soon change. Dylan bequeathed McGuinn the first verse of "The Ballad of Easy Rider" and would join him on the Rolling Thunder Revue. It was here that McGuinn got to know Joni Mitchell and asked her if she could spare any songs. Mitchell gave him "Dreamland" which would appear on McGuinn's 1976 solo album Cardiff Rose. 

McGuinn would later reunite with Dylan in the late 1980's via Tom Petty. McGuinn and his wife attended a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert in Tampa where his wife would be struck by a frisbee. While seeking medical attention, Petty appeared on the scene and recognized McGuinn and invited him on stage for a couple of songs. Shortly thereafter, Petty arranged to have McGuinn be Dylan's opening act during a U.K. and European tour. During this time, McGuinn and Petty would co-write "King of the Hill" which would become an expected hit for McGuinn in 1990 after the release of his album Back from Rio. The album would be his first release in more than a decade.

Of course, when people of my age group would hear "King of the Hill" they would say that Roger McGuinn sounds a lot like Tom Petty. I would have to interject and tell them that Tom Petty sounded a lot like Roger McGuinn. For his part, McGuinn said that when he plays "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n Roll Star" many fans tell him they're glad he's playing a Tom Petty song.

McGuinn played a couple of traditional folk songs on the banjo - "This Little Light of Mine" and "The Preacher and The Bear". He saved the bulk of his Byrds material for the end of the show - "You Showed Me" (which became a hit for The Turtles), "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Eight Miles High" which McGuinn did in the style of Andres Segovia with a touch of the Theme to James Bond. Whatever the limitations of his voice, McGuinn has not lost a step with his guitar playing. For the encore, McGuinn played "Chimes of Freedom" and then closed with "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better."

I was pleased to have got the opportunity to see and hear Roger McGuinn perform a full-length concert. He is a Byrd still in flight.