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Barry McGuire

34 Shouts   -   292,577 Scrobbles

Biography

Along with Bob Dylan's emergence came countless other folk-based "protest singers" in the early to mid-'60s, including Barry McGuire. 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). 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 The Best of, 1975's Lighten Up, and a live recording, 1982's Virtuosity - Smetana: Overture to The Bartered Bride - Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 2 - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4, among countless others. McGuire put his music career on hold and moved to New Zealand in the mid-'80s with his wife, where they remained until 1990, working with the poverty organization World Vision. Upon his return, McGuire began issuing albums once more, including such titles as El Dorado, "Let's Tend God's Earth", "Adventures on Son Mountain", and "Journey to Bible Times", before teaming up with another gospel singer/guitarist, Terry Talbot, to form an outfit called Talbot McGuire. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi

Top Tracks

Total plays on Last.fm over the last 6 months
  1.  
    Lyrics
    The eastern world it is explodin', violence flarin', bullets loadin'
    You're old enough to kill but not for votin'
    You don't believe in war, what's that gun you're totin'
    And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'
    But you tell me over and over and over again my friend
    Eve Of Destruction - (3:35)  -  14,652 plays
  2. You Were On My Mind - (2:30)  -  452 plays
  3. She Belongs To Me - (2:46)  -  283 plays
  4. Baby Blue - (3:14)  -  289 plays
  5. The Sins Of A Family - (2:59)  -  190 plays
Show More (15)