Roger McGuinn, "Back From Rio"

Mitch bows down to the 12-string king

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Apr 13, 2022

Mitch’s Pitch:

The house lights dimmed. The chattering stopped. An unmistakable sound filled the room. It was one of the most iconic sounds in the history of music: the chiming of Roger McGuinn’s 12 string Rickenbacker guitar. It’s the sound that defined folk rock and inspired “jangle pop” and the careers of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, R.E.M., The Smiths, The Bangles and more. It was a sound that I’d heard on record thousands and thousands of times, but to hear it in person was truly something else. It was beautiful. It was magical. It was life-affirming. It was Roger McGuinn’s 12 string Rickenbacker guitar.

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Back From Rio is a revelation. It’s McGuinn’s best solo album by a wide margin and it comes completely out of nowhere, released in 1991, a full decade after McGuinn was last in the studio. And while there are a lot of reasons for its success - strong songs, great guests, excellent playing - the real reason this album is so fantastic is because it’s built around the irresistible sound of Roger McGuinn’s 12 string Rickenbacker guitar.

Although Roger McGuinn has written some of the most famous songs in music history (remember “You Showed Me” by The Turtles? That’s McGuinn), he’s never been a prolific songwriter. Even as the leader of The Byrds, McGuinn generously shared the songwriting duties, which I guess makes sense when you work with people like Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, David Crosby, Gram Parsons, Gene Parsons, and Jacques Levy, and are also the world’s foremost interpreter of Bob Dylan.

On Back From Rio McGuinn brings in a bunch of ringers, and his songs with Tom Petty and Elvis Costello are both highlights of the album. “King of the Hill” - a co-write and duet with Petty - was a surprise hit back in the day, and still kicks some serious ass 30 years later. Petty’s bandmates Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench and Stan Lynch are all over the album, leaving no mistake about which legendary band most influenced The Heartbreakers.

The sardonic Costello song “You Bowed Down” is the perfect fit for McGuinn’s unexpected vocal snarl and is a reminder of the fact that McGuinn also invented punk rock (seriously!) with his release of the song “Rock and Roll Time" in 1976. Folk rock, psychedelic rock, gospel rock, country rock, punk rock - is there anything that Roger McGuinn didn’t invent?

Naturally (and thankfully!) there are a lot of Byrdsian sounding songs, but most especially the trio of “If We Never Meet Again”, “Someone to Love” and “The Time Has Come” with that perfect combination of chiming guitars and vocal harmonies, provided by old friends Crosby and Hillman, Crosby’s perpetual understudy Timothy B. Schmidt, and new kid Michael Penn.

Mostly filled with rockers, there’s only one ballad on Back From Rio, but it’s a good one - the gorgeous “Without Your Love”, which features a lovely mandolin solo by John Jorgenson.

There’s not a skippable song on this album, although the hilariously-dated “Car Phone” comes close, saved only by the blistering “Eight Miles High”-esque guitar solo and the clever nod to The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life”. A quick explanation: Roger was originally known as Jim McGuinn and when he changed his name there was a “Paul is Dead” type rumor that Jim went to Rio and his twin Roger took over The Byrds - hence the “he blew his mind out in a car” nod. It’s also well known that seeing George Harrison’s 12 string Rickenbacker guitar in “A Hard Day’s Night” inspired McGuinn to pick up what would become his signature instrument.

Back From Rio brings us full circle, from Jim to Roger, from The Byrds to The Heartbreakers, and I hope you’ll find a space in the Newbury St. Collection for both this surprisingly fantastic album and the iconic sound of Roger McGuinn’s 12 string Rickenbacker guitar.

CJ’s Response:

It’s easy to understand why this album was overlooked at the time of its release. In 1991, all things classic rock were being mothballed in favor of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden et al. So, a record with some dusty Brits and shaggy Yanks, iconic though they might be, was no match for Kurt, Eddie and Chris. But not giving Back From Rio its due just because of its birthday would be a mistake because the album is quite wonderful.

As Mitch noted, Roger McGuinn has influenced more than a handful of artists. None more so than Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers. Fresh off successes with the Traveling Wilburys and his solo debut, Full Moon Fever, Petty is on a DiMaggio-esque creative hot streak. I imagine Tom swooning like a teenage girl as he enters the studio with his boyhood idol and then having a Keith Hernandez moment where he says, “Wait a minute. I’m Tom fucking Petty” before picking up his gee-tar and getting down to work.

There’s some real magic in this collaboration. “Someone to Love” is excellent in the lead-off slot and “You Bowed Down” plays to both McGuinn and Elvis Costello’s strengths. “King of the Hill” is my favorite and completes the “king” grand slam for Petty (“Kings Road”, “Kings Highway”, “It’s Good to be King”). “Suddenly Blue” and “The Time Has Come” are lovely Byrds-y songs that hold up well to repeat listening. And even “Your Love is a Goldmine” grew on me as I kind of got a Seals and Crofts “Diamond Girl” vibe from it.

To be fair, there are a couple of clunkers. “The Trees Are All Gone” would even make Joni Mitchell think the fellas were laying it one a bit too thick with the environmentalism. And no amount of Beatles references can save “Car Phone” which sounds like it was rejected from the soundtrack of Beverly Hills Cop III for being too frivolous.

There’s one thing I would’ve liked to see here. “Without Your Love” seems like the kind of song where Petty would insert Ms. Stevie Nicks as he did on “Insider” from Hard Promises. I think Stevie pulls this song up another notch. But I’m guessing McGuinn had veto power here. Hence, Rog goes it alone.

Mitch and Ken know I’m a sucker for anything Tom Petty related. And while Roger McGuinn’s body of work certainly stands on its own, in my book he and Back From Rio ride Tom’s coattails right into Newbury St.

Pitch Successful (I still have the antenna from my car phone.)

Ken’s Response:

I’m prone to enjoying all things Byrds related, arguably the most important American rock band of all time. Over the years, I’ve defended every era of Byrds music, and I’ve followed their musical offspring to The Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, Crosby, Still & Nash, The Eagles, and was absolutely blown away by the discovery (right here on EONS) by Gene Clark’s masterful No Other. I’ve also posited on many occasions that McGuinn is one of the most underrated guitarists of all time, and that (as Mitch indicated) his 12-string Rickenbacher sound is his very own iconic, musical fingerprint.

My expectations were high going into this week’s pick, Roger McGuinn’s 1991 release, Back From Rio. Maybe I oversold it to myself before I even hit play, but I was thoroughly underwhelmed both musically and stylistically by the first two tracks “Someone to Love” and “Car Phone”. While McGuinn’s vocals were a comfortable friend guiding you through a new, unrecognizable city, the lyrics and music on those first two tracks are less than stellar. Even the greatness of The Heartbreakers as a backing band doesn’t help.

Fortunately, I was able to find my bearings with the lovely “You Bowed Down” and “Suddenly Blue”, two throwbacks that sound like I “want” Roger MGuinn music to sound like, even down to the use of the long-lost art of the musical triplet. Both songs are a pleasant surprise after the beginning of the album. Expectations are high again.

Uh oh, what the hell is going on with “The Trees Are All Gone”, a sort of ‘90s pop-rock environmental statement? Hair metal guitars and terrible lyrics pollute this otherwise well-intentioned song. I wish this song was all gone instead of the trees.

The rest of the album has some solid, signature McGuinn pieces in “King of the Hill” and “The Time Has Come”, and some clunkers like “Your Love Is A Gold Mine”. Thankfully, we end on a high note with the best song on the record “If We Never Meet Again”.

We get glimpses of McGuinn’s greatness over the course of 42 minutes, but the album reminds me of a professor I had in college that always asked, “Is this your best work?” Back From Rio isn’t a failure, but it’s a C at best and McGuinn is capable of A’s, especially given the star power he recruited to help him make it.

Pitch Unsuccessful (Redo and submit)

The king of the 12-string wasn’t Ken’s thing, so we won’t sing the praises of Roger McGuinn or bring Back From Rio to the Newbury St. Collection.

So you want to be a rock and roll star? Well you can start by heading over to the comments section and letting us know whether Roger McGuinn’s Back From Rio sends you Eight Miles High or leaves you draggin’. It’s up to you.

Exile on Newbury St.

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