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Stories, Songs & Friends (Roger McGuinn) | 3.5/5

SINGAPORE - Many might know Roger McGuinn for his time with The Byrds, but there’s more to the man than just being the lead singer of a band that excelled in reinterpreting folks song into palatable pop. In this CD/DVD set, McGuinn sets about telling the story of his life in music. Taken from a concert he did in 2012, the album opens, rather appropriately, with My Back Pages, the Bob Dylan track he covered while still in The Byrds. This time round, there is no band backing him, it’s just McGuinn and his guitars and banjo. And in true troubadour style, McGuinn regales audiences with tales of his life in-between songs in his soft-spoken style. He tells of how his appreciation for folk music was born and how he embraced the various genres - classical, country, folk, rock and jazz (his solo on Eight Miles High, for example, was not a nod to psychedelic rock, which was big at the time, but his attempt at mimicking John Coltrane) - to create a sound that was wholly his own. The accompanying DVD is a supporting documentary of sorts, with snippets from the concert, as well as interviews with contemporaries like fellow Byrd Chris Hillman, singers Joan Baez and Judy Collins, as well as fans such as Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. The editing seems a little hurried at times, but considering that Mcguinn put the whole thing together by himself on his computer, it’s still a lovely treat as they offer stories of how McGuinn’s music influenced or inspired them. With its musical breadth, Stories, Songs & Friends is a great way to appreciate and understand who Roger McGuinn as a musician and in many ways, it’s an uplifting offering from a man who once soared with The Byrds, eight miles high, and hasn’t still found it necessary to coming to landing stop just yet.

SINGAPORE - Many might know Roger McGuinn for his time with The Byrds, but there’s more to the man than just being the lead singer of a band that excelled in reinterpreting folks song into palatable pop. In this CD/DVD set, McGuinn sets about telling the story of his life in music. Taken from a concert he did in 2012, the album opens, rather appropriately, with My Back Pages, the Bob Dylan track he covered while still in The Byrds. This time round, there is no band backing him, it’s just McGuinn and his guitars and banjo. And in true troubadour style, McGuinn regales audiences with tales of his life in-between songs in his soft-spoken style. He tells of how his appreciation for folk music was born and how he embraced the various genres - classical, country, folk, rock and jazz (his solo on Eight Miles High, for example, was not a nod to psychedelic rock, which was big at the time, but his attempt at mimicking John Coltrane) - to create a sound that was wholly his own. The accompanying DVD is a supporting documentary of sorts, with snippets from the concert, as well as interviews with contemporaries like fellow Byrd Chris Hillman, singers Joan Baez and Judy Collins, as well as fans such as Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. The editing seems a little hurried at times, but considering that Mcguinn put the whole thing together by himself on his computer, it’s still a lovely treat as they offer stories of how McGuinn’s music influenced or inspired them. With its musical breadth, Stories, Songs & Friends is a great way to appreciate and understand who Roger McGuinn as a musician and in many ways, it’s an uplifting offering from a man who once soared with The Byrds, eight miles high, and hasn’t still found it necessary to coming to landing stop just yet.

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