The first was ' jingle-jangle' – generating ringing arpeggios based on banjo finger picking styles he learned while at the Old Town School of Folk – which was influential in the folk rock genre. The Byrds ĭuring his time with the Byrds, McGuinn developed two innovative and very influential styles of electric guitar playing.

Together they formed the beginning of what was to become the Byrds. He gave rock style treatments to traditional folk tunes and thereby caught the attention of another folkie Beatle fan, Gene Clark, who joined forces with McGuinn in July 1964. īy the time Doug Weston gave McGuinn a job at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles, he had begun to include Beatles' songs in his act. When he saw George Harrison play a 12-string Rickenbacker in the film A Hard Days Night, it inspired McGuinn to buy the same instrument. At the same time, he was hearing about the Beatles (whose first American appearances would come in February 1964) and wondering how Beatlemania might affect folk music. About a year and a half later, Darin became ill and retired from singing.ĭuring 1963, just one year before he co-founded the Byrds in Los Angeles, McGuinn was working as a studio musician in New York, recording with Judy Collins and Simon & Garfunkel. Music in New York City's Brill Building, hiring McGuinn as a songwriter for $35 a week. Darin wanted to add a folk roots element to his repertoire because it was a burgeoning musical field. In 1962, after he ended his association with the Chad Mitchell Trio, McGuinn was hired by Bobby Darin as a backup guitarist and harmony singer. After graduation, McGuinn performed solo at various coffeehouses on the folk music circuit where he was hired as a sideman by the Limeliters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and Judy Collins and other folk music artists in the same vein. In 1957, he enrolled as a student at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, where he learned the five-string banjo and 12-string guitar. Around the same time, he was also influenced by country artists and/or groups such as Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, and the Everly Brothers. (During the early 1980s, he paid tribute to the song that encouraged him to play guitar by including 'Heartbreak Hotel' in his autobiographical show). He became interested in music after hearing Elvis Presley's ' Heartbreak Hotel', and asked his parents to buy a guitar for him. His parents worked in journalism and public relations, and during his childhood, they had written a bestseller titled Parents Can't Win. McGuinn was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States, son of James Joseph McGuinn Jr (b. The 12-string Rickenbacker guitar is his signature instrument. As a solo artist he has released 10 albums and collaborated with, among others, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Chris Hillman. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. He is best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. James Roger McGuinn / m ə k ˈ ɡ w ɪ n/ (born James Joseph McGuinn III July 13, 1942) is an American musician.

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