Barry McGuire - Eve Of Destruction (1965)

Barry McGuire is an American singer-songwriter.

After seeing some modest success with The New Christy Minstrels and their hit song "Green Green", Barry Mcguire went solo. However he struggled to find much work until 1965, the year that folk-rock took off, when he signed with Dunhill Records and started recording with producer Lou Adler. Adler introduced him to fellow singer-songwriter P.F. Sloan, and McGuire recorded several of Sloan's songs. One of these, "Eve Of Destruction", was released as a single and became a surprise #1 hit, becoming an instant classic of the 60s protest song field. Riding high on its success, a second solo album followed, with a folk-rock sound in line with what many other electrified folk singers were doing at the time (in particular Bob Dylan, who was obviously a major influence). The album also included others by P.F. Sloan ("Sins Of A Family", "Ain't No Way I'm Gonna Change My Mind" and "What Exactly's The Matter With Me"), Sylvia Tyson's "You Were On My Mind" and two Dylan songs ("She Belongs To Me" and "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"). 
To this day "Eve Of Destruction" is the one song McGuire is remembered for best (indeed the only song), and he never came close to such chart success again. Bizarrely the song turned out to be detrimental to his career, as its pessimistic doom-and-gloom message caused a huge media backlash which effectively ended McGuire's hit-making career as soon as it had begun.

The Barry McGuire Album (1963) <|> This Precious Time (1966)
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