Barry McGuire - This Precious Time (1966)

Barry McGuire is an American singer-songwriter.

Following the success of the "Eve Of Destruction" single, Barry McGuire began working on another album for Dunhill Records with producer Lou Adler. Whilst he was recording he was reunited with some old friends from his folk days, as the newly-formed The Mamas & The Papas came to California. He invited them to sing backing vocals for him. The result of these sessions was This Precious Time, which took his music forward with a more sophisticated folk-rock-pop sound. It included one song written by John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas - "California Dreamin'" was first recorded here with the four of them singing backing vocals for McGuire's lead. Other songs on the album included more P.F. Sloan compositions, The Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe In Magic", Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", The McCoy's "Hang On Sloopy" and two Beatles songs ("Yesterday" and "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away").

The album, though a strong one, was not a chart success - perhaps the media backlash "Eve Of Destruction" caused had permanently tarrred McGuire's name. "California Dreamin'" had all the makings of another obvious hit single, and he was going to release it, until John Phillips asked if maybe The Mamas & The Papas could release it instead. Impressed by what he saw, Lou Adler had signed them to Dunhill. They replaced McGuire's vocal track and added a flute solo, but otherwise used the same recording. Released as a single, this version gave them a massive hit and launched their careers.

Eve Of Destruction (1965) <|> World's Last Private Citizen (1968) 
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Barry McGuire - The Barry McGuire Album (1963)

Barry McGuire is an American singer-songwriter.

Barry McGuire was born in Oklahoma in 1935, and moved to California with his family when he was just two. He took up music as a career relatively late, not starting to sing until he was 25, when he got involved in the American folk revival. He formed a folk duo with fellow singer Barry Kane, and the two Barrys released an album called Here And Now in 1962. The two of them got noticed, and were invited to join folk ensemble The New Christy Minstrels. He was there for their one hit song, 1963's "Green Green". The same year he recorded his first solo album, featuring members of the Minstrels backing him. It featured a great selection of songs, including an awesome rendition of Hoyt Axton's "Greenback Dollar" (which McGuire apparently had a hand in writing), and several co-written with poet Rod McKuen. Stylistically, it toed the line between the polite sound of early 60s commercial folk groups (which arguably hasn't aged well), and a harder-edged style which suited his growling voice better (best exemplified on "Greenback Dollar").

|> Eve Of Destruction (1965)
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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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