The only constant fixture in the Byrds' line-up, McGuinn was thus able to satisfy a myriad of musical cravings, which is perhaps why his solo career never produced the kind of intensely personal masterpiece that his ex-bandmates Gene Clark and David Crosby did with No Other and If I Could Only Remem...
The only constant fixture in the Byrds’ line-up, McGuinn was thus able to satisfy a myriad of musical cravings, which is perhaps why his solo career never produced the kind of intensely personal masterpiece that his ex-bandmates Gene Clark and David Crosby did with No Other and If I Could Only Remember My Name respectively. Nevertheless, his eponymous 1973 debut is intermittently brilliant, not least “My New Woman”, a smeared-harmony offcut from that year’s ill-fated Byrds reunion (Chris Hillman, Crosby and Clark guest) and the perfectly-feathered “Bag Full Of Money”. Elsewhere, Dylan and Bruce Johnston help ring the changes from folk and gospel to space-rock and surf. However, the disappointing 1974 follow-up, Peace On You, suggests a distracted muse.
