This involves an interest in aviation, space flight and all manner of electronic contraptions. While Roger McGuinn has a fondness for the dusty folk songs of history, he also has a fascination with technology. It is also at this school that McGuinn learns to play banjo. “I went to school for folk music back when I was a teenager and learned hundreds of songs,” he says. “The first twelve string guitar I bought was probably around 1957.” In 1957 Roger McGuinn becomes a student at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music. I made enough money to buy Martin guitar,” says McGuinn. “I worked as a janitor’s assistant when I was 15. “I started out with rock ‘n’ roll,” acknowledges McGuinn. He inspired me to get a guitar.” Other early influences include Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent and The Everly Brothers. Roger McGuinn says, “I was 13 years old when I heard Elvis Presley over my transistor radio while I was riding my bicycle on the streets of Chicago. Given his parents literary inclinations, it is with some irony that Roger says, “No one realised that I needed eyeglasses until I was 12 years old.” “I was raised a Roman Catholic,” Roger notes in relation to his religious upbringing. James McGuinn, Dorothy McGuinn and Lucille Folmer co-write ‘Parents Can’t Win’ (Chicago, Pollegrini and Cudahy, 1947), a best-selling book about child-rearing. “My parents were writers,” Roger recalls. They are involved in journalism and public relations. Roger’s parents are James and Dorothy McGuinn. Just bear in mind that he was actually known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967. That tale will be told in due course but, for the sake of consistency, this individual will be referred to throughout here as Roger McGuinn. He does not adopt the forename of Roger until the middle of 1967, a couple of years after The Byrds become famous. Roger McGuinn is born James Joseph McGuinn III on 13 July 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Whatever the truth may be, the twelve-string guitar becomes symbolic of The Byrds, the band formed by Roger McGuinn, that young man in the cinema. Depending on who you ask, the twelve-string version is twice as hard to play, or is just as difficult, but sounds twice as good. During the movie, George Harrison – guitarist for The Beatles –plays a twelve-string electric guitar. What he sees on the cinema screen is about to change his life. He is already daring to include versions of some of The Beatles tunes in his shows…and annoying some folk music purists in the audience in the process. One of those cinema patrons in Los Angeles, California, is a 22 year old American man who is making a modest living playing in coffee houses, entertaining customers with tunes on his acoustic guitar. However, such is the breadth of the appeal of The Beatles that the movie attracts all sorts of viewers. Of course, a large percentage of those who view the film are screaming teenage girls. It is 1964 and ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ – the first feature film starring British pop group The Beatles – is playing in cinemas. “So you want to be a rock ‘n’ roll star? / Well listen now to what I say / Just get an electric guitar / Take some time, learn how to play / And when your hands go right and your pants get tight, it’s gonna be all right” – ‘So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star’ (Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman)
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