Roger McGuinn – I Want to Preserve the Songs
III. HARMONIC CONVERGENCE
ND: Your voice seems to be in terrific shape; your singing is, if anything, better than ever. Do you have a special regimen you follow to maintain/strengthen it?
RM: No, I just try not to sing too much, because that wears you out. I like to do no more than three shows on the road, and then take a day off. If I do four in a row — which I can do — I start to lose my high notes. So it’s a matter of preservation. Sometimes when I’m on the road for a long time, I’ll tune down to E-flat on the guitar, so that my high notes are one half-step lower.
ND: That’d be good advice to singers of “The Star Spangled Banner”. Most singers start out too high, then end up running out of their voice when it really takes off…
RM: It’s a difficult song. I happen to have a version of that on MP3.com with all of the verses. Nobody does all of the verses.
ND: You’ve mentioned Crosby as a major influence on your sense of vocal harmony. Who else has been important in this development?
RM: The Everly Brothers. I guess even the Righteous Brothers. Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. A lot of people. The Beatles, for sure; of course, they were drawing on the influences that I mentioned, too.
ND: Is it harder to harmonize with yourself than with other singers?
RM: No, actually, I have a pretty good blend with myself. It’s sort of that ‘brother thing,’ like with the Everly Brothers.
ND: Throughout the new record, I am continually struck both by the wide variety of vocal styles present here, and by how well you adapt your own harmonies to them.
RM: It was challenging to sing along with Pete [Seeger] and with Josh White Jr. and Odetta.
ND: In what ways?
RM: Well, to synchronize with them, and also not to step on them, not to override their wonderful performances. They did such stunning performances — “Sail Away Lady” with Odetta, and “In The Evening” with Pete, and “Trouble In Mind” with Josh White Jr.
ND: You and Josh are about the same age…
RM: Yeah, he’s a year older. Pete’s 82 now, Odetta’s in her 70s I think.
ND: But they both still sound terrific.
RM: They do; they sound great. I’m really happy to have them both on my CD, and to get them all on the same CD is a real treat for me — to have Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Odetta, Pete Seeger, Tommy Makem, Josh White Jr., Jean Ritchie and Frank Hamilton all on the same disc is really a thrill for me.