The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 75

MUSIC McGuinn sees no need for Byrds to fly again By Parry Gettelman SENTINEL POPULAR MUSIC CRITIC This summer, an evil power created hordes of zombie rock groups. Promoters dangled small fortunes over the graves of long-dead bands, causing them to rise again and stomp dutifully across the country, playing their old hits for babyboomer audiences. The Byrds, however, did not join the ranks of the living dead. Roger McGuinn said reforming didn't seem like a good thing for the Byrds although it must have seemed like a good thing to other groups. "It must have seemed like a good thing for them to make a Roger McGuinn When: 7 p.m.

Tuesday. Where: Church Street Market, downtown Orlando. What it costs: It's free. lot of money," McGuinn said dryly. "We could have made some money if we'd wanted to do it.

Crosby has been hounding me for years, but I really think their time is past. It would be just for the money; it would lack artistic integrity. I'm enjoying what I'm doing. Maybe I'm not as much in the limelight, but it's certainly more rewarding just SPECIAL DAYTONA BEACH Side Ocean View 1 Complimentary and Balcony FREE Room Bottle Breakfast of with Continental 2 Champagne Beds $39 ANY DAY upon arrival Per Couple 3 P.M. Late Checkout Expires 2-2-95.

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18.190 NOT AVARABLE FOR GROUPS THE COLONY BEACH TENNIS RESORT, 1820 GULF OF MEXICO DRIVE, LONGBOAT KEY, FLORIDA 94226 going out solo acoustic for the most part." The Byrds formed in 1964, and although their jangly Rickenbacker guitars and lovely vocal harmonies made for an instantly recognizable sound, they ranged stylistically from folk-rock to psychedelic rock to country rock. Their classic '60s singles include "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Turn! Turn! "Eight Miles High" and "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll The Byrds went through many lineup changes and finally split up in 1973. McGuinn recorded again with bandmates Gene Clark and Chris Hillman, but the only Byrds reunion was a brief series of gigs the trio played in order to bolster their legal claim to the band's name. (Drummer Mike Clarke had been using it for a group of ringers.) McGuinn's solo career has been lower-key but satisfying.

His last album, 1991's Back From Rio, included the hit "King of the Hill," a collaboration with Byrds fan Tom Petty. McGuinn and his wife Camilla, who is also his manager, moved to the Tampa Bay area nine years ago. They still have a getaway there but have made their home in Orlando for the past three years. "It's sort of a younger environment, and there are more restaurants and things to do," McGuinn said. McGuinn will play a rare gig in his adopted hometown Tuesday in a free Church Street Station show sponsored by WMMO-FM (98.9).

He'll be backed by the Headlights, a Tampa band that sometimes companies him on the road and played with him here at the Beacham Theatre in 1991. "I really love what I do; it's fun to do it, and I plan to keep doing it as long as I live," McGuinn said. "And it's not something I do for the money I'd probably do it if they didn't pay me, but I'm glad they do." Some artists complain about the rigors of touring, but as a solo artist, McGuinn enjoys touring although he tries to be extra nice to the neighbors' cat, a welcome moocher, when he has been on the road for a while. "I take my wife, and my kids are already grown so I don't have to worry about that. The cat isn't ours, so we don't have any reason to stay in one place," McGuinn said.

"And we've learned how to travel light. We go first-class, stay in the nicest hotels. Sometimes we drive. We go all kinds of ways, take the train we took the train up to New York a cou- tic, adventurous. That way it keeps it exciting." McGuinn found the nation's rail system a little on the rickety side, but even though there was an Amtrak derailment on the line the week he and Camilla were scheduled to return to Orlando, they came back by train.

"You really have to love it," he said. McGuinn has been writing songs for a new album and is getting ready to go back into the studio, but he has neither a label nor a timetable. "I don't crank them out every year," he said. "I used to do that, and it was kind of a waste of time. You get burned out and tired of doing it." Generally, McGuinn said, he likes to write all new songs for an album, but if he finds an older song that works, he'll use it.

And he has found that some songs that weren't appropriate four or five years ago would sound right on an album now. "They're more acoustic, more folk-oriented, and the pendulum has swung in that direction," McGuinn said. McGuinn does have a cut on the fine compilation Adios Amigo: A Tribute to Arthur Alexander, released in August. He recorded "Anna," the Alexon ander song the Beatles covered their debut, at Full Sail Cen- CUFFARO The past is history for Roger McGuinn, who is perfectly happy these days to just be going his own artistic way. ple times.

It was kind of roman- ter for the Recording Arts' studio in Orlando. McGuinn also has been a bit more visible lately thanks to the Forrest Gump soundtrack, which includes the Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn!" There is a video for the song playing on VH-1, using footage from the movie, and McGuinn performed the song on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. "I was helping Epic plug the Forrest Gump soundtrack. My friend who's vice president in charge of publicity at Epic was kind of throwing me a perk, putting us up at the Four Seasons for five days to do a couple TV shows," McGuinn said. "I don't think the soundtrack really needed help -it was already No.

2 the McGuinn said he likes to listen to college radio when he's traveling around the country. "I like to see what they're doing they become mainstream six months to a year later," he said. There are still plenty of young bands out there with a strong Byrds influence, most notably the Gin Blossoms, a band McGuinn likes. "I like anything in that direction I guess I would," he said. "It sounds good I still like that sound.

It's melodic, and it sustains, and it's kind of classic." 0.