Roger McGuinn

“Psychedelic music was a wonderful, colorful, and creative time.”

“The sound of the Rickenbacker 12-string through a Vox amp is the sound of The Byrds.”

“It was a turbulent time, the '60s. The music reflected that.”

“I don't think of myself as a guitar hero. I'm more of a song-oriented player.”

“I'm not interested in being a celebrity. I'm interested in being a good musician.”

“The 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo' album was a groundbreaking country-rock record.”

“We took Dylan's song and put a beat to it.”

“Gram Parsons came in and really turned us on to country music.”

“Folk music is a bunch of fat people.”

“It was a very utopian kind of time. Everybody was looking for a better way to live.”

“Folk music is a living, breathing thing. It's not something that's stuck in a museum.”

“Gram Parsons was a great singer and a great songwriter, and he had a vision of country-rock.”

“I bought a Rickenbacker 12-string because I saw George Harrison playing one.”

“We took Dylan's song 'Mr. Tambourine Man' and put a Beatle beat to it, and that was the beginning of folk-rock.”

“I started the Folk Den project to preserve old folk songs.”

“I've always been a traditionalist. I'm a folk singer.”

“Gene Clark was the main songwriter in the early days of The Byrds.”

“We were trying to be the American Beatles.”

“The 12-string Rickenbacker was the secret weapon.”

“'Mr. Tambourine Man' was the first folk-rock hit.”