On this day in music history: September 25, 1965 - Eve Of Destruction by Barry McGuire hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 1 week. Written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, it is the biggest hit for the folk-rock singer from Oklahoma City, OK. Originally a member of the legendary folk music group The New Christy Minstrels, Barry McGuire is one of the first artists signed to producer Lou Adlers Dunhill Records in early 1965. McGuire will record a number of songs for his first album including California Dreamin, though his vocals will be wiped from the master tape (though part of his vocal on the intro will still be audible on the released recording), and The Mamas & Papas will add their vocals to the track, becoming their breakthrough hit. Adler will assign staff songwriter and producers P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri to work with McGuire. Influenced by Bob Dylan, the pair will begin writing a song about the growing anti-war sentiment over the Vietnam War and The Cold War, openly expressing fears about where those conflicts will lead. Recorded in July of 1965, Eve Of Destruction features members of The Wrecking Crew playing on the track including Hal Blaine (drums), Larry Knechtel (bass) and P.F. Sloan himself (guitar). McGuire will record his vocal in a single take, and the song is given a quick rough mix. The producers will play the just completed Destruction for Dunhill Records VP Jay Lasker who loves it immediately and believes that it will be a hit. Leaving a copy of the tape with the executive, the song will end up on the radio the same afternoon. Lasker will give the tape to a promotion man at the label who will take it over to KFWB in Los Angeles who begin airing it immediately. At first, Adler, Sloan and Barri are upset since they feel the record isnt finished, but it matters not, it is an instant smash and rush released by Dunhill in early August of 1965. Entering the Hot 100 at #58 on August 21, 1965, it will rocket to the top of the chart five weeks later. Though Barry McGuire will not have another major pop hit after his chart topping debut, he will become a born-again Christian in the early 70s carve out a successful career as a Contemporary Christian music artist. After the incident at Columbine High School in 1999, McGuire will begin performing Eve Of Destruction again after many years of declining to perform it in concert.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 21:00:15 +0000
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