Roger McGuinn-Cardiff Rose (1976)

In 1976, two rock legends, Roger McGuinn and Mick Ronson, joined forces to record the album "Cardiff Rose". Recorded by McGuinn as a solo artist, it stands as one of his most rock-oriented contributions, a departure from his earlier folk style. Both musicians' careers were marked by McGuinn leading one of the most iconic folk groups, The Byrds, while Mick Ronson was David Bowie's right-hand man for many years, in addition to being a member of Mott the Hoople and collaborating with Lou Reed, Ian Hunter, and Pure Prairie League, among others. For the recording of this album at Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, the two guitarists enlisted the help of Poco and Eagles bassist Timothy B. Schmit, drummer Howie Wyeth, bassist Rob Stoner, and guitarist David Mansfield. Songs like "Take Me Away", "Jolly Roger", "Partners In Crime", "Dreamland" or "Up To Me", show that rock side that is an indisputable responsibility of Mick Ronson's contributions, while others like "Soul Love", "Pretty Polly" or "Friend", leave us with that folk aftertaste of Roger McGuinn's recent past.

Roger McGuinn-Back From Rio (1991)

To speak of Roger McGuinn is to speak of one of the legends of North American folk rock, a founding member of the legendary The Byrds, along with David Crosby and Gene Clark.
Albums as legendary as "Mr Tambourine Man" (1965), "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (1965), "Fifth Dimension" (1966), "The Notorious Byrds Brothers" (1968) or "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" (1968) are all masterpieces of folk, country and psychedelia.
However, McGuinn's solo career has been somewhat irregular, with varied and quite balanced works with different fusions ranging from folk to rock roll, which have resulted in discs of great value and others of little impact and much more. predictable.
"Back from Rio" would be his ninth album released just released in the nineties and belongs to the first group, where his twelve-string guitar sounds extroverted and transparent as never before, and even his unmistakable voice seems to have regenerated in an amazing way.
For the recording of this album McGuinn surrounded himself with a luxurious establishment; Mike Campbell, Elvis Costello, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Tom Petty, Timothy B. Schmit ... among other great American musicians.
"Back From Rio" is an album as solid as it is full of compositional maturity, an album as brilliant as it is addictive from the first song to the last, by a musician so influential that he has become an icon of American roots music.