Roger McGuinn's Thunderbyrd-Rockpalast:Westcoast Legends Vol. 4

EIGHT MILES HIGH The historical date: On the night of the 23rd until the dawn of the 24th of July, 1977. The first Rockpalast took place on stage at the Grugahalle in Essen, Germany. Together with Rory Gallagher's brother Dónal, I originally had the idea to do a show similar to Bob Dylan's, 'Rolling Thunder Revue', a tour with friends (in 1975/1976) sparked our imagination. Our idea was to create a European counterpart to this with RORY in the centre. In the end, it didn't quite turn out as initially planned, but out of this idea came our invitation to ROGER McGUINN. He had taken part on DYLAN's tour, and the name of his own group was evocative of DYLAN's with its combination of ROLLING THUNDER and BYRDS. We found ourselves in the middle of a tradition that would determine the whole story of Rockpalast. With his 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, the fret scalloped from playing Dylan-songs in D (as director Christian Wagner noted), he brought the 'Jingle, Jangle' - sound of the BYRDS on the stage of the Grugahalle. And of course 'Mr. Tambourine Man' (the Dylan song which the BYRDS had made a hit) was not to be missed. Each of the three groups had their own day for sound check and rehearsal. ROGER rehearsed on Wednesday before the broadcasting. As we also stayed in the same hotel, we had the opportunity to become so well acquainted with him, that we could say 'WE are on the air' as on the Saturday, 23rd of July, 1977 when the Rockpalast introduction was thundering through the hall to open the live broadcast. It lasted more than five hours till the early morning. The first night began with two full shows performed by RORY GALLAGHER and LITTLE FEAT. And then at the dead of night it happened, the truly astounding concert of ROGER McGUINN'S 'THUNDERBYRD' took place. With ROGER McGUINN, a musical legend entered the Rockpalast stage. Memories of the BYRDS, which he had co-founded arose with the 3-vocal harmonies of this group which was seen by some as the 'American answer to the BEATLES'. Various musical relations came to the fore, and became audible throughout the broadcast. 'American Girl' recalled the original version from TOM PETTY in which Petty had produced like a BYRDS song. PETE SEEGER's 'Turn, Turn Turn'. 'Eight Miles High' which we had also filmed earlier in the Rockpalast studio with LEO KOTTKE on his 12-string acoustic guitar. Personal favorites were played: 'Chestnut Mare', at that time a favourite song of director Christian Wagner. It was a magic night. We could hardly imagine that this unusual format had really gone on air throughout Europe. Not without reason 'Eight Miles High' was the last song of the night. This song which describes, according to interpretation, a flight of the BYRDS over the Atlantic to England and, or drug experiences (DAVID CROSBY had later confessed this intention), also reflected our mood. Overwhelmed, we fell out of the broadcast vehicle, the pale crescent stood still in the sky over Essen, and we had tears in our eyes. The tension which had compelled us from the beginning of the planning for this big event up to this moment, now resolved in incredulous amazement about the fact that we had made it! The next day I didn't have the nerve to go to the office, I was beyond responding to anything. But when I finally came down to earth, I was welcomed at the WDR with: 'Peter, we have to do this more often'. I asked for two broadcasting dates per year, in the spring and in autumn. The dates were confirmed, and with that, the Rockpalast maintained its position as a beloved program for just over the next ten years. Peter Rüchel Rockpalast.

Actors: Roger McGuinn's Thunderbyrd, /

Audio Languages: English

Duration: 73 minutes

Language: English

Number of Discs: 1

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.