Eve of Destruction

Last week's toast was all about Girl Groups, so I spent a lot of time in the 1960s. That got me listening to bonafide one-hit-wonder Barry McGuire and his #1 Billboard Hot 100 smash Eve of Destruction.

That jam still sounds great and resonates in 2022 as much as it did in the mid-60s.

P.F. Sloan wrote Eve of Destruction and it was recorded by The Turtles after The Byrds turned it down. Then McGuire recorded it and had the hit with it. Coincidentally, McGuire was first to record the #1 smash for The Mamas & the Papas "California Dreamin'". Barry's version has The Mamas & the Papas singing backup.

Lou Adler took that recording, replaced McGuire's lead vocals with Denny Doherty's, added the Bud Shank alto flute solo and the rest is history. If you listen really closely to The Mamas and the Papas version, you can still hear McGuire's vocals bleeding in.