The anti-war (“protest”) song Eve of Destruction hit the scene in 1965. It was written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri; the most popular version of it was recorded by Barry McGuire.
Before getting into the story about how all that came to be, and about the song’s meteoric rise (I don’t want to say “with a bullet” here), here's Barry McGuire's original:
And here’s a discussion about how an off-the-cuff demo of the song was released and “took the country by storm” so to speak:
I've always wondered, though - did the song reflect McGuire's feelings, or did he just happen to be the guy who got tapped to sing the song (without necessarily having a strong opinion on the topics covered in the tune)? After all, McGuire didn't write the song, whose lyrics are:
The Eastern world, it is explodin'
Violence flarin', bullets loadin'
You're old enough to kill but not for votin'
You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'?
And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'
CHORUS:
But you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction
Don't you understand what I'm trying to say?
Can't you feel the fear that I'm feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there's no running away
There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave
Take a look around you boy, it's bound to scare you, boy
(CHORUS)
Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin'
I'm sittin' here just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation
Handful of Senators don't pass legislation
And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'
(CHORUS)
Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
Ah, you may leave here for four days in space
But when you return, it's the same old place
The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead but don't leave a trace
Hate your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace
(CHORUS)
As a partial answer to my own question, in the interview above, McGuire claims that Eve of Destruction was not a protest song, but rather that he was simply “telling the news” by singing the song. Nevertheless, some radio stations chose to ban the song as too controversial or “left-leaning.”
The lyrics were very topical on other subjects than just the (Vietnamese) war, though, referencing not only the Vietnam War and voting, but also Civil Rights, problems in the Mideast, the Space program, and the threat of nuclear war.
The line “You’re old enough to kill but not for votin’” apparently played a role in changing the voting age in the United States from 21 to 18 in 1971 with the passage of the 26th amendment.
NOTE: As to the impression one might get from the story told above (that the recording was just a “rough demo” not meant to be heard outside the studio), it should be taken into consideration that leading session musicians played on it, including Hal Blaine on drums and Larry Knechtel (member of the band Bread, and contributor to several other successful projects) on bass.
So who did write the song? P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri wrote it in 1964, the year before McGuire made it a hit. It was first offered to The Byrds, who rejected it; The Turtles, on the other hand, did record it, and in fact did so a little prior to Barry McGuire, but the Turtles’ version (reaching #100) was not nearly as popular as McGuire’s became (which catapulted to the very pinnacle of the charts at #1).
Who were these guys, anyway? That is to say, who was the singer Barry McGuire, and who were the songwriters P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri - “One-hit wonders”? Not exactly.
McGuire (born 1935) had been a member of The New Christy Minstrels, “trod the boards” as an actor and singer in the musicals Age of Aquarius and Hair on Broadway, and was name-checked numerous times in the The Mamas & The Papas song Creeque Alley (in the phrases “McGuinn and McGuire just a gettin’ higher” and “McGuinn and McGuire just a catchin’ fire”).
Note: The “McGuinn” also referenced was Roger McGuinn, of The Byrds.
As for P.F. Sloan (Philip Gary “Flip” Schlein, 1945-2015), he had been a professional songwriter since his mid-teens, and wrote many hit songs besides Eve of Destruction, several of them with Steve Barri (born 1942) as his partner. These included “Secret Agent Man” (popularized by Johnny Rivers), “Where Were You When I Needed You” and “Things I Should Have Said” by The Grass Roots, as well as “You, Baby,” which was recorded by The Turtles. Sloan and Barri were also backup musicians for Jan and Dean; In fact, Sloan sang the lead vocal on that duo’s hit “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena.”
Sloan and Barri were also important figures in the success of The Mamas and the Papas as well as The Grass Roots (although not a member of either group). They were active both as songwriters and musicians - as part of a group who often worked together in the studio known as “The Wrecking Crew.” In fact, they played on McGuire’s version of Eve of Destruction. Sloan and Barri also had a connection with the British pop band Herman’s Hermits.
Besides the seminal version by Barry McGuire, other noteworthy (no pun intended) versions of Eve of Destruction include the following:
P.F. Sloan himself:
Here’s a more recent Sloan version:
I don't recall when I first heard Eve of Destruction (having been born in 1958, I was only seven when McGuire’s version came out). Perhaps I did hear the version by Barry McGuire on the radio at that time; quite possibly I did, in fact. But my first memory of hearing the song is when I the version by Paul Revere and the Raiders (who sort of poppified it) on their 1971 album Indian Reservation:
As mentioned above, Eve of Destruction was also recorded by The Turtles
Billy Idol recorded it much later:
..as did Johnny Thunders (formerly of the New York Dolls and the Heartbreakers):
Finally, here is an updated version (with the lyrics altered to be more topical in 2020), which was recorded by Casey Abrams and Cyndi Lauper:
Here are the updated Abrams/Lauper lyrics (with key [no pun intended] changes bolded):
Well, the whole wide world, it is exploding
The violence a-flaring and the bullets a-loading
If there ever was a time, you better start voting
You don't believe in war but what is that gun you're toting?
And even the Rio Grande has a-bodies a-floating
But you tell me over and over and over again, my friend
How you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction
Don't you understand what I'm trying to say
Can't you feel the fears that I'm feeling today?
You send your kids to school and you feel that they're safe
Then you get the call that the shooter went mad in the place
Take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy
And then you tell me over and over and over again, my friend
How you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction
Yeah, my blood's so mad, it feels like coagulating
I'm just sitting here a-just a-contemplating
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation
And none of the senators can pass legislation
And marches alone can't stop all the hating
When human respect is disintegrating
This whole crazy world is just too frustrating
And you tell me over and over and over again, my friend
How you don't believe that we're on the eve of destruction
The virus hit many isolated and ill
The jobs disappearing, tryna pay the bills
A-hurricanes, floods, tornadoes are storming in
Politicians claim that there ain't no global warming
Winds are blowing and fires are blazing
Hills are scorched and no horses are a-grazing
If you cross the men his words are escaping
And ya tell me over and over and over again, my friend
Well, you don't believe that we're on the eve of destruction, whoa
And then ya tell me over and over and over again, my friend
How you don't believe that we're on the eve of destruction, whoa, yeah
And then ya tell me over and over and over again, my friend
That it's hard to believe that we're on the eve of destruction, whoa, yeah
We're on the eve of destruction
(repeats)
Music with the Versions linked to above
Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction
https://www.amazon.com/Eve-Destruction-BARRY-MCGUIRE/dp/B000025MQ1/garrphotgall-20
P.F. Sloan – Anthology
https://www.amazon.com/Anthology-Pf-Sloan/dp/B000002R3H/garrphotgall-20
The Turtles – Eve of Destruction
https://www.amazon.com/Eve-Destruction-Turtles/dp/B01MQ2C9ED/garrphotgall-20
Johnny Thunders - Eve of Destruction (CD & DVD)
https://www.amazon.com/Eve-Destruction-Johnny-Thunders/dp/B0001K2JSU/garrphotgall-20
Casey Abrams and Cyndi Lauper – Eve of Destruction
https://www.amazon.com/Destruction-Casey-Abrams-featuring-Lauper/dp/B08K3WHMNW/garrphotgall-20
Previous installments of the series “The Name of That Tune” are:
#1: The End of the World: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/the-end-of-the-world
#2: City of New Orleans: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/city-of-new-orleans
#3: Hobo’s Lullaby: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/hobos-lullaby
#4: Ghost Riders in the Sky: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/ghost-riders-in-the-sky-a-cowboy
#5: Sixteen Tons: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/sixteen-tons
#6: The Battle of New Orleans: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/battle-of-new-orleans
#7: The Big Rock Candy Mountain: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/big-rock-candy-mountain
#8: Pachelbel’s Canon In D Major: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/pachelbels-canon-in-d-major
#9: Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos): https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/deportee-plane-wreck-at-los-gatos
#10: Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/dont-cry-for-me-argentina
#11: Don’t Fear the Reaper: https://ramblingnotesofageezer.substack.com/p/dont-fear-the-reaper