Several artists have recorded it, but the best-known recording was by Barry McGuire. This recording was made between July 12 and July 15, 1965 and released by Dunhill Records. The accompanying musicians were top-tier LA session players: P.F. Sloan on guitar, Hal Blaine (of Phil Spector's "Wrecking Crew") on drums, and Larry Knechtel on bass.
The vocal track was thrown on as a rough mix and was not intended to be the final version, but a copy of the recording "leaked" out to a DJ, who began playing it. The song was an instant hit and as a result the more polished vocal track that was at first envisioned was never recorded.
The song had initially been presented to The Byrds as a Dylanesque potential single, but they rejected it. The Turtles, another LA group who often recorded The Byrds' discarded or rejected material, recorded a version instead. Their version was issued as an album track shortly before McGuire's version was cut.
It eventually hit number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. The song was also recorded by Jan and Dean on their album Folk 'n Roll in 1965 and by The Grass Roots on their first album Where Were You When I Needed You in 1966.
McGuire mentioned that "Eve of Destruction" was recorded in one take on a Thursday morning (from words scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper), and he got a call from the record company at 7:00 the following Monday morning, telling him to turn on the radio - his song was playing. The recording includes an "ahhh" where McGuire couldn't read the words.
In the first week of its release, the single was at number 103 on the Billboard charts. By August 12, Dunhill released the LP, Nick Featuring Eve of Destruction. The LP reached its peak of number thirty-seven on the Billboard album chart during the week ending September 25. That same day the single went to number one on the chart, and repeated the feat on the Cashbox chart, where it had debuted at number thirty. McGuire was never again to break into the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100. It went to number one in Norway for two weeks.
The American media helped popularize the song by using it as an example of everything that was wrong with the youth of that time. The song was banned by some radio stations in the USA("claiming it was an aid to the enemy in Vietnam). It was placed on a "restricted list" by the BBC, and could not be played on "general entertainment programmes".
Barry McGuire updated the lyrics when he performed at a reunion of folksingers, with the line "Selma, Alabama", replaced by the words "Columbine, Colorado", referring to the student massacre of 1999. On March 12, 2008, McGuire appeared on the Australian music comedy/game show Spicks and Specks, performing an updated version of "Eve of Destruction", with new lines such as "You're old enough to kill/ you just started voting" and "...can live for ten years in space". The reference to "Red China" was also removed.
"You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’" refers to the fact that in the United States, men were subject to the draft at age 18, while at that time the minimum voting age (in all but four states) was 21.
"And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’" refers to The War over Water.
The song also makes reference to Selma, Alabama where Bloody Sunday took place. (The version by Jan and Dean substitutes "Watts, California" in the lyrics, in apparent reference to the Watts Riots.)
"Ah, you may leave here, for four days in space, but when you return, it's the same old place." This refers to the June 1965 mission of Gemini 4, which lasted just over four days.
According to Sloan, the lyric "The pounding of the drums the pride and disgrace" relates to the Kennedy assassination.
"Eve of Destruction" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
Barry McGuire (born 15 October 1935) became a born-again Christian in 1971 and as a result renounced the song for many years, refusing to perform it. Though he is now known primarily as a singer of contemporary Christian songs, McGuire has continued to sing "Eve Of Destruction" in recent years, often updating the lyrics to refer to such events as the Columbine High School massacre.
" The above text is a mashup from Wikipedia."
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