Local musician's repertoire ranged from Beatles to blues
Last month, just three weeks before he succumbed to melanoma cancer, Kevin McGuckin realized a dream of recording three more songs with fellow musicians.
They made the recording in a makeshift studio set up in the home of guitar player, Joe Giovannini in Park Ridge, with McGuckin -- as weak as he was -- finding the strength to play the harmonica, or "harp" as he called it.
"It was beautiful," Giovannini said.
It would be Mr. McGuckin's last recordings and now serves as a tribute to him and his life spent making music.
The Chicago area performer, more recently associated with various blues bands in the city and suburbs, died Feb. 17. The Park Ridge native, most recently of Arlington Heights, was 57.
Mr. McGuckin grew up in Park Ridge and attended Maine South High School, graduating in 1969. As a teen, he was inspired by the Beatles, friends said, and began his career as a drummer playing with local groups.
His first success came, friends added, when he hooked up with songwriter Russ Otis and his band, Willow, which was patterned after the Beatles and played pop music.
As Mr. McGuckin's career expanded he learned to play more instruments, including the guitar and the harmonica, leading to more solo gigs.
One of his steady gigs during the 1970s and 1980s was playing at the Comedy Cottage in Rosemont, where he opened for comedians, playing his acoustic guitar and singing his original songs. One of those he opened for was Arsenio Hall.
By this time, Mr. McGuckin had evolved from the Beatles-style pop music to country and bluegrass and he sat in with bands like Big Beef City and Thermal Blues Band. He even appeared with Thermal Blues Band when they opened for the Cubs at Wrigley Field, before a game with their Central Division rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals.
Friends said that for the last 15 years, Mr. McGuckin found his niche playing blues. He often sat in with his harmonica at blues bars in Chicago, as well as suburban venues, including Harry's in Arlington Heights and Slice of Chicago and Durty Nellie's in Palatine.
Mr. McGuckin also played the Frontier Days festival in Arlington Heights, including last summer with Sammy Ray & Texas Flood, a Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute band.
Wherever his music took him, one of his most requested songs was one he wrote about a country singer searching for success, called, "Grand Old Opry." His friends found the lyrics particularly poignant and they plan to perform it at his funeral service on Saturday.
Part of the song's refrain includes these lyrics: "And I know there's a place in the world for me. And I know damn well that God has blessed the key to the door --To the door, to the door of the Grand Old Opry."
Mr. McGuckin was preceded in death by his parents, John and Marjorie, and his brother, Thomas, who passed away one year ago.
A funeral Mass will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church, 320 S. Washington St., in Park Ridge.