The term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various cultures or social structures and philosophical systems of Eastern Asia or geographically the Eastern Culture. This includes the Indian subcontinent (comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal the Far East (comprising China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Indonesia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea), Australasia (Australia, New Zealand), The Middle East/Near East and Central Asia sometimes are considered being a part of East Asia.^{[citation needed]}

Introduction[link]

An image of the "Eastern world" defined as Asia.

The division between "East" and west is a product of European cultural history, and of the distinction between European Christendom and the Superior cultures beyond it to the East. With the European Invasion of the Americas the East/West distinction became global. The concept of an Eastern, "Indian" (Indies) or "Oriental" sphere was emphasized by ideas of racial as well as religious and cultural differences. Such distinctions were articulated by Westerners in the scholarly tradition known as Orientalism and Indology. People from the East are known by certain regions in the West as "Oriental". During the Cold War, the term "Eastern world" was sometimes used as an extension of Eastern bloc, connoting the Soviet Union, China and their communist allies, while the term "Western world" often connoted the United States and its NATO allies such as the United Kingdom. The concept is often another term for the Far East—a region that bears considerable cultural and religious commonality. Eastern philosophy, art, literature, and other traditions, are often found throughout the region in places of high importance, such as popular culture, architecture and traditional literature. The spread of Buddhism and Hindu Yoga is partly responsible for this.

Eastern culture[link]

An image of the "Eastern world" defined as the "Far East", consisting of three overlapping cultural blocks: East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.

The distribution of the two major families of world religion, Dharmic religion and Abrahamic religion, highlights the religious difference between the Far East and the rest of the world.

Eastern culture has developed many themes and traditions. Some important ones are:

• Eastern religion, Eastern philosophy
  • Far Eastern religions
    • Confucianism — the belief that human beings are teachable, improvable and perfectible through personal and communal endeavour especially including self-cultivation and self-creation.
    • Far Eastern Buddhism
    • Shinto
    • Daoism
  • Indian religions
    • Buddhism — path of liberation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality
    • Hinduism — an umbrella term for religious sects native to India
    • Jainism
    • Sikhism — A religion that developed in the warring plains of Punjab in an atmosphere of ideological clash between Islam and Hinduism. Its followers retain spiritual as well as martial qualities.
  • The Middle East, today largely coterminous with the Islamic world
    • Christianity — like other Abrahamic religions like Judaism and Islam, originates in the Middle East, where it is now a small minority religion.
    • Islam — the majority of the world Muslim population have always lived in Asia, due to Islam spreading and becoming the dominant religion of these areas.

• • • Zoroastrianism, the monotheistic state religion of Sassanid Persia
• Oriental medicine
  • Ayurveda
  • Chinese medicine
  • Kampo
  • Traditional Tibetan medicine
  • Traditional Korean Medicine

See also[link]

• Continental union

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009)

• Ankerl, Guy (2000) [2000]. Global communication without universal civilization. INU societal research. Vol.1: Coexisting contemporary civilizations : Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. Geneva: INU Press. ISBN 2-88155-004-5. 

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2010)

Barry McGuire
Barry McGuire in 1979.
Background information
Born	(1935-10-15) October 15, 1935 (age 76)
Origin	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma United States
Genres	Rock, Contemporary Christian
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, harmonica, vocals
Labels	Horizon, Ember, Dunhill, Ode, Myrrh, Sparrow
Associated acts	The New Christy Minstrels www.thenewchristyminstrels.com
Website	www.barrymcguire.com www.trippinthesixties.com

Barry McGuire (born 15 October 1935) is an American singer-songwriter best known for the hit song "Eve of Destruction", and later as a pioneering singer and songwriter of Contemporary Christian music.

Early life[link]

McGuire was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and moved to California in early childhood, when he was two years old. At age 16 he joined the United States Navy, but was discharged ten months later for being under age.

After working as a commercial fisherman, and then going onto become a journeyman pipe fitter, at age 25 McGuire got a job singing in a bar. In 1961, he released his first single called "The Tree", which was not a hit.

He formed a duo with Barry Kane called Barry & Barry. The new duo folk act performed their own brand of original folk arrangements—noticeably impressive melodies laced with rich harmonies—at The Ice House, a small folk club in Pasadena, CA. before moving on to The Troubadour in Hollywood in the spring of 1962. At The Troubadour they both joined The New Christy Minstrels, a large folk group performing there. They continued to perform their separate duo act there as well as performing with The New Christy Minstrels. They cut their first and only album as Barry & Barry called "Here And Now" which contained songs such as "Gold Wedding Ring", "Land Of Odin", "Another Man", "Summer's Over", "You Know My Name", "Bull 'Gine Run", "Far Side Of The Hill" and more. Their LP "Here And Now" on vinyl eventually went out of print, but has since been digitally remastered and rereleased on CD.

In 1963, McGuire along with Randy Sparks (the founder of The New Christy Minstrels) co-wrote, and sang lead vocal on, the Christys' first and biggest hit single: "Green, Green." He left the Christys in January 1965, after recording the album, Cowboys and Indians; however, on the 1965 album Chim Chim Cher-ee, he sang only on the title cut.

Solo career[link]

As a folk rock solo singer in the 1960s, he was best known for his hits "Eve of Destruction" and "Sins of the Family", both written by P.F. Sloan. His other chart successes were "Child of Our Times" (co-written by Steve Barri) and "Cloudy Summer Afternoon (Raindrops)" (penned by Travis Edmonson of the 1960s folk-duo, Bud & Travis). "Eve of Destruction" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[1]

McGuire's LP, The Eve of Destruction, reached its peak of number 37 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart during the week ending 25 September 1965. That same day the single of that name went to number one on both charts. McGuire was never again to break into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. According to McGuire, "Eve of Destruction" was recorded in one take on a Thursday morning (from words scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper) and then he got a call from the record company at 7:00 the next Monday morning, telling him to turn on the radio—his song was playing. The recording includes an "ahhh" where McGuire could not read the words.^[2] The Temptations referenced McGuire's song "Eve of Destruction" in their song "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)". For other references and covers of "Eve of Destruction" see the article: "Eve of Destruction".

The album This Precious Time was released in 1966, his second with Dunhill Records. It includes a version of "California Dreamin'" with The Mamas & the Papas singing backing vocals. McGuire is mentioned several times in The Mamas & the Papas hit, "Creeque Alley". Frank Zappa wrote McGuire's name in the sleeve of his Freak Out! album (1966) as one of his musical influences.

McGuire appeared in the 1967 movie, The President's Analyst with James Coburn as the character, "Old Wrangler," (leader of a band which completely comprised the Los Angeles group Clear Light, who were between lead vocalists) and in Werewolves on Wheels in 1971. He also starred for a year in the Broadway musical Hair.

McGuire became a born-again Christian in 1971 after a brief encounter with evangelist Arthur Blessitt in October 1970.^[3] In 1973, he joined the Myrrh label and released the album Seeds. This album is also notable for the backing vocals provided by the family trio that would become known as the 2nd Chapter of Acts. In 1974, McGuire released his second Jesus Music album Lighten Up, which included a remake of "Eve of Destruction". He toured with 2nd Chapter of Acts and "a band called David" and in 1975 this collaborative effort resulted in the double live album, To the Bride.

In 1976, he left Myrrh, joining former Myrrh executive Billy Ray Hearn's new label, Sparrow Records. He recorded seven albums on Sparrow, the best known of which is Cosmic Cowboy, released in 1978. That year he also released a top-selling children's album Bullfrogs and Butterflies (part of the Agapeland series) for Sparrow's subsidiary label, Birdwing.

In 1978, he also toured England, Scotland, and Wales with the Jimmy Owens' musical "The Witness", in which he played the part of the apostle Peter. His acting and singing in the musical was considered very inspiring. Also, the voice of Peter on the "Witness" album is his.

Later life[link]

In the 1980s, McGuire left the music industry, and settled for a time in New Zealand with his New Zealand wife Mari (former secretary of McGuire's Agape Force associate, Winkie Pratney). He returned to the United States in the 1990s, teaming up with Terry Talbot and recording as Talbot McGuire. The duo released four albums between 1996 and 2000.

In 1990, McGuire published a novel co-written with Logan White. A paperback, In the Midst of Wolves told a story about a group of bikers who come to know God.

As of 2006, he takes engagements which include a few songs and talks on a mixture of topics, by both McGuire and his wife. The McGuires resided in Fresno, California on their return to the United States but have since moved back to New Zealand.

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. In 2009 McGuire released "Eve 2012" where the text had been greatly modified to reflect contemporary problems (mostly environmental problems) rather than the problems of the 1960s.

In 2008, McGuire teamed up with former member of The Byrds, John York, for a live tour called "Trippin' the '60s", which McGuire describes as "...taking the songs and the truth that was in those songs from the 1960s and bringing them into the present moment...It's not a cover pack, it's us singing songs that we sung with a lot of our friends that aren't around anymore to sing them."^[4]

Partial discography[link]

• Barry Here and Now (1962)
• The Barry McGuire Album (1963)
• Eve of Destruction (1965)
• This Precious Time (1965)
• The World's Last Private Citizen (1967)
• McGuire and the Doctor (1971)
• Seeds (1972)
• Lighten Up (1974)
• Narnia (1974)
• Jubilation (1975)
• To the Bride (1975)
• Eve of Destruction (Star Power) (1975)
• C'mon Along (1976)
• Anyone But Jesus (1976)
• Jubilation Two (1976)
• Have You Heard (1977)
• Cosmic Cowboy (1978)
• Inside Out (1979)
• Best of Barry McGuire (1980)
• Finer Than Gold (1981)
• Pilgrim (1989)
• Let's Tend God's Earth (1991)
• When Dinosaurs Walked The Earth (1995)
• Ancient Garden (1997)
• Frost And Fire (1999)
• Eve Of Destruction (20 Inspirational Classics) (2000)

See also[link]

• List of 1970s Christian pop artists
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States
• Hot 100 number-one hits of 1965 (USA)

References[link]

External links[link]

• www.barrymcguire.com
• Barry McGuire's "Trippin' the '60s" official site
• Interview with Stain Free Media, November 16, 2007
• Barry McGuire biography at Allmusic website
• TheBeginningsConcert.com - Reunion Concert Event.