The byrds live with eight miles high3/17/2023 ![]() Gene Clark – “Train Leaves Here This Morning”Īfter the commercial flop of his first solo effort, Clark changed labels, and went for another joint musical venture. …an excellent concoction of ‘regular’ and baroque pop, and something that can be pinpointed as one of the origins of country rock, a few albums ahead of the seminal effort of his old band, The Byrds’ Sweetheart of The Rodeo In the meantime, David Crosby left The Byrds, Clark and the band attempted another go, but after a panic attack before one of the concerts, Clark was again out after only a few weeks. The album came out at the same time as Younger Than Yesterday, one of The Byrds’ best. The album was an excellent concoction of ‘regular’ and baroque pop, and something that can be pinpointed as one of the origins of country rock, a few albums ahead of the seminal effort of his old band, The Byrds’ Sweetheart of The Rodeo.īut the shadow and the success of McGuinn, Crosby and the rest of The Byrds, from then on, kept following Clark throughout the rest of his career. As far as the music was concerned, he delivered. What Clark delivered was a joint effort with The Gosdin Brothers (hence the name of the album, Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers (1967)) with Clark getting the head billing. Flying In The Shadow… Of The ByrdsĬlark’s reputation as a songwriter in music circles was strong, even after he left The Byrds – Columbia Records signed him immediately as a solo artist. By the time of 5 th Dimension in 1966 (one of the weaker Byrds albums) he was down to just one song – “Eight Miles High”, which is still one of the best drugs songs around.Īs is usually the case, highs usually lead to big crashes and the internal conflict within the band came to a head when Clark literally refused to fly to a gig while they were set to board an airplane. He would spend large sums on anything from booze to any sort of drugs he could lay his hands on. But then, at that point, Clark was already deep into substance abuse. The first point of discontent was when Clark gave up his rhythm guitar duties over to Crosby, which turned into a constant squabble with Crosby making snide remarks on Clark’s account. Clark was not only the front figure during their live shows, but was in a much better financial situation within the band due to all the song royalties he was receiving. ![]() Clark was the author of five songs, including gems like “Set You Free This Time” and “She Don’t Care About Time.” But what that produced within the band was tension and friction, particularly in relations between Clark and David Crosby. Of the 13 songs on the original album Clark wrote six songs (sharing credits for two with McGuinn), with songs like “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better”, “Here Without You”, and “I Knew I’d Want You”, remaining some of the best The Byrds came up with.įor Turn! Turn! Turn! the situation did not change much. So much so, that Columbia Records producers brought in session musicians to cover for everybody except Clark and McGuinn. Tambourine Man, The Byrds’ first album, Clark was not only the sole composer in the group, more or less, but actually, along with McGuinn, the only other accomplished musician in the band at the time, and that included David Crosby and Chris Hillman. At the time the band was set to record Mr. After playing in a number of folk and rock bands, covering everything from Hank Williams to Everly Brothers, Clark was hired by, then very popular, folk revival group The New Christy Minstrels, with whom he recorded two albums in the early ’60s.Ĭlark was not only the sole composer in the group, more or less, but actually, along with McGuinn, the only other accomplished musician in the band at the timeīut then he heard The Beatles and hooked up with Roger (then Jim) McGuinn to form The Byrds. You really have to be talented to make it as one of 13 siblings of multiple ethnic backgrounds (including American Indian), and from Tipton, Missouri to make it in the mid-’60s. After all, Gene Clark was the man who played in The Byrds and wrote “Eight Miles High”, as somebody who had a compulsive fear of flying. In the process of trying to find that better feeling he wrote some of the most exquisite music, whether it was jangly, baroque pop, or ‘plain’ country music. Even at the times when success was all around him, it seems that sadness always prevailed in a man that wrote “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better.” It seems he never did. ![]()
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