1974 was another hugely successful year for Asylum Records.
Founded by music business entrepreneur David Geffen in 1971, only three years into its existence their roster of artists included such luminaries as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Linda Ronstadt.
But in 1974 the heavyweight acts on the label in terms of commercial success and critical acclaim were the Eagles, whose slick brand of country-pop had brought them a first US number one hit single with ‘Best of My Love‘ – and Jackson Browne, for whom the plaudits had been plenty and much deserved for his outstanding ‘Late for the Sky‘ album.
But the most compelling LP Asylum released that year went largely ignored by critics and record buyers – the lyrics too mercurial for mainstream tastes, the artist in question known only for his eighteen-month spell in a pioneering group he had been a member of eight years before.
Time in the wilderness, however, had done nothing to dull the astonishing creative energies of former-Byrd Gene Clark, who in 1974 produced the shamefully overlooked but authentic masterpiece that is ‘No Other.’
The recording, release and subsequent commercial failure of ‘No Other‘ takes up roughly the middle third of the recently re-shown BBC 4 documentary: ‘THE BYRD WHO FLEW ALONE: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark’ – an excellent telling of the Gene Clark story, that rightly accentuates his prodigious talent while not overlooking a relentless capacity for self-destruction, both in personal and professional terms, that precipitated his death at the age of 46 in 1991.
Born in Tipton, Missouri, a small town close to Kansas City, Clark cut his musical teeth with folk-balladeers the New Christy Minstrels, but a chance meeting with Jim (later Roger) McGuinn – who like Clark was a former-folkie turned Beatle-convert – in early 1964 at The Troubadour Club in Los Angeles, led eventually to formation of seminal folk-rockers The Byrds.
After another aspiring singer-guitarist named David Crosby decided he very much wanted in, the fledgling trio recruited bassist Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke (neither of whom would be far from Gene Clark solo records of the 60s and 70s), The Byrds striking gold with their first single – turning the Bob Dylan-written ‘Mr Tambourine Man‘ into a sonic marvel of the time, their soaring harmonies and jangling guitars making it sound like a cosmic merger of Dylan with The Beatles.
After ‘Mr Tambourine Man‘ topped the UK and US singles charts, Columbia hastily released The Byrds debut album, which took its title from the recent hit single. At this juncture Clark emerges if not the leader of the group then its pivotal figure, taking lead vocal on many of the twelve songs, five of which he wrote including the mesmeric ‘Feel A Whole Better‘ – a song resounding with such verve and élan, The Byrds threatened to out-Beatle The Beatles at a time when they were still untouchable as a singles band.
On their second album, ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’ – released four months after the debut at the end of 1965 – Clark contributes three songs to the finished piece, including ‘Set You Free This Time‘ and ‘The World Turns All Around Her‘ both of which are staggeringly good, but his time as a Byrd was quickly drawing to an end, departing the group in February 1966 due apparently to a fear of flying (forever tagged thereafter as the Byrd who wouldn’t fly).
The BBC documentary and equally illuminating LA music scene film retrospective ‘Legends of the Canyon‘ both make the point Clark may have been as much tired of flying as he was afraid, the constant in-fighting within the group also cited as a factor in his decision to quit.
While the first two Byrds albums are rightly regarded as landmark recordings in the development of folk-rock, it only emerged years later, on CD-reissues with bonus tracks, just how prolific Clark had been during this period and the wealth of brilliant material he supplied the group only for it be omitted from the track listings – the ‘Mr Tambourine Man‘ and ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!‘ albums would have both taken on ‘all-time great’ status had they included such Clark gems as ‘The Day Walk‘, ‘You Showed Me‘, ‘She Don’t Care About Time‘ and ‘She Has a Way.’
The only clue regarding their non-inclusion comes in the BBC programme which hints at jealousy from certain other Byrd-members as his song writing royalties were making him far richer than them.
Despite appearing on a number of songs already cut for the subsequent ‘Fifth Dimension‘ album and leaving them with the basic framework for what became the brilliant ‘Eight Miles High‘ single – completed by McGuinn and Crosby who also received a composer credit – Clark eventually began his solo career in 1967 with an album entitled ‘Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers.’
An eclectic mix of country, pop and tentative psychedelic music, he can make justifiable claim to laying down the first marker for what would become known in the hands of the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, later incarnations of The Byrds and then the Eagles, as country rock. The LP remains a work of considerable interest as a curio piece of the era, but with the awful sense of timing that came to blight his career, it was released the same week as The Byrds ‘Younger Than Yesterday‘ and therefore virtually ignored.
Even taking into account the excellence of ‘Younger Than Yesterday‘ and its follow-up ‘The Notorious Byrd Brothers‘ there is no doubt both would have been further enhanced had Clark remained in the group – as would every disparate line-up of The Byrds that came along until McGuinn, the sole remaining founder member, brought the saga to an end in 1973.
After his solo record sank without trace Clark floundered until he hooked-up with virtuoso banjo player Doug Dillard, forming a duo that produced the memorable ‘The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark‘ (1968) a largely acoustic set for which Clark penned most of the material, the backing musicians including guitarist Bernie Leadon – prior to his stints as future Burrito Brother and Eagle.
It was followed by the less-auspicious ‘Through The Morning, Through The Night’ (1969), although two Gene Clark songs from that album – the title track and ‘Polly‘ – were covered by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on their 2007 duet album ‘Raising Sand.’
Turning down the opportunity to replace Gram Parsons in the Flying Burrito Brothers but giving them their finest post-Parsons moment with his composition ‘Here Tonight,’ Clark drifted back into solo work and on signing a deal with A&M released the very creditable ‘White Light,’ (1971). His earnest, introspective lyrics marked it out for critical acclaim only for the album to quickly vanish from view with Clark refusing to promote the excellent nine song set by not going on tour.
Initially A&M agreed to fund a second album but lost patience when the project became an expensive and painstaking affair, the label cutting their losses by terminating his contract (ironically when the results of those sessions finally emerged as the ‘Roadmaster‘ album a couple of years later, the songs were much more accessible than those on ‘White Light‘ and might have eked out a minor hit or two).
One of the songs recorded was ‘Full Circle‘ an appropriate title for his next move – a 1973 reunion with the other original Byrds.
But any hopes of former glories being rekindled were extinguished by a woeful album (McGuinn described the venture as ‘more of a party than recording session‘) with Clark the only one to emerge with credit by virtue of two solid country rock songs – one of which, ‘Full Circle,’ at least opened these largely dismal proceedings on a positive note.
The Byrds had been persuaded to reform by David Geffen whose Asylum label had put out the record. For all its scathing reviews, Geffen was suitably impressed by the contributions of Gene Clark that he signed him as a solo act.
In joining forces with producer Thomas Jefferson Kaye and by re-hiring guitarist Jesse Ed Davis, who had served him well on ‘White Light‘, Clark set about recording his next LP – the resulting ‘No Other‘ album an astonishing mixture of country-rock, folk, gospel and soul, on top of which Clark wrote mystical, deeply spiritual lyrics, that at times are almost willfully obscure but compelling, nevertheless.
Davis leads an army of session players into a series of extraordinary melodies where piano and guitar combinations are blended with layers of percussion to create a fusion of The Band and Manassas-era Stephen Stills. From start to finish ‘No Other‘ is a remarkable record – ambitious, enthralling, utterly unique and arguably the most astounding album of its time.
It was also extremely expensive to make and for his significant outlay David Geffen was expecting a return of more than eight songs, none of which was a likely hit single. With Geffen withdrawing promotional support in order to recoup production costs, ‘No Other‘ for all its obvious artistic merit, became the latest in a long line of Clark’s commercial disasters, this one becoming a set-back from which he would never quite recover.
After ‘No Other‘ failed to make an impact, it would be three years before he recorded again, the intervening period bringing the break-up of his marriage and a growing drink and drug problem that was soon spiraling out of control.
Long since parting company with Asylum he joined RSO for ‘Two Sides to Every Story‘ but by 1977 the rock scene was a far different place than it had been in 1974, the sensitive singer-songwriter finding few friends among the emerging punk rock set.
From often being ahead of the game in the 60s and early 70s, Gene with thick beard and red chequered blazer now looks dated, a man out of time. The album contains some fine compositions, his muse clearly fired by a painful divorce, yet overall ‘Two Sides‘ is an uneven collection that hints at a loss of confidence – a feeling not misplaced as it proved the last time Clark, as a solo artist, would record for a major label.
Showing a keen eye for rock nostalgia, in 1977 an enterprising promoter assembled a UK Tour comprising of three former Byrds (McGuinn, Clark and Hillman) each of whom had a solo album to promote. All touring with their own backing musicians, on occasion they performed together – these on-stage reunions carrying on to the extent Capitol gave them a record deal, with two albums forthcoming before the decade was out.
Unfortunately, neither was particularly good Clark falling foul of the others due to his drug abuse before recording of the second began. Fired from the touring group, the LP entitled ‘City‘ (1980) is credited to Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, ‘featuring‘ Gene Clark, who for all his problems still manages to contribute the only song worthy of mention, a glorious track with the somewhat ironic title ‘Won’t Let You Down‘ that evokes memories of how great The Byrds sounded on their first two albums.
Throughout the 80s Clark paid heavily for bridges burnt in previous decades and while apparently content with his reputation as a maverick, there would be no significant interest in his current activities – the low budget duo album with Carla Olson, ‘So Rebellious A Lover,’ (1987) making little impression. In retrospect it now stands as a forerunner to later collaborative efforts between Plant & Krauss and Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris, Gene once again the pioneer only for others to hit pay dirt with the idea.
Making overdue efforts to curb addictions that had seriously affected his health, his outlook received a significant boost in 1989 when Tom Petty, a long-time Byrds devotee, recorded ‘Feel A Whole Lot Better‘ for the ‘Full Moon Fever‘ album, the song also receiving an airing when performed by the five original Byrd members on their induction to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in January 1991.
But in terms of a career renaissance, it proved to be the final false dawn, royalties generated from the Tom Petty cover prompting a return to bad habits which led to Clark being found dead at his Los Angeles home on 24 May 1991.
That Gene Clark was unable to command widespread attention during his lifetime remains one of the eternal mysteries of popular music and even in death his monumental contribution to the birth and development of country-rock is often overshadowed by that of Gram Parsons – with whom he, at least, holds the title of country-rock founding father.
‘He had a great voice, sang from the heart and wrote wonderful songs, so why didn’t it work for Gene? That’s the question,’ asks Chris Hillman in the BBC documentary, stopping short of referring to the self-destructive streak Clark never managed to conquer.
At the end of the programme Carla Olson makes the assessment, ‘great art is not always recognised in its time,’ a perceptive observation when considering the legacy of Gene Clark – ‘No Other‘ listed at 136 (which still seems absurdly low) when Rolling Stone magazine compiled its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of all time in 2017.
It is worth remembering, however, that is eight places above the highest chart position it ever reached.
In the 1978 edition of the ‘New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock‘, which to its credit describes ‘No Other‘ as ‘a minor masterpiece‘, the entry for Gene Clark stands between Eric Clapton and The Clash – which you cannot help but think is the perfect place to find him.
This article was first published on 3/10/2018.
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