Hey guys and gals, it's time for another issue of Echoes! 

This month, Echoes takes a look at the origins of Gene Clark & The Group, with an article by KEN CLAYBAUGH; plus, The Clarkophile, TOM SANDFORD, probes the mystery of the Gene Clark Group’s ill-fated 1966 studio demos, and presents a tantalizing, potentially game-changing theory.

Photo of the month:

Gene Clark and The Group photographed during the summer of 1966, courtesy of John Delgatto, Sierra Records

NEWS

Gene Therapy is here!

SPECIAL FEATURE - Gene Clark & The Group

It was rumored that several bands extended offers of membership to Gene. One was Buffalo Springfield who, on the back of their second album released a year after the Byrds became a quartet listed “The Five Byrds” among those influencing their music.

By the summer of 1966 Gene had written a couple dozen new songs. This wealth of material and the visits of a young guitarist to Gene’s home prompted him to organize a band, dubbed “Gene Clark and the Group” or “The Gene Clark Group” for the sake of brevity. The young guitarist who had motivated Gene was 20-year-old Bill Rinehart.

In the spring of 1965 Bill had been a founding member of the Leaves, a southern California group financed by Jim Pons with money from an insurance settlement. Bill was the Leaves’ lead guitarist, Jim played bass and the rest of the group included John Beck, Robert Lee Reiner and Tom Ray. When commercial success eluded the Leaves, Bill quit, but not before the Byrds and the Leaves crossed paths in the clubs along the Sunset Strip. Bill’s departure from the Leaves was premature, as their third recording of “Hey Joe” with new lead guitarist Bobby Arlin, became a top twenty hit by May of 1966. Unable to repeat this success, the Leaves scattered with Jim Pons joining the Turtles and eventually the Mothers of Invention.

After only two weeks of rehearsal, the Gene Clark Group played the Whiskey A-Go-Go. Promotional photographs were commissioned. One pose has Gene standing in front of his Ferrari, the other three behind the car as if announcing that Gene was in charge. At about this time Gene appeared on ABC TV’s The Dating Game. The object of the game was a young lady choosing from among three young men for a date. The three men were kept from the view of the young lady as she based her decision on their responses to her questions. Gene’s competitors were Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and Ian Whitcomb who was riding the fast cresting wave of his novelty hit “You Turn Me On”. Gene was not selected for a date but performed with the Gene Clark Group at the end of the program. (N.B. our piece on The Dating Game appearance follows this article.)

"Nice car Gene!" Who's the leader of this group? Gene poses alongside his 1955 Ferrari Europa Coupe while Bill, Chip and Joel look on. Matching blazer and driving gloves complete Gene's look! (Photo courtesy John Delgatto, Sierra Records.)

With a band and plenty of new material it was time to record an album. After choosing Columbia Records from the half dozen offers Gene, along with Jim Dickson, opted to use session musicians. Of course, the album in question was Gene Clark With the Gosdin Brothers, released the same week as the Byrds’ Younger Than Yesterday in early 1967. Vern and Rex Gosdin were invited to contribute vocals and they brought along Clarence White. Among the other musicians listed on the album: Glen Campbell, Jerry Kole, Doug Dillard, Chris Hillman, Mike Clarke, and Leon Russell. Only Bill Rinehart remains from the Gene Clark Group (although an uncredited Joel Larson also appears). When Gene played a couple of local gigs after release of the album his backup group consisted of Clarence White (lead guitar), John York (bass) and Eddie Hoh (drums).

A single was released from Gene’s album featuring the lushly orchestrated “Echoes”. An accompanying video was shot and Columbia took out ads in the trade papers picturing Gene’s album cover with the caption “People ask if Gene Clark will be rejoining the Byrds—here is the answer”. But, the single received little or no airplay and sales of the album were sluggish at best.

Disheartened, Gene dissolved the Group. Bill Rinehart and Joel Larson joined the Merry-Go-Round, a band that share the Beach Boy’s hometown of Hawthorne, CA. The Merry-Go-Round’s resident genius was 18-year-old Emitt Rhodes. Their compilation on the Rhino label is highly recommended. Eventually Joel Larson joined the Grass Roots, long after their string of hits.

Chip Douglas went on to production, sometimes using the name Douglas Farthing Hatlelid. He produced three albums for the Monkees as well as the Turtles’ Battle of the Bands.  Although he did not produce the Turtles “Happy Together”, he did play the thumping bass guitar.

John York and Eddie Hoh joined the Mamas and the Papas’ backup band. John also worked with Johnny Rivers and the Sir Douglas Quintet before joining Clarence White in the second generation Byrds. Eddie Hoh appeared on the first Flying Burrito Brothers LP in 1969.

And Gene Clark? He briefly joined the Byrds before teaming up with Doug Dillard for chapter two of his post-Byrds career.

Thank you to KEN CLAYBAUGH for his kind permission to reprint this article.

Beach Boy BRUCE JOHNSTON talks to Echoes about being on The Dating Game with Gene Clark!

The Byrds and the Beach Boys in the studio. Gene at back, Bruce Johnston pictured to the left of Gene, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn and possibly Brian Wilson (?) with his back to the camera.

Ask the questions of the pilgrims 

Omnivore’s release of Gene Clark Sings for You may have unwittingly solved one of the biggest mysteries of the post-Byrds/pre-Dillard and Clark era: What did the Gene Clark Group’s demos sound like? TOM SANDFORD ponders this and more.

In July of 1966, shortly after the ill-fated debut of the Gene Clark Group at the Whisky a Go-Go, Jim Dickson took the hastily assembled group into Criterion Studios in Los Angeles to lay down an unknown number of demo recordings. (Side note: according to John Delgatto of Sierra Records, Dickson was fond of using Criterion for demo sessions. Indeed, 16 years later, he and Gene would return to the same studio to record the NyteFlyte tracks, which recently saw release on The Lost Studio Sessions 1964-1982.)

To date, published recollections of the sessions, as well as its recorded results, have been negative.  By all accounts the results disappointed everyone, including Gene, who dissolved the band shortly thereafter.  Chip Douglas told John Einarson that the session was “tense”; the musicians “uptight.”  

It was never clear to me who or what the source of the tension was, but reading between the lines of my interview with Joel Larson from 2010, it seems clear that there was some residual frustration, if not annoyance, with Gene’s inability to describe what he wanted from his collaborators (presumably in the way that someone like Brian Wilson, in fact, did). “Gene knew his songs and he knew how he felt them in his heart when he wrote them, [but he] couldn’t tell Rinehart…or any of those guys [what he wanted].”

It seems unfair to blame Gene for this; as producer, it would’ve been Jim Dickson’s job to direct the session.  However, this many years removed, it’s possible that Larson did not remember his presence in the studio that day. In any event, Joel’s three-word summation of the Gene Clark Group epitomized all known accounts: “It didn’t congeal.”

Perhaps out of my abiding faith in Gene as an artist, and my sincere appreciation for the talents of the three other musicians, I had a hard time accepting this.  I mean, come on, in the PR pictures taken by Henry Diltz and assorted live shots from the Whisky these guys looked like the essence of 1966 Cool.  On paper this was a formidable collection of talent. But absent any recorded proof to contradict the consensus that the session was a failure, there was really no way to argue the point.  But with Larson, I did anyway, albeit gently.

"The essence of 1966 Cool" Gene Clark & The Group perform at the Whisky A-Go-Go.

After hearing him say those dismissive comments about the demos, I pushed back.  I said something to the effect of “Isn’t it possible that time has been kind to these tracks? That whatever bad feeling associated with them wouldn’t necessarily reflect on how they sound now?”  I had expected a quick dismissal of this Hail Mary pass, but Larson actually took a moment to consider the question, and said that yes, it was possible.

And now we get to the interesting, if potentially controversial, part. Please hear me out.  

A couple of months ago, Neon Brambles alerted me to a comment made on Twitter by a guitar player who noted that the lead guitar style on ‘Doctor, Doctor’ sounded identical to Bill Rinehart’s playing on ‘Elevator Operator,’ from Gene Clark With The Gosdin Brothers. Now, John Noreen, quoted in the notes to Omnivore’s Gene Clark Sings for You, says the acetate for the songs ‘Doctor Doctor’ and ‘Big City Girl’ is dated 1966.  This totally jibes with Bill’s tenure in the first Gene Clark Group (Rinehart, Larson, Douglas).

I asked myself one simple question: who is the band on ‘Doctor Doctor’ and ‘Big City Girl’?

If it is, in fact, Bill Rinehart, could it be Joel Larson on drums? I invite you to listen to some songs from the Merry-Go-Round’s debut album from 1967, which featured Joel on drums and Bill on guitar (particularly ‘On Your Way Out,’ ‘Had to Run Around,’ ‘Where Have You Been All My Life’).  To my ears, it’s unquestionably Joel and Bill on the Gene Clark songs.  Same guitar style and textures from Bill, same signature drum fills from Joel; Gene, along with Bill and Chip (both of whom were accomplished singers) could have overdubbed the eerie backup vocals.

And if this is so, then I think it would not be unreasonable for us to extrapolate the implications of this realization/revelation.  I will tell you now that I harbour strong suspicion that ‘Doctor, Doctor’ and ‘Big City Girl’ are, in fact, two of the tracks recorded by the Gene Clark Group on that July day in 1966 at Criterion Studios.

I’m not stating this as unassailable fact, I’m merely positing the idea for your consideration. But you have to admit, it’s a pretty amazing idea to ponder while listening to the two songs, isn’t it?  I’m not ashamed to admit I got chills of excitement at the very thought.

Go have a listen for yourself. 

— TOM SANDFORD is a Toronto-based writer/editor. Since 2008 he has maintained a blog called The Clarkophile, an appreciation of Gene Clark's songwriting. (Thank you to Tom Sandford for his contribution to this month's issue!)

New in the Archives

We hear...

​​​​​In The Plan

• "Who's Who" List of people associated with Gene Clark to be added to the website.

All I Want

• "Backstage Pass" - Did you see Gene perform in concert with the Byrds or solo? Echoes is always looking for recollections from fans who met Gene at a show and maybe even snapped a photo or two. Email: GeneClarkWebsite@gmail.com if you have anything you'd like to share.

• Guest Blog Spot - Do you have a talent for writing? Have you always wanted to write about your favorite Gene Clark album, or share your interpretions of his songs? If you would like to submit an interesting blog piece about Gene Clark for our website, please contact Echoes at GeneClarkWebsite@gmail.com with your pitch, Echoes would love to hear from you!

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