We're Marchin' in with another issue of Echoes!

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

This month's photo by NURIT WILDE is of the debut of Dillard and Clark at The Troubadour, 1968. From left: Bernie Leadon, Gene and Doug Dillard. Read about this show and more in this month's 5 Questions with DAVID JACKSON.

NEWS

We hear…

That a certain well-known music historian, musicologist and author has been busy writing liner notes for some Gene Clark related releases due out this year, and that one of the releases "includes the Holy Grail of Gene Clark archival material plus further material never heard before"! You can count on Echoes to bring you all the details as soon as they become available. Stay tuned...

For a Spanish Guitar...
The first ever Spanish language Gene Clark biography by teacher, writer and journalist Álvaro Alonso is due for publication in May, 2018! Echoes will have more details about the book and will be featuring a brief excerpt in our May issue.

THIS MONTH:

• More Gene's Gear! A follow-up to last month's article on Gene's Gibson Dove guitar.

• A very special Backstage Pass with renowned photographer of the NYC punk music scene, ROBERTA BAYLEY.

• 5 Questions with DAVID JACKSON

GENE IN ACTION!

Recently a fan on Twitter posted a link to this silent footage of the Byrds performing at the Ratcliffe Stadium in Fresno, CA on May 22, 1965. The clip, filmed without sound, was advertised in the Teen-zines of the time as The Byrds Flip Them in Fresno and was available for purchase through mail order. Echoes thinks Gene looks pretty darn cool! Anyone able to make out which song they're singing?

What's the story behind this photo? Do you recall where it was taken and who took it? How old were you in this photo of you and Gene?

Backstage at the Cow Palace, San Francisco in 1966? I’m 15. My friend Nini Guerard took the photo with my Instamatic.

Roberta, Gene "the fox" and the tambourine.

Was Gene your favorite Byrd?

Right from the beginning Gene was absolutely my favorite Byrd. I just thought he was so handsome, and he had a soulful plaintive singing voice that was hypnotic. The first band I was in love with were the Beatles, and it was just assumed that you’d pick your favorite. I had two close friends who were Beatlemanics, and conveniently we all liked a different Beatle! (You couldn’t choose John because he was married.) So I became Mrs. Paul McCartney, my friends were Mrs. Ann Harrison and Mrs. Julie Starr. We had so much fun–at 13 years old to discover the Beatles was such a blessing in my life, it really changed everything. I saw them three times.

After the Beatles stopped touring, of course we were still seeing lots of great bands. The Rolling Stones (6 Times), the Dave Clark 5, Herman’s Hermits. Back then they would have these things called “package tours” where like 20 bands played, often in the afternoons, at a big venue, each band doing just three songs. The Kinks, the Animals, Sonny & Cher, all the artists with hits would all be on the same bill, performing for 15,000 teenagers. It was incredible. Do people still remember all these bands?

Call the cops! Roberta is held back from showing her enthusiasm for the Fab Four. Right, Roberta (aka Mrs. Paul McCartney) and her pals hold photos of their favorite Fabs - but where's Gene???

How did you get to meet Gene and the other Byrds?

I think the first time I met the Byrds was at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, where the photo of me and Gene was taken. That was one of those big shows, with many acts. So I probably flashed my [Byrds Fan Club] card and got backstage. There really was no security back then, except for the Beatles and the Stones. I remember going to see the Yardbirds with my friend Pam who was super into the band and wanted to meet them. So I just went up to some guy and said I was the Yardbirds Fan Club President, and he let us backstage. My friend was in heaven, she loved Keith Relf. Meanwhile I was outside the dressing room talking to their guitar player, a handsome young guy named Jimmy Page!

How did you become the Byrds Fan Club President? What were some of your responsibilities?

I honestly don’t remember! Maybe I applied through an address in a magazine? It was really a scam, because there was no Byrds Fan Club in San Anselmo, California where I grew up. (It’s 20 miles north of San Francisco). So that made me the President. They sent me a little light blue “official” membership card, signed by Christine Hinton, who was David Crosby’s girlfriend at the time. I would just use it to get me and my friends backstage at Byrds concerts! The band was cool with it - we were cute 16 year olds, and we didn’t bother anybody. They were still playing pretty small places. There was no security really - I just flashed my card!

Did you follow Gene's solo career at all? What did you think of his music?

I bought Gene’s first solo album and played it a lot. I was very disappointed when he left the Byrds. I had the Gene Clark With The Gosdin Brothers record and the one with Carla Olson (So Rebellious A Lover).

Did you ever see Gene or the other Byrds again?

I saw the Byrds without Gene two or three times, once at the Monterey Pop Festival. I got to know David Crosby a little from hanging out at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. He once drove me home in his Porsche!

I saw Gene play live at the Lone Star Cafe in New York where a friend, Steve Forbert, was opening. It might’ve been in the late 80s? Steve came out after his set and we talked, and I told him my Gene Clark story. He asked if I wanted to go backstage, but I declined. I’m not sure why. When my friend Humphrey Ocean was on tour with Wings in 1976, at the after party, he asked if I wanted to meet Paul. I declined. It was at the height of Punk and Wings weren’t “cool”. Plus there was already a Mrs. Paul McCartney!

Echoes would like to express their thanks and appreciation to Roberta for sharing her memories and photos with our readers!

About ROBERTA BAYLEY:

Before she was a photographer of the NYC punk scene, Roberta Bayley was a Californian who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. Her love of music started early with bands such as The Beatles and The Byrds. After moving to NYC in the 1970s, Roberta photographed some of the best artists from the NYC Punk scene such as Blondie, The Ramones, The New York Dolls, The Sex Pistols and more. For more on Roberta and her impressive portfolio, visit her website RobertaBayley.com.

A sampling of some of Roberta Bayley's photography. (Used with kind permission from the photographer.) 

​​​​​​In The Plan

• “Gene Therapy” a Gene Clark podcast – topics & music specific to Gene’s career

• "Who's Who" List of people associated with Gene Clark

• "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!

DAVID JACKSON                   

DAVID JACKSON is a versatile and seasoned studio musician who contributed to the Dillard and Clark albums The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark (1968) and Through The Morning Through The Night (1969). In addition to his fine bass playing on both albums, he can also be heard and playing guitar, piano and cello on their second album. David was awarded Best Instrumentalist by the California Country Music Association in 1996. Throughout his career, he has also worked with such notable artists as Jackson Browne, Hoyt Axton, Dwight Yoakum, Kenny Rogers and many others. David can be seen recollecting his days with Dillard & Clark in the 2014 documentary The Byrd Who Flew Alone, The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark. For more on David Jackson visit: dpjackson.com/index.html

1. When was the first time you met Gene?

In the balcony of the Troubadour, 1968, upon the recommendation of Doug Dillard to join what would become The Dillard & Clark Expedition. Gene approached me and asked, in his own kindly shy and reticent fashion, if I’d like to join him, Doug and Bernie Leadon the next day at Doug’s house in Beachwood Canyon for some “tune-age” (my word). I of course, said “of course!” and a regimen of coagulating at noon in Doug’s house, which was the ground floor of a two-story house, the upstairs of which was occupied by Linda Ronstadt and her beau at the time, John David Souther, began. Rarely was anyone called to attend…we all just did.

Bill Martin, a most creative songwriter, later screenwriter and all together very funny and heartfelt musical man lived in the small apartment at the back of the house and Harry Dean Stanton thrived above the garage in the back. That little Beachwood nook was a hotbed of creativity. Each day, upon arriving, Gene would be on the couch and would have some chords, maybe a melody and a few words and phrases, and by the end of a day a song would have graced our union. When the recording of the first album began (The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark), all of the ingredients were in place. As likely as that would seem, such was not always the case with other aggregations.

The song never again surfaced. Doug, Gene and I talked about that event years afterwards, but, while we remembered the occasion, none remembered the song. Guess it had done its job.

The other story is opening night at the Troubadour, Doug and Gene had after sound check, taken LSD and drifted to the Italian restaurant next door (Dan Tana’s), to drink Martoni’s martinis. Later, the lights go down, the band takes the stage, Dickie Davis introduces us, the lights come up and Gene is sitting on his amplifier, facing the back wall. It took longer than I wished to turn him around and face the audience, which was filled with music press and industry mucky mucks. Gene looked at me and said, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s play!" Our live performance career never really got off the ground, but the music and his spirit live on.

The second line-up of Dillard and Clark, 1969.
Back row, from left, Donna Washburn, Byron Berline,
Jon Corneal and David Jackson. Front row, seated
from left, Gene Clark and Doug Dillard

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