Hello everyone and welcome to this month's issue of Echoes! |
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NEWS Last month Echoes told you about John Einarson’s interview with Dick Altavista on CKCU FM's “Can I Have A Word?”. If you tuned in, you heard this bit of interesting and exciting news from John: “there’s going to be a new archival release coming out in early 2018 that’s going to blow away dedicated Gene Clark fans – it’s the holy grail of Gene Clark releases…” Echoes can only guess at what it might be, but whatever it is, That’s Alright By Me! |
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Gene's youngest son, musician, Kai Clark, will be appearing at a concert to benefit the Casa Alegre Orphanage on Saturday, October 14. Details can be found in the flyer pictured here and also on the Gene Clark Events page. |
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Recently, our friend Barnes Newberry played a new EP by singer-songwriter Leo Koster called Leo Koster Sings Gene Clark on his adio show “My Back Pages”. This EP is a collection of 6 Gene Clark songs uniquely interpreted and performed by Leo and his band. Echoes thought it was so good that we’d mention it to you here! Here's some information from Leo's website: Leo Koster Sings Gene Clark is a mini-album featuring 6 songs by Gene Clark, the legendary singer/songwriter known for his work with The Byrds, Dillard and Clark, Flying Burrito Brothers and his collabaoration with Carla Olson. All six tracks are not so much covers as well as personal interpretations, showing how great they are when performed not to fit in an album context or time-frame but just as songs. |
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We were especially impressed with Leo's interpretation of "Echoes" and we also love the photo on the cover of Gene's birthplace in Tipton, MO from the 1950s. To order this fine collection of songs click here. |
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BACKSTAGE PASS Gene Clark fan Robert Kleb met Gene on two occasions in the mid-80s (June,1985 and early 1986). He was lucky enough to spend some time with Gene, get some albums autographed and snap some photos. Here’s Bob’s recollection of those two meetings: “I met Gene two times in the mid 80s during his 20th Anniversary of The Byrds tour. The first time was in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Caberet. The second time I met Gene was about a year later. He had no new recordings out so again met I met him early before show and backstage, though I spent much less time 2nd time around. What a great down to earth guy! |
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He was willing to sign any item and just gave you a very comfortable feeling. It was in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Cabaret. He was standing at the back bar listening to the sound from the stage. I had a beer with him and went backstage after show. For about an hour and half he signed every album I brought and talked specifically about each one. |
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He seemed to me very comfortable at the time of how his career was going and he seemed very relaxed and somewhat focused on his next move. The Firebyrds album followed and then the rebirth with Carla Olson (So Rebellious A Lover), I really felt he knew even with all the disappointments with record labels, sales etc., that he was going to find that pearl. I feel the recordings with Carla were his most self confident moments in his life, it just came a little too late. |
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But the most memorable of meeting him was afterwards - I thought to myself ‘what a humble guy’ and to be as famous as he was you would have never known it. Incredible.” Many thanks to Bob Kleb for sharing his memories and photos with Echoes' subscribers! |
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Do you have a special story to tell or photos you'd like to share of seeing Gene in concert? I'm interested in running a feature for this newsletter consisting of memories from fans who either saw The Byrds with Gene in concert or Gene solo. If you are interested in participating, please send an email to: GeneClarkWebsite@gmail.com with the subject line: memories. Text submissions should be no longer than a brief paragraph or two. Photos should be attached to the email with a brief description and a photo credit. I hope to hear from you! |
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Only Yesterday's Gone...Did you miss a previous issue of Echoes? Not to worry! The archive of previous issues can now be found on the Gene-Clark.com website in the News section here. In The Plan - “Gene’s Gear” – feature on guitars Gene used throughout his career
- “Gene Therapy” a Gene Clark podcast – topics & music specific to Gene’s career
- "Who's Who" List of people associated with Gene Clark
- 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, we'd love to hear from you!
This month’s 5Q is with film maker PAUL KENDALL director and producer of the the documentary film The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark. Region-free (formatted to play it in any country) DVDs are available for purchase on the Four Suns Productions website. It is truly a 'must-see' for any Gene Clark fan! NEXT MONTH: - November is Gene Clark Month! We'll be celebrating Gene's birthday all month long! Check the website and the @Neon_Brambles Twitter page for events & giveaways.
- 5Q with CARLA OLSON
Until next time, Keep On Pushin'! |
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Trailer for The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark. |
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PAUL KENDALL started his love affair with Gene's music when he heard the first Dillard & Clark album (The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark) in 1968. Nine years later he met Gene, to do an interview for Zigzag magazine, while he was in London with the KC Southern Band. And four decades later, he press-ganged two of his sons into helping him make the first (and so far only) film about Gene's life - The Byrd Who Flew Alone . Filming took them from Gene's birthplace in Tipton, MO through the locations of his upbringing around Kansas City, to the places in California that saw both the high and low points of his life. |
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1. When was the first time you met Gene?The first and only time I met Gene was in 1977, when he was here in the UK with Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn. Each had their own band with them and did their own set, then came together for Byrds-oriented encores. The Hammersmith show is available on CD as 3 Byrds Land in London. |
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I was writing for a magazine called Zigzag at the time and went with the tour when it headed north, to do an interview with Gene. We were in either Liverpool or Leeds, I can’t remember which. I did the interview, which appeared issue #73 of the magazine, during the afternoon in the hotel bar. But then the gig got cancelled. In fact, I think the whole tour got cancelled… apparently it was fraught with money problems. So after I turned off the tape recorder, Gene and I just carried on talking into the evening over a few beers.The thing that particularly struck me was that, during our conversation, he was as interested in me (a rookie journalist) and what I had to say, as I was in him. |
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He was a most un-star-like star – one of only two people I interviewed, during my stint as a music writer, who I’d have happily spent more time with (the other was the equally modest and gracious Lowell George). Gene left a very strong and lasting impression on me. I think that played a large part in the sense of mission, which drove the making of the film nearly 35 years later. (Note: you can find Paul’s 1973 article about Gene pictured above in the Gene Clark Archives.) 2. What is your favorite Gene Clark story/memory? My best memory is, obviously, having the privilege of meeting him. My favourite story might be the one Carlie (Clark – Gene’s wife) told us, when we interviewed her for the film. Unfortunately, we didn’t have room for it in the edit, so I’ll let her tell it here.
“Gene and I were in LA while he was recording, and he had rented a huge house that supposedly used to be the Jackson 5 house up on Queen’s Road, up above the Strip. Whenever we were in LA, Doug Dillard would come and visit...I think he was between girlfriends at the time and we had this huge house, so he moved into one of the rooms there. They started drinking more and it got crazier and crazier. Kelly and Kai were young and it was hard, having two babies with the hours you keep when you’re recording. I finally said “Listen, I’m leaving you two in LA. I’m going to go back to Mendocino”, which I did. Well, that was like giving two 12 year olds full reign of the house and anything they wanted. They played some incredible bluegrass music together…it wasn’t just sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. But, you know…it was that too. So anyway, they’d been up for about three days, having a great old time, and I guess most people know that if you stay up for a few days, paranoia is one of the things that sets in. So it was an hour after sunrise and all of a sudden they heard, over a loudspeaker/bullhorn – “The house is surrounded…come out with your hands up!” Well both of them drop to the ground, start crawling around the house, madly trying to find every drug that was in the house and flushing them down the toilet, and saying “We’ve got to straighten up…we’ve got to straighten up”.
Then they heard it again – “The house is surrounded…come out with your hands up!”, and they’re going “They’ll shoot us…they’ll see us and they’ll shoot us”. |
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They crawled around, freaking out, and finally they decided that they’d have to surrender. So they got a pair of white boxer shorts of Doug’s, tied them onto a broom handle and stuck it out of the window and started waving it…surrendering.And they said it again “Come out with your hands up…surrender…”, must be the wrong window, so they crawl to another window and are waving this out. |
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And finally they heard “That’s a cut…that’s a wrap”, which let them know they were filming a movie down on the street below and the sound was carrying up. So I think the party stopped then. Gene came home in a couple of days…it scared them to death.” (Note: you can see Carlie tell this story in the extras of The Byrd Who Flew Alone DVD) |
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3. What do you know about Gene that you would want his fans to know? Despite his reputation for being wild and self-destructive, the Gene Clark I met for a few hours was a gentle, soulful man, searching for wisdom and answers. That’s the man I hear in his music. 4 . Favorite Gene Clark Song/Album? Favourite song is ‘For A Spanish Guitar’. A song which Bob Dylan (rightly) said he would have been proud to write. Favourite album is much harder. I go to different ones on different days, depending on my mood. If I was forced into Desert Island Discs mode, I’d be choosing between the first Dillard & Clark album (The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark) and White Light. But I’d be reluctant to leave any of them behind. 5. Complete the sentence: I think Gene Clark should be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame because… He wrote so many great songs, with his own distinctive voice, lyrically and melodically. Which have been covered by an extraordinary range of other artists over the years. With the whole world of songs to choose from, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (with an assist from T Bone Burnett) put two of his on the multi-platinum Raising Sand album. Who are we to argue? |
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