Died On This Date (May 24, 1991) Gene Clark / The Byrds

themusicsover May 24, 2010 1 Comments

Gene Clark
November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991

Gene Clark is perhaps best known as a founding member of folk rock group, the Byrds. Clark’s early career was mainly devoted to performing in traditional folk groups in and around Kansas City. But after hearing the Beatles in 1964, he decided he needed to rock, so he moved to Los Angeles. Upon arriving in L.A., Clark joined up with Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and later Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke to form the Byrds, who gained a following based on a sound that music critic Richie Unterberger at allmusic.com called “melding the innovations and energy of the British Invasion with the best lyrical and musical elements of contemporary folk music.” Clark wrote most of the Byrds’ biggest hits – songs that would go on to become signature tunes for the entire era, songs like, “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better,” “Set You Free This Time,” “Here Without You,” “She Don’t Care About Time,” and “Eight Miles High.” But life with the Byrds didn’t last long as internal tensions grew over the record company’s decision to have McGuinn sing the “bigger” songs, Clark’s fear of flying, and the band’s resentment that he was making more money from publishing. So he left the band just two years later. Clark spent the rest of his career working solo and partnering with the likes of Carla Olson, Doug Dillard, Bernie Leadon, as well as a brief stint back with Hillman and McGuinn. By the late ’80s, years of drugs and heavy drinking along with a possible undiagnosed bipolar disorder, began to manifest in the form of ulcers which resulted in the loss of much of his stomach and intestines to surgery. Bad health and lawsuits involving the other members of the Byrds plagued his final years. Clark died on May 24, 1991 of what the coroner declared, natural causes brought on by a bleeding ulcer.

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