This tribute article is a broad overview of Gene's legacy, written for the Australian edition of "Addicted to Noise", but no longer on their website.  Christopher Hollow is a music writer for "Addicted to Noise". He also plays bass guitar with an acid fried band called the Sand Pebbles. He lives in Melbourne, Australia and his five favourite Gene Clark songs of the moment are, in no particular order: 'Set You Free This Time', 'Out on the Side', 'So You Say You Lost Your Baby' (demo), 'Polly' and 'In a Misty Morning'.  

Gene Clark

By Christopher Hollow

Gene Clark was a founding member of the Byrds – one of the most influential bands of all time. He mid-wifed the birth of folk-rock, power-pop, psychedelia and country rock. He's a rock 'n' roll hall of famer but still remains virtually anonymous to the music public.

For those looking for a cult hero Clark cuts a romantic figure. Brooding good looks, enigmatic, mysterious – his life was littered with dramatic stories of bad luck, scorching affairs, 8-mile highs, desperate lows, substance abuse, missed opportunities, an early demise and, above all, fantastic music.

Despite all the ingredients that make for legendary status Clark is one of the most unheralded songwriters in rock history.

However, a 2-cd tribute album "Full Circle" released on April 19 by US label Not Lame Records is the latest vehicle alerting music fans to the cult of Gene Clark.

Whereas fellow Byrd Gram Parsons had plenty of big name artists cutting his songs for the recent "Grevious Angel" tribute, it seems apt Clark has a host of underground artists pay homage to him.

Included on the double album are Carla Olsen, Sid Griffin, the Merry Makers, the Retros, Bill Lloyd, Chris Von Sneidern, the Gripweeds while Gene's brother (Rick) and son (Kai) make contributions. Also featured are two Australian acts Michael Carpenter and the power popping Finkers.

"I believe our relationship with so many of today's indie, and un-heralded, artists made it easier for us to relate to the circumstances surrounding Gene Clark's own musical career," Not Lame's Project Manager Eric Sorensen explains.

"Pop music audiences may be less familiar with Gene Clark's song repertoire than pop musicians. But music fans have all heard at least one of his songs on the radio, one of his ballads sung by a solo artist in a coffee-house or one of his mid-tempo tunes played by a band in a club."

Over the years music artists as disparate as Willie Nelson, Salt n' Pepa, Crowded House and the Eagles have all covered Clark tracks.

If you're a fan of Fairport Convention, the Flamin' Groovies, Yo La Tengo, Dave Graney, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Lightning Seeds, Velvet Crush, or even Johnny Rivers then you'll have heard his songs.

Sid Griffin, a member of bands such as the Long Ryders and Coal Porters, has been dedicated to the memory of Gene Clark since Clark died aged 46, in 1991. Griffin has compiled a double album best of "Flying High" and contributed liner notes to many Clark re-issues over the past decade.

For the "Full Circle" tribute Griffin provided a version of Clark's 1969 gem "Why Not Your Baby".

"What first struck me about the songs of Gene Clark was just the overall sound, it had a certain soulfullness that not even Gram Parsons had," Griffin says. "A much more inner, deeper, serious human voicing. I guess after that it was his cryptic lyrics. He was like a cross between Hank Williams and Bob Dylan. A true hillbilly Shakespeare."

Some of Clark's best known songs include Byrd tracks like "Eight Miles High", "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better", "She Don't Care About Time", "You Showed Me", and "Set You Free This Time". Among the many solo highlights were "Tried So Hard", "Train Leaves Here This Morning", "Polly", "In a Misty Morning" and "Silver Raven".

Sydney-based solo artist and producer Michael Carpenter had his debut album "Baby" released by Not Lame in August 1999. As a result he was approached to submit a song for the tribute album. However, Carpenter admits he was among the majority not familiar with Clark's work.

"Well, being a Byrds fan, I was aware of Gene's part in the band," Carpenter says. "Apart from that, I wasn't too aware of much of what Gene had done. Although anybody who'd written, 'Why Not Your Baby' which I knew from the Velvet Crush album, "Teenage Symphonies to God" must be somebody who I needed to track down. That song is truly gorgeous. But apparently only the tip of the iceberg."

The song Carpenter performs on "Full Circle" is "That's Alright by Me" from a 1968 album that was aborted. Tracks from the sessions were finally released on the 1998 "Flying High" compilation.

"For me the songs that demanded my attention straight away were from the lost sessions in '68," Carpenter says. "I couldn't believe 'That's Alright By Me' and 'Los Angeles' were unreleased. 'That's Alright...' with it's beautiful acoustic guitar and frighteningly intimate vocal take had me immediately. I knew I could interpret it in my own style, while still being faithful to the song and Gene's original vision."

The Finkers have proved to be tribute album veterans having already supplied songs for Replacements and Radio Birdman homages. They recorded a power pop version of Clark's "Radio Song" which originally appeared on 1969's "The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark".

"One of the beauties of power pop, for me, is the marrying of "sad" lyrics with "joyous" music," Finker frontman Mick Baty explains. "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" is a classic example of this unison but I was against doing a song Gene had written in the Byrds. "Radio Song" stood out immediately. Straight away I could hear the Finkers heightening that sense of "driving cross country looking for your woman."

Another Australian who's had a deep love for the music of Gene Clark is Dave Graney. At the height of Graney's Wild West fixation in the late 80/early 90s Clark's "In a Misty Morning" was a live staple. The song appears on Graney's "My Life on the Plains" and "The Lure of the Tropics" albums.

"The Byrds have probably been the most influential group in Britain for the last decade as the ideal look for a group," Graney says. "I think their main thing was not having one lead singer focus. It was a real group identity. With three or sometimes four really strong frontmen including one who just stood and shook a tambourine and sang but not in a way like Jim Morrison or Mick Jagger.

"Gene was the most enigmatic of the band and because he played a role that hadn't been picked up on in most other popular groups it was seen as a way of being a singer without having to deal in overt sexual parading. That, of course, appeals to the androgynous British.

"The music of the Byrds, once you got into it, was extremely intoxicating in the harmonies and the sound of it," Graney says. " I got into Gene Clark from that especially just cos he recorded more by himself and of a higher quality than someone like David Crosby.

"I got "Roadmaster" and the image of Gene Clark on the cover was just about everything I was into. He's in this hot, 40s car. He looks incredibly healthy, in his prime and I was into those movies like "Two-Lane Blacktop" and that sort of thing and "In a Misty Morning" had a real "Easy Rider" kinda feel to it. I was right into it."

Sid Griffin is one who's adamant he won't stop working until Gene Clark gets the recognition he deserves.

"The Long Ryders, my old band, and I got the name of Gram Parsons around and now I intend to get the Gene Clark Bandwagon rolling," says a fired up Griffin. "When do you ever but ever hear mainstream press or popular artists sing the praises of Gene Clark? Only his cult and Byrd freaks know about him."

To check out more info on Not Lame's 2-cd "Full Circle" Gene Clark tribute hit: www.notlame.com