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Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds' Gene Clark
Gene Clark soared to fame as a founding member and frontman of The Byrds, one of the most important and influential groups of the '60s. His songwriting with The Byrds and subsequent work as a solo artist and with Dillard & Clark mark him as one of rock's key innovators and a pioneer of folk-rock, psychedelia, and alt-country. Yet Clark's personal demons shadowed him throughout his life, and until now his legacy has been clouded in mystery. Told through the personal recollections of those closest to Clark, Mr. Tambourine Man offers a rare glimpse into his life and work, a revealing portrait of one of rock's greatest bands, and a cautionary tale of the pitfalls of fame. Endorsed by the Gene Clark estate, the book also features rare and previously unseen photos from family and friends.
- GenresMusicBiographyNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2005
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139 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 13, 2022
I am so grateful for this book, it was such a treasure to me. I fell in love with Gene Clark’s music when I came across him at random and was blown away, so I quickly wanted to know more about his story. The documentary is not widely available and so that left me with this book. I normally stay away from biographies - especially when it comes to musicians - unless I trust the source. So I was taking a shot in the dark just because I was desperate to read about Gene Clark and his songwriting. It seemed to come from such a deeply emotional and spiritual place.
This did not disappoint, it includes interviews from the people closest to Gene and you get the complete story from beginning to end. It’s heartbreaking, I cried at a few points. But I’ve also cried listening to Gene Clark’s songs so no surprise there.
My one gripe is that sometimes there would be literally blocks and blocks of dialogue and it was hard to keep up with who was who - a lot of people with the same first names. And towards the end it veered into directions it didn’t need to, some of the quotes he left in from Terri Messina could have been left out/some of the he said/she said. And I would’ve liked to hear more about Carla Olson’s relationship with Gene as an artist, they did a whole album together but she felt like a footnote in the writing itself.
Other than that no complaints, I’m so glad this was written because it needed to be. He wrote such beautiful poetry while he was here & it means so much to me already. I wish his art had received a bit more appreciation while he was on the planet.
If “For a Spanish Guitar” doesn’t make you cry I don’t know what will!!! That harmonica!
This did not disappoint, it includes interviews from the people closest to Gene and you get the complete story from beginning to end. It’s heartbreaking, I cried at a few points. But I’ve also cried listening to Gene Clark’s songs so no surprise there.
My one gripe is that sometimes there would be literally blocks and blocks of dialogue and it was hard to keep up with who was who - a lot of people with the same first names. And towards the end it veered into directions it didn’t need to, some of the quotes he left in from Terri Messina could have been left out/some of the he said/she said. And I would’ve liked to hear more about Carla Olson’s relationship with Gene as an artist, they did a whole album together but she felt like a footnote in the writing itself.
Other than that no complaints, I’m so glad this was written because it needed to be. He wrote such beautiful poetry while he was here & it means so much to me already. I wish his art had received a bit more appreciation while he was on the planet.
If “For a Spanish Guitar” doesn’t make you cry I don’t know what will!!! That harmonica!
February 10, 2023
A while ago I found a section of my local library that I had been unaware of: Rock Biography. Over the years I’ve read and enjoyed many books in this genre (the most interesting perhaps being Sting’s Broken Music). Taken in a concentrated dose, however, there is a certain gloomy sameness about many of them.
The current opus is a case in point. I see that other reviewers rate it highly; and from an objective standpoint I have no reason to disagree. But although Gene Clark wrote some of my favourite songs, I found this book even more depressing than Hank Bordowitz’s Bad Moon Rising.
It would certainly be rash to judge anyone on the basis of a single biography that may be biased, incomplete or simply incompetent (although I notice that this one has the endorsement of his estate — which presumably includes his family).
And obviously no one can be blamed either for having bipolar disorder (if indeed this was the case) or for fear of flying. Nor can I even say with these reservations, that of the parade of egocentric drink- and drug-sodden oafs filing past me on the printed page over the past few weeks, Gene Clark appears to be the most selfish: the competition is much too stiff for that. As depicted here, though, he would certainly seem to be a contender.
He was one of thirteen children raised by hardworking parents just above the poverty line. After he became successful, they heard nothing from him for months. I searched this book for some evidence of any generous act on his part. The best I could find was the gift of a television to his mother and father (p.76 — possibly so that they could watch him in colour, although the book doesn’t actually say so). I could have missed something, of course, and if you think this might be the case, you should read the book and judge for yourself. I’d love to learn that this is a false impression.
Mr. Einarson’s research looked painstaking and thorough. His prose style seemed to me no better than serviceable, but this may be unfair. It could be that no writer can make a good story of this sad Rake’s Progress from athletic and talented teenager via pugnacious drunk to 46-year-old corpse lying in a pool of vomit.
The fours stars reflects how well I think Mr. Einarson has done with the material he had to work with. In terms of general interest alone, I’d give the book two.
Summary
If you’re a major Byrds or Gene Clark fan, this is probably essential reading. If your interest is only cursory, though, I’d advise you to give it a miss — unless you’re a masochist.
The current opus is a case in point. I see that other reviewers rate it highly; and from an objective standpoint I have no reason to disagree. But although Gene Clark wrote some of my favourite songs, I found this book even more depressing than Hank Bordowitz’s Bad Moon Rising.
It would certainly be rash to judge anyone on the basis of a single biography that may be biased, incomplete or simply incompetent (although I notice that this one has the endorsement of his estate — which presumably includes his family).
And obviously no one can be blamed either for having bipolar disorder (if indeed this was the case) or for fear of flying. Nor can I even say with these reservations, that of the parade of egocentric drink- and drug-sodden oafs filing past me on the printed page over the past few weeks, Gene Clark appears to be the most selfish: the competition is much too stiff for that. As depicted here, though, he would certainly seem to be a contender.
He was one of thirteen children raised by hardworking parents just above the poverty line. After he became successful, they heard nothing from him for months. I searched this book for some evidence of any generous act on his part. The best I could find was the gift of a television to his mother and father (p.76 — possibly so that they could watch him in colour, although the book doesn’t actually say so). I could have missed something, of course, and if you think this might be the case, you should read the book and judge for yourself. I’d love to learn that this is a false impression.
Mr. Einarson’s research looked painstaking and thorough. His prose style seemed to me no better than serviceable, but this may be unfair. It could be that no writer can make a good story of this sad Rake’s Progress from athletic and talented teenager via pugnacious drunk to 46-year-old corpse lying in a pool of vomit.
The fours stars reflects how well I think Mr. Einarson has done with the material he had to work with. In terms of general interest alone, I’d give the book two.
Summary
If you’re a major Byrds or Gene Clark fan, this is probably essential reading. If your interest is only cursory, though, I’d advise you to give it a miss — unless you’re a masochist.
July 31, 2022
The Byrd Who Flew Alone
The Byrds spearheaded the folk-rock movement of 1965, seizing the right time and the right place just as their musical heroes The Beatles had done the year previously. The Byrds mostly all had folk backgrounds but when they saw the Beatles’ first film ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ their ambitions were transformed. They took several of Bob Dylan’s folk songs (Dylan was simultaneously electrifying his repertoire) and set them to the transatlantic rhythms of the Beatles. Initially, they were a bit short on original material except for one member, Gene Clark, who had been writing his own material almost as long as Dylan.
John Einarson’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ explores Gene Clark’s life, before, during, and after the Byrds and depicts a tortured, largely tragic life, despite all the creative highs. Gene was the second of thirteen children born in a lower middle-class family in rural Missouri. Their builder father’s salary supported the entire family as the mother had a full-time job raising the thirteen children. In his teens, Gene took up playing the guitar and singing as well as writing poetry/song lyrics. The family moved to Bonner Springs, Kansas while Gene was still young. During the folk music movement of the early 60’s, the very wholesome New Cristy Minstrels came through Kansas City and became aware of Gene’s singing abilities. One of their members had just left so they offered the job to the nineteen-year-old. Frustrated with the lack of individual creativity within the band, he left and went out to Los Angeles where he began appearing as a solo folk act.
Soon thereafter, he met another young folk player, Roger (then Jim) McGuinn and they decided to form a duo. Soon afterwards, another folk artist, David Crosby, joined them and they began harmonizing together. Seeing ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, they all decided to form a rock’n’roll band, with McGuinn buying a Rickenbacker twelve-string electric guitar just like the one he saw George Harrison playing in the film. This soon became their trademark along with the pristine vocal harmonies as they added a bass player, Chris Hillman, and a drummer, Michael Clarke, and began performing as the Byrds at the local club the Troubadour, and gained the attention of Jim Dickson with their performances of Bob Dylan songs and Gene Clark originals, landing them a contract with Columbia Records.
“Mr. Tambourine Man” was an instant hit, with them being dubbed “the American Beatles”. Soon, almost every new recording artist would gain attention with a Dylan cover including twelve-string guitar. The Byrds quickly recorded their first album. Gene Clark wrote or co-wrote five songs from the album that also contained four Dylan covers. Due to his songwriting, Gene started bringing in more money from royalties than the others in the band, creating some resentment, rectified slightly on their second album, ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’, on which McGuinn and Crosby started writing songs as well.
Gene felt that his importance was being intentionally lessened as McGuinn and Crosby began asserting more dominance, even to the extent of crediting him as the third songwriter of his song “Eight Miles High”, after each of their names. This song was their most ambitious so far, setting a psychedelic tone that would be followed by many other bands over the rest of the 60’s. They had been required to fly to their long-distance gigs once they became extremely successful. Gene had never liked flying but once when they got on the plane he started having a panic attack and walked off before it took off. Jim McGuinn told him, “You can’t be a Byrd if you can’t fly”, but Gene continued to leave, at the time an unprecedented move for anyone that had not already paved the way for solo success more than Gene Clark had done so far.
Initially, his path was set to ignite a successful career. However, Gene’s temperament, which would later be characterized as manic depressive, did not predispose him to self-promotion or publicity. He refused to do any more extensive touring or live gigs other than small club dates that could be reached by car or bus. Consequently, all of his subsequent albums suffered in sales from lack of promotion.
This was unfortunate, because he continued to produce quality work equal to or better than much of the work produced by the later versions of the Byrds. He was just as instrumental in the development of country rock as the contemporary version of the Byrds or the other Byrds offshoot The Flying Burrito Brothers, four years before The Eagles’ first album was released. He had a few relatively peaceful domestic years when he married his first wife and fathered two sons in the early 70’s. By 1972, as Byrds reunion rumors started to fly and solidify, he joined for the one-off reunion album on David Geffen’s new label Asylum Records, popular at the time for producing successful acts such as The Eagles and Joni Mitchell. The reunion album was critically panned due to clash of egos and Crosby’s insistence on producing and arrangements (McGuinn’s trademark twelve-string sound, for example, was greatly lessened in favor of greater acoustic emphasis). Everyone agreed that Gene had written the best original material on the album as well as sung the two Neil Young covers.
This provided him with a higher profile and increased Geffen’s receptiveness to a future album. Gene Clark and his producer Thomas Jefferson Kaye took him up on the offer and proceeded to record what turned out to be Gene’s solo masterpiece, ‘No Other’, in 1974. Despite the quality, the album went vastly over budget as Kaye was the Stanley Kubrick of music producers and racked up a total cost of over $100,000 and several months of perfectionism in the studio. Gene’s resistance to promote sealed the fate of ‘No Other’ and, while it was acclaimed by the few who heard it, was a commercial failure.
This blow to Gene, who had built up such high hopes for what he thought was the best work he had created so far, plunged him further into a downward spiral of alcohol and drug abuse. He had always had this weakness and never handled his previous financial windfalls well. For example, when Tom Petty performed Gene’s “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” in 1989 on his first non-Heartbreakers album, ‘Full Moon Fever’, the estimated $150,000 that Gene drew in royalties just encouraged his self-destructive tendencies and led to his death just two years later. Alcoholism had run in his family on his father’s side as well as depression and Gene certainly carried on the tradition, wrecking his marriage, his family life, as well as his health. He never gave up his creativity, continuing to write songs steadily through good times as well as bad. He also played with various combinations of musicians, even on two moderately successful albums with former Byrd cohorts McGuinn and Hillman.
By the time the Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all five original members got up on stage together, Gene’s health was failing. McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman were also resentful of Gene and drummer Michael Clarke for performing under the name ‘Byrds’ even though Gene always wanted to perform under name variants such as A Celebration of the Byrds. During many of the preceding years, Gene was just eager to seize an opportunity to perform under a name that would guarantee greater attendance and bring in some extra income. Unfortunately, just five months later, after successive attempts to go on the wagon and off the wagon, his body was worn out and he passed away at the age of 46.
John Einarson’s biography is very comprehensive and covers all the high points in Gene Clark’s life. He does spend a bit too much space devoted to Gene’s large family in rural Missouri and Kansas. It also gets confusing as so many people have the same first name (David, Rick, Kelly, etc.).
Gene Clark is one of those highly talented and creative figures in the music of the latter part of the 20th century who, unfortunately, followed a tragic pattern similar to many artistic geniuses who were agents of their own self-destruction. Such figures, due to that self-destruction, can’t manage to live a few extra decades on the chance that their deserved, belated acclaim will finally come.
The Byrds spearheaded the folk-rock movement of 1965, seizing the right time and the right place just as their musical heroes The Beatles had done the year previously. The Byrds mostly all had folk backgrounds but when they saw the Beatles’ first film ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ their ambitions were transformed. They took several of Bob Dylan’s folk songs (Dylan was simultaneously electrifying his repertoire) and set them to the transatlantic rhythms of the Beatles. Initially, they were a bit short on original material except for one member, Gene Clark, who had been writing his own material almost as long as Dylan.
John Einarson’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ explores Gene Clark’s life, before, during, and after the Byrds and depicts a tortured, largely tragic life, despite all the creative highs. Gene was the second of thirteen children born in a lower middle-class family in rural Missouri. Their builder father’s salary supported the entire family as the mother had a full-time job raising the thirteen children. In his teens, Gene took up playing the guitar and singing as well as writing poetry/song lyrics. The family moved to Bonner Springs, Kansas while Gene was still young. During the folk music movement of the early 60’s, the very wholesome New Cristy Minstrels came through Kansas City and became aware of Gene’s singing abilities. One of their members had just left so they offered the job to the nineteen-year-old. Frustrated with the lack of individual creativity within the band, he left and went out to Los Angeles where he began appearing as a solo folk act.
Soon thereafter, he met another young folk player, Roger (then Jim) McGuinn and they decided to form a duo. Soon afterwards, another folk artist, David Crosby, joined them and they began harmonizing together. Seeing ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, they all decided to form a rock’n’roll band, with McGuinn buying a Rickenbacker twelve-string electric guitar just like the one he saw George Harrison playing in the film. This soon became their trademark along with the pristine vocal harmonies as they added a bass player, Chris Hillman, and a drummer, Michael Clarke, and began performing as the Byrds at the local club the Troubadour, and gained the attention of Jim Dickson with their performances of Bob Dylan songs and Gene Clark originals, landing them a contract with Columbia Records.
“Mr. Tambourine Man” was an instant hit, with them being dubbed “the American Beatles”. Soon, almost every new recording artist would gain attention with a Dylan cover including twelve-string guitar. The Byrds quickly recorded their first album. Gene Clark wrote or co-wrote five songs from the album that also contained four Dylan covers. Due to his songwriting, Gene started bringing in more money from royalties than the others in the band, creating some resentment, rectified slightly on their second album, ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’, on which McGuinn and Crosby started writing songs as well.
Gene felt that his importance was being intentionally lessened as McGuinn and Crosby began asserting more dominance, even to the extent of crediting him as the third songwriter of his song “Eight Miles High”, after each of their names. This song was their most ambitious so far, setting a psychedelic tone that would be followed by many other bands over the rest of the 60’s. They had been required to fly to their long-distance gigs once they became extremely successful. Gene had never liked flying but once when they got on the plane he started having a panic attack and walked off before it took off. Jim McGuinn told him, “You can’t be a Byrd if you can’t fly”, but Gene continued to leave, at the time an unprecedented move for anyone that had not already paved the way for solo success more than Gene Clark had done so far.
Initially, his path was set to ignite a successful career. However, Gene’s temperament, which would later be characterized as manic depressive, did not predispose him to self-promotion or publicity. He refused to do any more extensive touring or live gigs other than small club dates that could be reached by car or bus. Consequently, all of his subsequent albums suffered in sales from lack of promotion.
This was unfortunate, because he continued to produce quality work equal to or better than much of the work produced by the later versions of the Byrds. He was just as instrumental in the development of country rock as the contemporary version of the Byrds or the other Byrds offshoot The Flying Burrito Brothers, four years before The Eagles’ first album was released. He had a few relatively peaceful domestic years when he married his first wife and fathered two sons in the early 70’s. By 1972, as Byrds reunion rumors started to fly and solidify, he joined for the one-off reunion album on David Geffen’s new label Asylum Records, popular at the time for producing successful acts such as The Eagles and Joni Mitchell. The reunion album was critically panned due to clash of egos and Crosby’s insistence on producing and arrangements (McGuinn’s trademark twelve-string sound, for example, was greatly lessened in favor of greater acoustic emphasis). Everyone agreed that Gene had written the best original material on the album as well as sung the two Neil Young covers.
This provided him with a higher profile and increased Geffen’s receptiveness to a future album. Gene Clark and his producer Thomas Jefferson Kaye took him up on the offer and proceeded to record what turned out to be Gene’s solo masterpiece, ‘No Other’, in 1974. Despite the quality, the album went vastly over budget as Kaye was the Stanley Kubrick of music producers and racked up a total cost of over $100,000 and several months of perfectionism in the studio. Gene’s resistance to promote sealed the fate of ‘No Other’ and, while it was acclaimed by the few who heard it, was a commercial failure.
This blow to Gene, who had built up such high hopes for what he thought was the best work he had created so far, plunged him further into a downward spiral of alcohol and drug abuse. He had always had this weakness and never handled his previous financial windfalls well. For example, when Tom Petty performed Gene’s “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” in 1989 on his first non-Heartbreakers album, ‘Full Moon Fever’, the estimated $150,000 that Gene drew in royalties just encouraged his self-destructive tendencies and led to his death just two years later. Alcoholism had run in his family on his father’s side as well as depression and Gene certainly carried on the tradition, wrecking his marriage, his family life, as well as his health. He never gave up his creativity, continuing to write songs steadily through good times as well as bad. He also played with various combinations of musicians, even on two moderately successful albums with former Byrd cohorts McGuinn and Hillman.
By the time the Byrds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all five original members got up on stage together, Gene’s health was failing. McGuinn, Crosby, and Hillman were also resentful of Gene and drummer Michael Clarke for performing under the name ‘Byrds’ even though Gene always wanted to perform under name variants such as A Celebration of the Byrds. During many of the preceding years, Gene was just eager to seize an opportunity to perform under a name that would guarantee greater attendance and bring in some extra income. Unfortunately, just five months later, after successive attempts to go on the wagon and off the wagon, his body was worn out and he passed away at the age of 46.
John Einarson’s biography is very comprehensive and covers all the high points in Gene Clark’s life. He does spend a bit too much space devoted to Gene’s large family in rural Missouri and Kansas. It also gets confusing as so many people have the same first name (David, Rick, Kelly, etc.).
Gene Clark is one of those highly talented and creative figures in the music of the latter part of the 20th century who, unfortunately, followed a tragic pattern similar to many artistic geniuses who were agents of their own self-destruction. Such figures, due to that self-destruction, can’t manage to live a few extra decades on the chance that their deserved, belated acclaim will finally come.
July 1, 2017
This book was a revelation to me.
Leaps and bounds beyond the handful of rock music
biographies I've read both for its encyclopedic
thoroughness and the deep compassion the author
extends his subject and even to the many sources
he cultivates in telling his story.
The results -- the heartbreaking rise-and-fall of a gifted
but troubled artist and a withering evocation of a place
and time -- make for a surprisingly powerful reading
experience. Every writer (of any genre) should care so
much about what they're doing.
Leaps and bounds beyond the handful of rock music
biographies I've read both for its encyclopedic
thoroughness and the deep compassion the author
extends his subject and even to the many sources
he cultivates in telling his story.
The results -- the heartbreaking rise-and-fall of a gifted
but troubled artist and a withering evocation of a place
and time -- make for a surprisingly powerful reading
experience. Every writer (of any genre) should care so
much about what they're doing.
October 24, 2023
I enjoyed it; has kind of a train-wreck appeal of frustratingly familiar tragedy. Very talented artist, achieves celebrity, then is handed serial golden opportunities which he serially squanders via self-sabotaging character flaws, indulgence of addictions, and surrounding himself with the same.
June 11, 2012
John Einarsen's approach is comprehensive, cogent, and fiercely driven by fact. Gene would love this book, as do I.
February 27, 2023
I wish I could have read this book backwards. The beginning was so bright and full of promise. Towards the end, grim and tragic.
There are some legendary stories in the book. There are periods of prolific creativity and spiritual clarity that Gene experiences throughout his life and those are great to read about. Then there are the cautionary tales...
The author is extremely detailed when corroborating accounts. He is consistent and thorough. Lots of sources close to Gene are quoted here, and no one that you would expect is missing.
Some of my favorite stories include...
There are some legendary stories in the book. There are periods of prolific creativity and spiritual clarity that Gene experiences throughout his life and those are great to read about. Then there are the cautionary tales...
The author is extremely detailed when corroborating accounts. He is consistent and thorough. Lots of sources close to Gene are quoted here, and no one that you would expect is missing.
Some of my favorite stories include...
July 23, 2024
Is great art (music, painting, literature) always a result of a disturbed and tortured soul? I am inclined to say no, but history sure supports how often it is.
June 5, 2013
I am a fan of John Einarson. Loved his previous books on Buffalo Springfield and the Guess Who! Going into his book, I probably knew more about the Gene Clark story, without being too familiar with his music. I had heard all his Byrds tracks (who hadn't) and had picked up the "No Other" album on vinyl after hearing and loving the mysterious title track on 70's FM radio. I was also aware, from prior articles in magazines like Mojo and Uncut, of how he reached his slow, sad demise. Now, having read the book and listened to a lot more of his tracks (thank you Spotify)I feel like I have gotten a real measure of the man. I gotta take a point off for some inconsistent formatting and typo's in the Kindle version I downloaded. But I still highly recommend it to anybody who loves this kind of music. Or loves reading Rock Biographies.
Interestingly, one of the prior Good Reads reviewers knew Gene and played a part in the story. She found it accurate and gave it 5 stars. She knows of what she speaks!
Interestingly, one of the prior Good Reads reviewers knew Gene and played a part in the story. She found it accurate and gave it 5 stars. She knows of what she speaks!
September 7, 2007
Heartbreaking story of Gene Clark of The Byrds. Another example of a music genius gone (pretty much) unnoticed throughout his career and after reading this, I've learned why. This deprssed the hell out of me (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Recommended!
April 5, 2009
This is a good story about another tragic victim of the 60's/70's LA music scene.
July 28, 2011
Oh, those heady days of being young and rich in Hollyweird! I never knew DOUG DILLARD was such a wild man! If only Gene had stayed away from the substances!
May 18, 2012
Very good life story of a troubled but brilliant musician
December 30, 2012
Sad story of a talented guy.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews