Gene Clark, Flying High

Polygram Records

Matthew Weiner

Conventional wisdom has always held that if Roger McGuinn was the heart of the Byrds, Gene Clark was the soul as well as the best writer. Until recently, the only GC solo stuff I owned was Echoes, a compilation of his first solo album, some early Byrds and b-sides. Frankly, I found the record too much of its time, halfway between his former group's Younger Than Yesterday (which came out the same week in '67) and a burgeoning country/bluegrass sound. I enjoyed it, but wasn't convinced.

What DID convince me was one track from the Byrds' first album on the compilation, called "Here Without You." That song summed up everything I truly loved about their sound, a killer melody, exquisite harmonies and a lyric so melancholy you feel like that sad little egg guy on the Zoloft commercials.

But, like so many intriguing nuggets that pass me by, I put it aside for another time. As most of Clark's other records are either on import or unavailable, I didn't really think about him much, except to drool a little over Flying High, a widely available 2-disc German compilation that cost a pricey 35 American clams.

So every now and then I'd see it in the store, lament that I couldn't afford it and move on. Then I found it used for $13.99 in Boston a few weeks ago.

The upshot here is that it became a Brian Wilson moment for me. The 41 tracks on Flying High, especially those beginning in 1970 or so, when Clark began truly finding his sound, are SUCH high water marks in post-sixties pop, you are really left scratching your head as to why the guy is barely even a cult hero a la Scott Walker.

From the pre-reunion Byrds reunion singles of "One in a Hundred" to "She's the Kind of Girl," which are as good as anything the Byrds ever did, through his folkier 1971 would-be masterpiece, "White Light," to his 1974 gonzo masterpiece, "No Other," not only does Clark cross pop, country, folk and bluegrass elements (for starters), but in the process the music becomes its own thing entirely, totally unencumbered by any such genre trappings.

Hardly anything on the second disc is anywhere short of classic, though some deserve special mention: White Light's "The Virgin" and "Spanish Guitar," the latter being the most classically folk song Clark ever recorded, is where his lyrical sensibility really flowers (Dylan is even reported to have said that he wished he had written the song himself); and No Other's "Lady of the North," with its gospel piano, heavy riffage, soaring vocals and wah-wah violin(!). Then there's the public domain standard, "Fair and Tender Ladies," which so transcends the usual folk schtick with its mechanically cascading 6-string arpeggios and ghostly harmonies courtesy of Textones vocalist Carla Olson, it not only sounds like he wrote it, but in doing so becomes one of his very best songs.

It bears repeating: while it bears its traits, this isn't singer-songwriter music, it's not folk, bluegrass or country. It's the embodiment of wayward genius. Yes, Flying High is that good, and I should've paid the $35 three years ago.

Related resources

Gene Clark's official site has great links, lyrics and pictures.

Byrdmaniax.com, obviously a Byrds site, has some good stuff too.