These are some tributes I've been collecting the past few weeks for Gene's birthday! They are so beautiful, and so inspiring to see how one artists' work could mean so much to so many.

We start off with a tribute from Gene's youngest son, musician Kai Clark.

Happy Birthday Gene...

~~Allison Anders




Gene's Birthday Tributes

Kai Clark:

"Dad always had a story or a joke to tell. He could make me and my brother Kelly laugh till we cried every time we were all together. Now that I am older I can see how special my father was, not just to me as his son, but to all those that saw his beauty, his unbridled spirit, and his pure love of life.

I will always remember his cowboy boot's tapping away in the kitchen late at night when he was writing song's. Some night's I would wake up and dad would invite me to listen and he would tell these amazing stories about where he had been, and thing's he had done. He lived an amazing life, and had a gift that he shared with the world. One that I will cherish forever in my memory, and in my heart."

~~to hear Kai Clark's music: CLICKHERE

Danny Benair:

When I was in my first band The Quick,we were recording demos that would get us signed to Mercury Records,and lounging in the waiting area was Gene,who I said hello to...,this studio is still there and walking distance from my house!

When I joined The Three O'Clock we played the now defunct Country Club in the Valley..he was told about us and came down and came backstage before we played. our guitar player said would you like to join us for a encore and he said let's see how it goes...well it was sold out and went quite well,so we told him we were going to do Feel A Whole Lot Better,would he join us...well we sang lead and played it about 5 times faster then The Byrds..imagine a horse race..afterwards he came up to us and said he had never played it quite that fast and started laughing...it was a very nice moment."

~~to hear Danny Benair's The Three O'Clock: CLICKHERE

Mark Fosson:

"I met Gene through my photographer friend/roommate Chip Stone in '89 or '90. He had just shot David Crosby for his book cover and David had referred him to Gene. He came by the house a few times to discuss the shoot and I got to talk to him a little. Of course I had always been a fan of his music…"Feel A Whole Lot Better" is one of my top ten favorite songs. We were living in the same neighborhood at the time so we'd run in to each other at the market. He was a genuinely nice man. My roommate and David tried to talk him in to attending an AA meeting during this time but he was not receptive to the idea at all. It's a shame he's gone."

~~ to hear Mark Fosson: CLICKHERE

Alicia Godin, Gene's neice:

"Although family, I only really met Gene a few times in my life, and only one of those times I remember.

I had to have been nine or ten at the time. He was doing some touring around and happened to be stopping at a place called the Old Vienna Coffee House to perform, probably an hour's drive from home. It might not have been that long of a ride, but when you're a kid, things seem to take a lot longer.

The place was a restaurant with an upstairs lounge, more than it was an actual coffee house. I remember having dinner with my parents while waiting to go upstairs for the show, and to meet the man who hadn't seen me since I was still in diapers. At one point, I had to find the ladies' room, which was up the stairs and close to the lounge.

So here was this short nine-year-old, bounding up said stairs while, at this same time, here comes this tall figure in jeans and a blue shirt heading in the opposite direction. He stopped. I stopped. We both stood there staring at each other for a moment for reasons which I had no idea of at the time. It's funny looking back on it... as a little girl, I knew there was something familiar about this person, but I had no idea what it was until I came back to the table and saw him sitting there. That's when I figured it out, or may have even been reminded that this was Uncle Gene.

This is among the few memories I have of this man, which makes it something I keep close to my heart. And I'm glad to have a chance to share it with so many other people who love him.

Happy birthday, Gene! We love you!"

~~Alicia Godin

"some misunderstanding" by Dot Allison:

"I was put this song on a cassette tape made up for me in the 90s by
Weatherall.. I used to listen to this song and get an immediate sense
of comfort from even the opening musical phrases.. having listened to
it repeatedly and associating those phrases with the sonic trip
ahead..

I have a very visceral memory of myself travelling between Edinbrugh
and Glasgow on a coach, being penniless at the time and looking
through the glass into the dusk and through the music having that
sense that I am understood actually... and I guess that is what draws
me to Gene Clark is that sense that if I had met him on some level I
think I would feel understood or would understand.. I think that is
why his music speaks to so many people . there is a great empathy
there I feel anyway..

Like someone so sensitive that he would be able to just say 'I
know..." and it would make total sense if that makes any sense at all.
I guess the lapel grabbing aspect to this song for me is that it
reaches into my chest and grabs my heart... Something in Gene's
genuity, the sincerity with which he wrote and performed.. an
expression from the heart that by-passes all in it's path to reach the
heart again..

And there is something in the human condition, the need for love and
inevitable pain that accompanies the business of being alive that
somehow auditions us for the creation of such expressions of love or
the receipt of them.. And I get the feeling from the music and from
what I have read that Gene had really lived in an awake-ness to all of
that stuff..

His lyrics in the song are in my opinion eternal truths, enlightened
perceptions and life-battered wisdom.. and that is why I personally
feel privileged to listen."

~~ to hear Dot Allison: CLICKHERE





Author Barney Hoskyns:

"My fave Genesong is "Strength of Strings," the cosmic epic from No Other that has to be one of the greatest pieces of rock mysticism ever recorded... and anticipates string theory by several decades! "I am always high/I am always low/There is always change..." Wow. Wish he'd found the astro-zen serenity he caught in this track. I also absolutely adore the two songs Plant and Krauss just covered: "Polly" and "Through the Morning, Through the Night." "Polly" has to be the finest waltz-ballad in all of country rock."

~~ Barney Hoskyns author of "Waiting For The Sun", "Hotel California", and to go to his web archive "Rock's Backpages" CLICKHERE

Christian Örjestål, Groover Recordings:

"Back in 1978, when I was like six years old, my dad got me an old vinyl record. I guess he wanted to help me improve my taste in music. And he sure did. The album he gave me was "Revolver" by The Beatles.

My dad put on the a-side of "Revolver" on his huge Hitachi hi-fi sound system, and from the first chord
my life was changed. At least that´s how it feels today.

Growing up in Sweden in the 70's you were exposed to a lot of peace, love and all that stuff (a little late... I know). And everyone was weird looking. My dad, for instance, got married in a sort of boiler-suit made out of corduroy, while sporting a big beard and a long Bjorn Borg inspired coiffure. And the music that was playing on the radio was mostly Swedish prog music that had a crystal clear left wing political stance. So when George Harrison (still my fave Beatle) started singing about that vicious Taxman, I was blown away. The music was powerful and complex, yet the songs had melodies that
even a six year old could understand. And love.

For weeks I was listening to nothing else but "Revolver".

One day I was home alone with a babysitter who I had a crush on. She was way older than me and I knew that I wouldn`t easily get her interested in me. So, my plan was to play her my Beatles album and maybe she would be moved by the music in the same way that it had moved me, and then we would have something special in common. After that I was sure she would become my girlfriend.

I was right about the part that the music would affect her. But things did not turn out the way I had
planned. The hot babysitter sure loved "Revolver" and when I fell asleep, and my parents got home, she borrowed the album; she said she would return it the next time she was babysitting.

Then her family moved. I was devastated. Not only had the almost grown woman that I was in love with left town, and I was sure I would never see her again ( I was right, I never did), but she had left with my copyof the greatest record in the world.

I was crying that evening and my dad tried to make me feel better. But it didn´t really work. The
next day he took his old Saab downtown to get me another copy of "Revolver".

As it turned out that the record store had no more copies of the album. My dad, who was a
smart man, knew what to do and he bought me another classic 60's album: Mr. Tambourine Man by The Byrds.

When he handed me the album I was stunned and for several minutes I just stared at the album cover. A big round picture showed the five coolest people I had ever seen (I remember that I really, really loved the band members' shoes). Some sort of fish eye lens made the band members look super tall and when I put the stylus on the black vinyl, and the first seconds of Mr. Tambourine Man began playing, I was crying yet again. If "Revolver" had given birth to my interest in music then The Byrds debut album took everything a little bit further. Every song felt like a classic and I loved how the Byrds looked and sounded - like a real rock band.

I started playing the Byrds to all my friends. Although they were listening to bands like Abba and children's' music, they seemed to really dig the Byrds, and of course, everyone was totally into the Mr. Tambourine Man song. I also loved it. But the song that really made me freak out, and start jumping around my parents living room like a maniac, was Gene Clarks "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better". To me that was pure rock and roll.

Almost thirty years later I have a child of my own. And I count the days until she is old enough (she is now two years old) for me to give her a copy of the Byrds Mr. Tambourine Man. Then we can freak out to the genius that is Gene Clark… together! Yeah!"

~~ to check out Christian Örjestål and Groover Recordings: CLICKHERE

Songwriter Alan Merrill

"I loved Gene Clark! He was a solid part of the Byrds foundation, and after he left the "byrdhouse" started to fall down. When Jim turned into Roger it was over."

~~Alan Merrill

Damien Youth:

"One of the most lasting images I have of Gene was imprinted upon my first seeing him fronting The Byrds on an old film clip. All of the Byrds members seemed to be looking at each other with a boyish excitement. . . Grinning through granny glasses, flipping their mop tops about, hiding their baby fat under velvet capes...But Gene had this solemn mature aura about him.

While the others seemed thrilled at the prospects of being members of THE BYRDS! Gene always seemed totally submerged in the song he was performing at that moment. With-in the confines of the song seemed like Gene's safe place."

~~to hear Damien Youth: CLICKHERE

Carla Olson:



"I can't recall Gene celebrating his birthday or being concerned with age. I don't think he paid time much heed. He certainly wasn't in a hurry. Rather he savored life. He enjoyed a good meal whether he cooked it or he was out. He prided himself in his attire as well. And hair.

On the other hand - and that was the rub, the contradiction... two sides to every story to quote a phrase.
Sometimes things were going well and other times not. I knew Gene during some extreme ups & downs. There was the car that only had half the gears working and then there was the Tom Petty "Feel A Whole Better" income.

What's missed? As Saul said in the notes in Silhouetted In Light, "What about the songs that won't be written? The songs that won't be sung?" But besides the brilliant unique creativity of the man, the words that stand alone as poetry and the melancholy melodies that are unmistakenly Gene, I also miss the laughter, the grin, the man.

Happy birthday Geno."

x
Carla Olson
November 14, 2007
to visit Carla Olson's website: CLICKHERE

Musician/Author Sid Griffin:

"There are so many killer Gene Clark songs it is hard to choose a single favorite but I would have to pick 'Yesterday, Am I Right' from the unreleased Gene Clark Sings For You sessions which only appeared on acetate. I have two of the acetates and I am blessed by their warm company because, save some enthusiastic drumming I reckon to be Mike Clarke, never was Gene's musical backing more imaginative or skillfully artful. Without being too out there, without being overproduced yet still audibly a mid-sixties sonic exploration this is the stuff of legend, it truly is. And the vocal our late friend comes forth with! 'Yesterday, Am I Right' is a perfect blend of creative backing, a strong, poetic Gene Clark lyric and a questioning yet tender vocal from the best songwriter in the Byrds. Give it a ten outta ten."

~~to hear Sid Griffin and The Cole Porters: CLICKHERE

~~to visit Sid Griffin's My Space page: CLICKHERE

Peter Daltrey:

"Gene and his Byrd brothers produced the crystal-clear gems of the Sixties: sparkling shiny sound and angel harmonies. Inspirational. And still sends an ice-cold shiver of pleasure down my spine each time I hear the opening bars of the sublime, ..Mr Tambourine Man..."

~~Peter Daltrey (Kaliedoscope, Fairfield Parlour)

Music Journalist Steve Hochman's Gene Remembrance:

"It's his eyes that I remember most from that evening at the Cinegrill, the big "comeback" show. There was a real sparkle, giddiness even there, certainly a fair amount of adrenaline when Saul Davis introduced me to him just about the time they were opening the doors from the ornate Roosevelt lobby into the club. The look may have also been a little sheepish, as if to shrug off the tails and tie he'd donned for the occasion, like he knew he was trying just a bit too hard but what the heck, this was going to be great.

Yeah, the face itself around those eyes was worn and somewhat beaten, and as it became evident that the attendance was going to be sparse, I could see him fighting against an emotional sag. But he succeeded. He hit the stage with as much nervous excitement as he would have if the place had been packed and if I recall correctly, overcame some momentary jitters pretty much as soon as he started to sing.

To be honest, I don't remember a lot of specifics about what he played exactly, except that the depth of the songs, already pretty profound, was only enhanced by the unmistakable sense of experience in his voice and that face. But the eyes stayed forever young that night.

He wasn't fooling himself when he commented that the Byrds' run at Ciro's had also started with more empty seats than full ones before starting to draw crowds around the block. He knew he wasn't headed to the top of the charts again, though he clearly hoped to be among the figures being rediscovered, re-appreciated by both peers and new generations of fans. But never was there any sense that he was desperate or depressed, rather grateful and gracious. And I'm grateful to have experienced it."