Why Isn’t Gene Clark in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?
Byrds founder a pivotal influence on folk-rock, psychedelia, country-rock, singer-songwriter, and Americana
ONCE UPON A TIME, it looked like the Byrds had a long, successful, productive career in front of them. In 1965, they had two #1 hits, “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!,” that effectively defined the recently coined term folk rock. Their two albums were pivotal in the transition of rock musicians from being primarily singles-oriented to being primarily album-oriented. The Byrds were Gene Clark, Michael Clarke, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Jim McGuinn.
They were photogenic and “cute” enough that they made the covers and pages of teenybopper magazines like 16 and Tiger Beat. They were the progenitors of a cool look and attitude associated with Los Angeles that contrasted with the earthiness and geniality of the British bands. They were also all over television, which was really just catching on as a medium to expose the “new music” to the masses.
Gene Clark was one of the Byrds’ two lead singers and the group’s only accomplished songwriter, contributing one side to each of their first five singles and one-third of the songs on their first two albums. His best-known songs are “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” and “Eight…
