23 skidoo

[Thomas Eckhardt]

Robin wrote:

> Gene Clark was the heart and soul of the Byrds when they first  
> appeared. One of the less obvious musical tragedies of the '60's.

Yes. As a singer/songwriter he was at least on a par with Gram Parsons. 
I prefer his earlier stuff (with the Byrds, the Gosdin Brothers and as 
Dillard and Clark) to "White Light" or "No Other", but these are 
marvellous records, too. The partly ironically titled "Flying High" 
(Clark, member of the Byrds and writer of "Eight Miles High," suffered 
from fear of flying) is a wonderful compilation of songs from all 
periods of his career.

While I am at it: Hüsker Dü's version of "Eight Miles High" is well 
worth a listen. More generally, Grant Hart seems to share with Gene 
Clark the peculiar gift for melody and love/breakup songs.

Thomas