Although the first two Byrd's LPs are known for their famous cover versions - Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man and Pete Seeger's Turn! Turn! Turn! - the band had a first class songwriter/singer with Gene Clark. His love of the Beatles sound turns up in many of his songs, but never in a derivative way. He infused their sonic soundscaps with the cadences of Lennon/McCartney yet always allowing the Byrds own unique vision to come through with three part harmonies and jangly 12-string guitar. Chris Hillman has been quoted as saying "He was the songwriter. He had the "gift" that none of the rest of us had developed yet." He would be sorely missed after Eight Miles High except for the fact that Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, and Chris Hillman were just beginning to catch up as top notch songwriters on their own. Regardless, he left a shining legacy with his fine work with them before departing.
Lost on the B-side of the Turn! Turn! Turn! single is one of his most classic tunes, She Don't Care About Time. My spine is tingling right now while listening to it.
She'll always be there, my love don't care about time.
Shel Talmy, 1937-2024
8 hours ago
2 comments:
Awwww, sweet! Love Gene! Thanks for the beautiful jingly afternoon break : )
I love Gene too. His days with The Byrds were unfortunately too short. His fear of flying was too severe to allow him to tour. Too bad they could not work out a solution such as the Beach Boys did for Brian Wilson.
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