Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds' Gene Clark (Book)
by John Einarson, Gene Clark
List Price:
Our Price: $11.50
You Save: $8.49 (42%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $11.34 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Gene Clark, John EinarsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-02-01
ISBN: 0879307935
Number of pages: 339
Publisher: Backbeat Books
Book Reviews of Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds' Gene Clark (Book)
Book Review: Life Among the L.A. Glitterati
Summary: 5 Stars
A perceptive and detailed look at American domestic cultural trends particularly in the mid-1960's during the Vietnam War era; more than any book I know Einarson has clarified what was going on at this time and helped me understand my place in it. In some ways the book resembles Theodore White"s "Making Of The President" books though Einarson's is apolitical. As a biography of a rock star, this art form is central to the book, and made me realize that rock and roll was central to my life at that time. Clark loved both the Beatles and Dylan and tried to emulate both. He and the rest of the Byrds, like Dylan, were particularly drawn to folk and country music and away from harder rock. They ended up blending the two. I was most interested in his imitation of Dylan. Dylan was attempting through complex lyrics to
raise rock and roll to a higher intellectual level, and Clark and the Byrds tried to emulate this in songs he penned such as "She Don't Care About TIme" and by "covering" Pete Seeger and numerous Dylan songs. In the confusion of adolescence and the sheer diversity of music available at that time, it might be difficult to understand what exactly was going on here--even in retrospect as well-- but Einarson clarifies this issue admirably.
Dylan was in fact fairly intellectual, as a reading of his recent book "Chronicles" will reveal and he was interested in many poets. It might be pointed out that Wordsworth, for one, attempted to create poetry in the language of the vernacular of his time. Einarson also breathes life into what I will call the era's craziness, epitomized by Joe Cocker's primal scream into the microphones when he walked over from next door at a Byrds' recording session in 1974 and which caused recording to cease for the day. Anyone who doesn't think the era was crazy or had crazy rock stars--even apart from the extremely divisive Vietnam War and feminism issues-- should reflect on the career of Jim Morrison of the Doors or listen to the Stones' "Sympathy For the Devil" recorded at the peak,or one of the peaks, of their career.
This cultural commentary is really a bi-product of the biography of Gene Clark which is the book's main focus. Einarson describes him as a complex individual:athletically built, introverted, with a country innocence born of his childhood in Kansas City, which alternated with a much wilder side; uncomfortable with fame and success and pressure, with a severe case of stagefright and a fear of flying, which was completely incompatible with being a rock star;enamored of fast cars; manic depressive with wild mood swings exacerbated by the heavy use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco particularly virulent in his later years, which also destroyed his first marriage. He was not a reader so it is somewhat surprising he did so well with song lyrics. His decision to quit the Byrds was motivated by many of the above factors as well as by internal conflicts and power struggles within the group and he was considered difficult for producers to work with and jumped from one record label to another throughout his career, never attaining
great commercial success. Clark had no qualms, for example, about unwisely antagonizing his producers with his wild antics.
Some producers forgave him because he was an artist of considerable stature; others didn't. He was as crazy as Jim Morrison and their fates were similar. He told his friends and girlfriend repeatedly he could "rehabilitate (himself) any time he wanted to," but in the end this proved untrue. At times, he was an embarrassment to his family. At many times in his later career,as for example with McGuinn, Clark, and Hillman in 1978, he was extremely unreliable.
This book brings out so many details of the L.A. music glitterati that it would be difficult to list all, but it includes an interesting section on Mendocino, the L.A. musicians' halcyon rural retreat in N. California, and a veritable procession of rock stars and producers who were bit players in Clark's life (and also very important to me at the time): The Stones, George Harrison,Donovan, Gordon Lightfoot, Leon Russell, Michelle Phillips, Jackson Browne,Ian Tyson, Tom Petty, Dylan, David Carradine, Rick Danko,Richard Manuel of course the other members of the Byrds, Dillards and Flying Burritos, just to mention a few of the most famous. Clark in his later career, as a musical icon, seemed to attract a wide variety of musicians as his producers tried to come up with the right musical combination again and again. Of course his Byrds pedigree also served him very well throughout his later career. I had always personally accorded the Byrds somewhat subordinate status in the rock pantheon of the times, though I was familiar with at least 4 of their albums. Einarson admirably dispels this notion and shows why they are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Byrds were certainly instrumental in ushering in the psychedelic era with "Eight Miles High," but this song was probably just one element of a cultural behemoth that was bigger than any one person or group. I always viewed The Band as the group in which each individual was a consummate musician but this was also true of the Byrds.
Summary of Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds' Gene Clark (Book)
Gene Clark soared to fame as a founding member and frontman of The Byrds, one of the most important and influential groups of the '60s. His songwriting with The Byrds and subsequent work as a solo artist and with Dillard & Clark mark him as one of rock's key innovators and a pioneer of folk-rock, psychedelia, and alt-country. Yet Clark's personal demons shadowed him throughout his life, and until now his legacy has been clouded in mystery. Told through the personal recollections of those closest to Clark, Mr. Tambourine Man offers a rare glimpse into his life and work, a revealing portrait of one of rock's greatest bands, and a cautionary tale of the pitfalls of fame. Endorsed by the Gene Clark estate, the book also features rare and previously unseen photos from family and friends.Reference Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Reference Books
The Great Song Thesaurusby Roger Lax, Frederick Smith
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1989-02-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $174.48
The New Oxford History of Music: Volume IV: The Age of Humanism 1540-1630Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1968-12-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $102.77
Price in other shops:
The Oxford Companion to Popular Musicby Peter Gammond
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1991-04-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $27.89
Price in other shops:
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (Oxford Paperback Reference)Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1996-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.75
Price in other shops:
Musical Involvement: A Guide to Perceptive Listeningby Donald J. Funes, Stephen E. Squires
Harcourt College Pub; Published: 1991-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $101.94
Compact Discs Yearbook 2000/ 1, The Penguin Guide to (Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music)by Ivan March, Edward Greenfield, Robert Layton
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2000-10-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops:
Listening to Musicby Jay Zorn
Prentice Hall College Div; Published: 1994-12-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Guitar (2nd Edition)by Frederick Noad
Alpha; Published: 2001-08-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
DJing for Dummiesby John Steventon
For Dummies; Published: 2007-01-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.99
Price in other shops:
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsessionby Daniel J. Levitin
Penguin Audio; Published: 2007-08-16; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $15.50
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Legends of the Canyon: Classic ArtistsAlfred Publishing; Release date: 2010-08-31; DVD
Best price: $8.18
Price in other shops:
For What It's Worth: The Story of Buffalo Springfieldby John Einarson
Cooper Square Press; Published: 2004-05-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.87
Price in other shops:
Gene Clark - White LightRelease date: 2011-09-27; Music CD
Best price: $10.89
Price in other shops:
Hot Burritos: The True Story of The Flying Burrito Brothersby John Einarson
Jawbone Press; Jawbone Press; Published: 2008-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.62
Price in other shops:
Carla Olson, Gene Clark - So Rebellious a LoverCLARK/OLSON; Release date: 2003-11-25; Music CD
Best price: $10.93
Price in other shops:
Gene Clark - RoadmasterRelease date: 2011-09-27; Music CD
Best price: $11.04
Price in other shops:
Gene Clark - No OtherCLARK,GENE; Release date: 2003-08-18; Music CD
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops:
So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-by-Day, 1965-1973by Christopher Hjort
Jawbone Press; Jawbone Press; Published: 2008-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.34
Price in other shops:
Dillard & Clark - Fantastic Expedition.... + Through the Morning....Release date: 2011-09-27; Music CD
Best price: $11.84
Price in other shops:
The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited: The Sequelby Johnny Rogan
Rogan House; Published: 1998-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $29.95