Gene Clark - The Byrd that flew too high, too early

May 24th 1991 was a sad date for everyone who has a weak spot for The Byrds. One of the most beautiful voices in the history of rock and folk music sang his swan song that day and this bird flew up to somewhere, maybe high in the sky. Gene was one of the founders of The Byrds and their most prolific songwriter in the early days. Gene's well-known fear of flying – how unsuitable for a Byrd – and some problems with Roger McGuinn made him the first Byrd to leave the nest. Eight Miles High was his last contribution to the band. Since his departure Gene didn't make a huge amount of albums, but the ones he did were all monuments of sheer beauty, be it as a solo artist, or with Dillard & Clark, or Carla Olson.

This year his enormous talent got a well deserved recognition when Robert Plant and Allison Kraus recorded an album containing two great songs of the Dillard & Clark period: "Polly" and the titlesong "Through The Morning Through The Night", two heartbreaking duets by Gene and Donna Washburn found two worthy successors. Both songs are included on "Flying High", a career spanning 2 cd compilation and a must for everyone who loves The Byrds and all their spin-offs. Here's what AMG writes about it:

When someone mentions the Byrds in conversation, the names of McGuinn, Crosby, and maybe Hillman pop up, but hardly anyone mentions Gene Clark, the Byrds' first original songwriter and lead singer until a fear of flying caused him to leave the band and strike out on his own. With Flying High, all of that should be put to rest, because the spotlight is finally on Clark and his many contributions to both rock and country. Starting with Byrdscuts like "Feel a Whole Lot Better" and "She Don't Care About Time," this two-disc set moves through Clark's early solo career into his fine collaboration with Doug Dillard and onto more mature solo work while attempting to reunite the Byrds on "One in a Million" and "She's the Kind of Girl," which never quite got off the ground. Added here are some otherwise unreleased cuts, such as "Winter In," "That's Alright by Me," and Dylan's "I Pity the Poor Immigrant," which show that Clark had more talent than was released to the public in his lifetime. And while disc two does have waning interest and fewer cuts, it does show that Clark never gave up on trying to restart his career, even if the chips appeared to be down; of special note is his sensitive cover of Phil Ochs' "Changes." Compiled and re-produced for disc by Sid Griffin, Flying High is a fine spotlight on an underappreciated artist. With liner notes by Griffin and Chris Hillman, this has just about everything one needs to know about Gene Clark.

Gene Clark - Flying High 2CD MP3 @320
Full artwork included
Links in comments