* * * * <i> Great Balls of Fire</i> * * * <i> Good Vibrations</i> * * <i> Maybe Baby</i> * <i> Running on Empty : </i> : TIMID TEAMING

* * “SO REBELLIOUS A LOVER.” Gene Clark and Carla Olson. Rhino. The pairing of ex-Byrd Clark with feisty Textones leader Olson must have sounded great on paper. Indeed, Olson’s “Are We Still Making Love” is a classic country heartbreak duet in which Clark’s raspy voice blends and contrasts exquisitely with her plaintive, sharp vocals, indicating what the rest of the album might have sounded like if it weren’t for its overriding timidity. That’s one fault you wouldn’t expect from two musicians who have often pushed at the barriers between country and rock. Yet their version of John Fogerty’s “Almost Saturday Night” is so lightweight as to float immediately out of memory, while Woody Guthrie’s immortal “Deportees” is given a business-as-usual reading. Maybe next time Clark and Olson get together--and they should give it another shot--a few more cups of coffee or even a good argument before hitting the studio would add the edge of tension that’s missing here.