Gene Clark; Helped Found Byrds Folk-Rock Band

Gene Clark, co-founder of the seminal 1960s Los Angeles folk-rock band the Byrds, was found dead at his Sherman Oaks home shortly before noon Friday. He was 46. The cause of death was not immediately known, said Saul Davis, the singer-songwriter’s manager.

Clark, who was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Byrds in January, wrote and sang lead on “I’d Feel a Whole Lot Better,” one of the Byrds’ most popular numbers. He also co-wrote “Eight Miles High.”

“He was the best songwriter in the Byrds,” Chris Hillman, another former member of the Byrds, said Friday. “I learned how to write songs from Gene. He had that gift, that sixth sense of poetry.”

Born Harold Eugene Clark in Tipton, Mo., on Nov. 17, 1944, Clark had been a member of the New Christy Minstrels before starting the Byrds with Hillman, Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Michael Clarke in 1964. Inspired equally by Bob Dylan and the Beatles, the quintet virtually invented the folk-rock hybrid that defined the Los Angeles sound of the 1960s and which remains one of the richest strains in rock.

The group’s first single, a version of Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man,” went to No. 1 on the national pop charts in the summer of 1965--as did its rendition of Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn!” later the same year.

Problems associated with touring prompted Clark to leave the Byrds in 1966. He teamed with bluegrass musician Doug Dillard in Dillard and Clark for two albums and then made several solo albums, though none came close to matching the sales he had enjoyed as a member of the Byrds.

A 1973 reunion of the original Byrds was neither a commercial nor critical success. McGuinn, Clark and Hillman teamed again, reaching the Top 40 in 1979 with the song “Don’t You Write Her Off.” But the association didn’t last and Clark again concentrated on a solo career. He also teamed up with singer-songwriter Carla Olson for one album.

The singer had battled alcohol and drug problems through much of his career, Clark’s agent, Geoffrey Blumenauer said Friday.

Blumenauer said that after becoming sober in 1984, Clark began touring as a “Tribute to the Byrds,” sometimes teaming with drummer Clarke. But in the late-1980s, Crosby, McGuinn and Hillman challenged their right to use the name.

A Florida judge ruled that they could perform as the Byrds, but Clark agreed not to, hoping to be involved in a full reunion tied to the eventual Hall of Fame induction. He was not asked to participate in reunion shows with Crosby, McGuinn and Hillman, though, nor in the preparation of the boxed-set compact disc retrospective of the band released in January.

All five original Byrds did join again at the January Hall of Fame ceremony in New York. Buoyed by the recognition, Clark embarked on a concert schedule, though concerts were erratic affairs. His final shows came in a five-night stand in April at the Cinegrill in Hollywood.

Clark, who was divorced in the 1970s, is survived by two teen-age sons, Kai and Kelly. Funeral arrangements are pending.