byrdsongs, lxxvi

So dig this. There’s always more to learn. You never know it all. I wanted to write about Gene Clark’s cameo appearance on the Long Ryders’ Native Sons, singing backing vox on Ivory Tower, but the only versions of the song available on Youtube are recent live performances, sans Clark, of course. So I turned my attention to Clark’s involvement (musical only, as far as I know) with Carla Olson. The duo recorded So Rebellious A Lover, Clark’s last record. Olson is best known as being the face of the Textones, an 80s alterna-rootsy-country-folky-college radio-ish kinda thing. The rest of the Textones all play on So Rebellious, so it’s really a Textones record with Gene Clark added to the mix. Full confession: I’d never heard the record until a few days ago because, notwithstanding his appearance on the Long Ryders album, the idea of Clark being thrown a bone by an 80s roots/revivalist band depresses me on several levels... 

But a little bell rang in the back of my brain, a barely remembered connection. Then it hit me: Didn’t Phil Seymour play in the Textones after his attempt at a solo career went south?  Google says yes! Worlds collide when you live the pop life! ...It would appear, then, that the Textones are the band where my faded pop life idols go before they die. Seymour passed on a few years after Clark. Both of them play on So Rebellious.  And much to my pleasant surprise, it’s a pretty nice collection of tunes. Tonight’s song is quite haunting when you put it in context. It's probably not something you need to hear every day, but it makes me feel good to know that Clark went out on a good note. I can’t really tell whether it's Phil Seymour behind the drum kit in the footage, but I’d like to think it is.  The thought of those two shooting stars on stage together brings a smile to my face...