Biography
In 1977 three alumni of the original Byrds—Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, and Chris Hillman—established the group McGuinn, Clark & Hillman, later shortened to McGuinn-Hillman, intending to refresh their approach inside a different framework. The drive toward this gathering evolved incrementally across the months of that year. McGuinn and Hillman already possessed a longer shared history than any other founding members, having recorded six albums and performed countless concerts together during four years in the 1960s; as late as 1967 they had unsuccessfully attempted to restore Gene Clark, widely regarded as their strongest songwriter and an exceptional vocalist yet also the first to exit, to the lineup. Early in 1977, each fronting his separate ensemble, they organized a joint European trek to promote their individual new recordings. Europeans continued to venerate the Byrds more fervently than American audiences did, producing brisk ticket sales and favorable press coverage.
The tour itself unfolded differently than anticipated because of Clark’s persistent personal and psychological difficulties at one extreme and Hillman’s contractual disagreements with the promoter at the other. Nevertheless, the experience of harmonizing onstage together for the first time in over a decade—at two consecutive appearances at London’s Hammersmith Odeon—proved so rewarding that McGuinn and Clark subsequently toured the United States as a duo, with Hillman joining them at selected dates and occasional appearances by fellow original Byrd David Crosby, most memorably at the Boarding House in San Francisco; that performance amounted to an unofficial Byrds reunion preserved in a radio broadcast later issued as the bootleg Doin’ All Right for Old People. Representatives from several record labels, among them Rupert Perry, then president of Capitol Records, attended these primarily West Coast shows. Capitol signed McGuinn and Clark as a duo in late 1977, after which Hillman, newly freed from his Asylum Records contract, joined them.
Superficially the concept appeared inspired, uniting three of the original quartet’s principal singer-songwriters, yet inherent problems existed from the outset. When the trio announced its formation, McGuinn and his partners declared they had no intention of recreating the Byrds’ sound; instead they would produce contemporary, forward-looking recordings focused on the present and future rather than the past. Pairing those three musicians nonetheless generated expectations among core fans of something resembling a Byrds revival. To counter those expectations and present themselves as a distinct unit, their debut album, McGuinn, Clark & Hillman, employed numerous additional singers and players, and McGuinn’s signature 12-string Rickenbacker guitar was absent. The resulting music proved agreeable, at moments echoing the Eagles and Firefall—the latter ironically the home of ex-Byrds drummer Michael Clarke—yet remained somewhat rigid.
A disco pulse appearing on several tracks satisfied no segment of the audience, while the deliberate avoidance of the Byrds’ vocal or instrumental character struck listeners as dismissive of their tastes. These shortcomings would have mattered less had the replacement style proved musically compelling, yet the combination of diluted Eagles influences with disco rhythms offered scant justification. The subsequent tour compounded matters when the trio embraced and employed its classic Byrds sound, including selections from the earlier catalog. Loyal followers could reasonably feel bewildered and irritated that the live incarnation of McGuinn, Clark & Hillman projected a different identity from the album, leaving purchasers of that record disappointed despite the modest hit single “Don’t You Write Her Off,” which reached number 33. Gene Clark’s health then declined, compelling his departure from the tour.
This development opened a lasting rift among the former colleagues that remained unrepaired and may explain why Clark was not invited to participate in the reunion tracks recorded for the Byrds box set in the early 1990s. McGuinn and Hillman continued the tour and completed a second album, City, issued in 1980 and credited to McGuinn & Hillman featuring Gene Clark. That release displayed a clearer link to the Byrds and was considered by some at least as strong as, if not stronger than, its predecessor. Even so, notable shortcomings persisted: Clark’s two contributions, one ironically titled “Don’t Let You Down,” stood as the album’s finest tracks. Although the record aligned more closely with the musicians’ shared history, certain songs appeared mismatched or trivial—“Skate Date,” for instance, was engaging yet scarcely suited to artists associated with “Eight Miles High,” “The Girl with No Name,” and “Have You Seen Her Face.”
City sold sufficiently to warrant a third album, titled simply McGuinn/Hillman, yet that project dissolved the group. Producers Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, known primarily for R&B work, evidently lacked affinity for the Byrds’ sound or its contemporary variants, and neither McGuinn nor Hillman felt at ease with the outcome. While the Byrds had once incorporated elements of 1950s R&B—successfully applying a 12-string-driven Bo Diddley beat to “Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe” in 1965—the album, despite occasional distinctive passages mostly in McGuinn’s and Hillman’s songs, ultimately failed to represent its creators or their abilities.
Following the group’s dissolution in 1981, Chris Hillman returned to bluegrass, the genre in which he had begun his career, later earning multiple country music awards and recording a series of successful albums with the Desert Rose Band. Roger McGuinn resumed his solo career, performing occasional concerts and eventually releasing the moderately successful album Back from Rio. Gene Clark toured nationally with a band called the Firebyrds, issued one album (with another left unfinished) for Allegiance Records in the early 1980s, and later collaborated with Carla Olson, yet he never fully reestablished a professional career. He died in 1991, only months after appearing onstage with McGuinn, Hillman, and David Crosby at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the Byrds. ~ Bruce Eder
The tour itself unfolded differently than anticipated because of Clark’s persistent personal and psychological difficulties at one extreme and Hillman’s contractual disagreements with the promoter at the other. Nevertheless, the experience of harmonizing onstage together for the first time in over a decade—at two consecutive appearances at London’s Hammersmith Odeon—proved so rewarding that McGuinn and Clark subsequently toured the United States as a duo, with Hillman joining them at selected dates and occasional appearances by fellow original Byrd David Crosby, most memorably at the Boarding House in San Francisco; that performance amounted to an unofficial Byrds reunion preserved in a radio broadcast later issued as the bootleg Doin’ All Right for Old People. Representatives from several record labels, among them Rupert Perry, then president of Capitol Records, attended these primarily West Coast shows. Capitol signed McGuinn and Clark as a duo in late 1977, after which Hillman, newly freed from his Asylum Records contract, joined them.
Superficially the concept appeared inspired, uniting three of the original quartet’s principal singer-songwriters, yet inherent problems existed from the outset. When the trio announced its formation, McGuinn and his partners declared they had no intention of recreating the Byrds’ sound; instead they would produce contemporary, forward-looking recordings focused on the present and future rather than the past. Pairing those three musicians nonetheless generated expectations among core fans of something resembling a Byrds revival. To counter those expectations and present themselves as a distinct unit, their debut album, McGuinn, Clark & Hillman, employed numerous additional singers and players, and McGuinn’s signature 12-string Rickenbacker guitar was absent. The resulting music proved agreeable, at moments echoing the Eagles and Firefall—the latter ironically the home of ex-Byrds drummer Michael Clarke—yet remained somewhat rigid.
A disco pulse appearing on several tracks satisfied no segment of the audience, while the deliberate avoidance of the Byrds’ vocal or instrumental character struck listeners as dismissive of their tastes. These shortcomings would have mattered less had the replacement style proved musically compelling, yet the combination of diluted Eagles influences with disco rhythms offered scant justification. The subsequent tour compounded matters when the trio embraced and employed its classic Byrds sound, including selections from the earlier catalog. Loyal followers could reasonably feel bewildered and irritated that the live incarnation of McGuinn, Clark & Hillman projected a different identity from the album, leaving purchasers of that record disappointed despite the modest hit single “Don’t You Write Her Off,” which reached number 33. Gene Clark’s health then declined, compelling his departure from the tour.
This development opened a lasting rift among the former colleagues that remained unrepaired and may explain why Clark was not invited to participate in the reunion tracks recorded for the Byrds box set in the early 1990s. McGuinn and Hillman continued the tour and completed a second album, City, issued in 1980 and credited to McGuinn & Hillman featuring Gene Clark. That release displayed a clearer link to the Byrds and was considered by some at least as strong as, if not stronger than, its predecessor. Even so, notable shortcomings persisted: Clark’s two contributions, one ironically titled “Don’t Let You Down,” stood as the album’s finest tracks. Although the record aligned more closely with the musicians’ shared history, certain songs appeared mismatched or trivial—“Skate Date,” for instance, was engaging yet scarcely suited to artists associated with “Eight Miles High,” “The Girl with No Name,” and “Have You Seen Her Face.”
City sold sufficiently to warrant a third album, titled simply McGuinn/Hillman, yet that project dissolved the group. Producers Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, known primarily for R&B work, evidently lacked affinity for the Byrds’ sound or its contemporary variants, and neither McGuinn nor Hillman felt at ease with the outcome. While the Byrds had once incorporated elements of 1950s R&B—successfully applying a 12-string-driven Bo Diddley beat to “Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe” in 1965—the album, despite occasional distinctive passages mostly in McGuinn’s and Hillman’s songs, ultimately failed to represent its creators or their abilities.
Following the group’s dissolution in 1981, Chris Hillman returned to bluegrass, the genre in which he had begun his career, later earning multiple country music awards and recording a series of successful albums with the Desert Rose Band. Roger McGuinn resumed his solo career, performing occasional concerts and eventually releasing the moderately successful album Back from Rio. Gene Clark toured nationally with a band called the Firebyrds, issued one album (with another left unfinished) for Allegiance Records in the early 1980s, and later collaborated with Carla Olson, yet he never fully reestablished a professional career. He died in 1991, only months after appearing onstage with McGuinn, Hillman, and David Crosby at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the Byrds. ~ Bruce Eder
Albums
