Musicians - Michael Clarke

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	Musicians - Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke (born Michael James Dick) (June 3, 1946 – December 19, 1993), was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the 1960s rock music group The Byrds from 1964 to 1968. He died in 1993, at age 47, from liver failure due to more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption.

History

In legend, Clarke was discovered while playing bongos on the beach by Byrds founder David Crosby. Although the story is probably apocryphal, Clarke was not accomplished as a musician prior to joining the Byrds. He was hired more for his resemblance to Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones than his percussion skills, which were modest at best. Clarke's best work appears on raga rock classics "Eight Miles High" and "I See You" from The Byrds' Fifth Dimension album, although original Grass Roots drummer Joel Larson has claimed that he was brought in on several occasions by Byrds producer Allen Stanton to overdub drumming parts on Byrds records, unbeknownst to Clarke.

During "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" recording sessions, he was fired and replaced by session drummer Jim Gordon (the compact disc version of that album contains sarcastic and bitter repartee between a petulant Clarke and bandmates Crosby and Chris Hillman over his perceived lack of effort and skill). However, Clarke landed on his feet, and after a short stint in Hawaii as a painter, he followed Hillman to the Flying Burrito Brothers, later working with Firefall and Jerry Jeff Walker. Clarke lost a certain amount of goodwill among longtime Byrds fans when he joined original Byrds singer Gene Clark for a series of shows billed "A 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Byrds." Many clubs simply shortened the billing to "the Byrds," and the pair soon found themselves involved in acrimonious court battles with Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, and Chris Hillman over usage of the group's name. The Byrds set aside their differences long enough to appear together at their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in January of 1991, where the original lineup played a few songs together. Clarke continued to tour with a group called "Byrds Celebration," but his health declined as his drinking accelerated. After a number of hospital stays, he died of liver failure at the age of 47 on December 19, 1993, at his Treasure Island, Florida home.

In 1994, just a year after his death, Michael's paintings were published in Dick Gautier and Jim McMullan's book, Musicians As Artists.

During his final days, Clarke had expressed a wish to appear on television in the hope of alerting children to the dangers of alcoholism. Follwing his wishes, Clarke's girlfriend Susan Paul started a foundation in Clarke's name, called the Campaign for Alcohol-free Kids.

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