<Archive Obituary> Michael Clarke (December 19th 1993)
Bill Schenley
Photo: http://die-augenweide.de/byrds/pic/clarkedrum_.jpg
FROM: The St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (December 20th 1993) ~
By Sue Landry
Michael "Mike" Clarke, 49, the original drummer for The Byrds, who
sparked a lawsuit from other original band members in recent years
when he started performing under the Byrds' name, died early Sunday
morning at his Treasure Island condominium.
Clarke was scheduled to perform on New Year's Eve at the Tierra Verde
Island Resort with his band, Michael Clarke's Byrds. Show organizer
Billy Moore said the New Year's Eve show will be performed with a
drummer from Nashville and will be a tribute to Clarke.
Moore said Clarke died of liver failure. When Clarke realized recently
that he might die soon, he himself decided that the band should
perform on New Year's Eve.
Clarke was born June 3, 1944 in New York City. His main claim to fame
is his association with what many argue was the most influential
American band in rock history. The Byrds coined the
British-influenced beat that became known as folk rock and left a
legacy that influenced such later superstars as Tom Petty and the
Heartbreakers and R.E.M.
Clarke was 19 and a jazz drummer when he ran into David Crosby while
hitchhiking in California. The meeting led to Clarke joining Crosby,
lead guitarist Roger McGuinn, bassist Chris Hillman and vocalist Gene
Clark in a collaboration that became The Byrds in 1964.
The group produced 11 albums in nearly a decade before breaking up in
1972 as McGuinn sought to perform as a solo artist. The group's hits
included some of the most well-known songs of the '60s, including Mr.
Tambourine Man, Eight Miles High, and Turn! Turn! Turn! Clarke
performed with the band until 1968.
In 1985, Clarke began to perform under The Byrds' name, which led to
bitterness, infighting among the original members and eventually a
lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in 1989 by Crosby, McGuinn and Hillman
claimed that Clarke was using the The Byrds' name illegally. Around
that time, McGuinn, Crosby and Hillman performed a few concerts
together as The Byrds in an apparent attempt to bolster the claims in
their lawsuit.
The dispute was fueled, in part, by a resurgence of the popularity of
The Byrds. The group eluded recognition during the '70s in numerous
compilations and '60s revisitations. But that changed in the '80s
when The Byrds again became revered as a major rock-'n'-roll
influence.
Late last year, Columbia released The Byrds, a four-compact disc
compendium of the band's far-ranging work.
For the past 3 1/2 years, Clarke lived in Treasure Island with his
wife, Lee, who was unavailable for comment Sunday. In recent years,
he and his wife had been writing songs together and Clarke had tried
his hand at oil painting.
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Photo:
The Byrds ~
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/b/bd/180px-Byrds.jpg
(LtR - David Crosby, Gene Clark, Michael Clarke, Chris Hillman and
Roger McGuinn)
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An Open Letter From The Late Michael Clarke ~
Dear Young Friends,
You don't know me, but I am in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. I was
the drummer for "The Byrds." We were almost as popular as "The
Beatles." Back in the '60s everyone knew who we were. Your parents
will remember, I was a famous rock 'n roll superstar. My band
performed for millions all over the world. Our songs, "Mr. Tambourine
Man," "Eight Miles High" and "Turn, Turn, Turn" are still played
constantly on the radio. Our concerts were often sold out. I made a
lot of money and had everything going for me including a problem I
want to share with you. I was a drunk.
Alcohol killed me on December 19,1993 when I was only 47 years old.
It's embarrassing to have to share with you my stupidity that resulted
in my death. But you need to know that what happened to me can happen
to you. Honest to God, it can. Dying of alcoholism is not an easy
death. You have a right to know the truth. Really, you need to know
the whole truth.
Don't stop reading my letter yet.
What I am about to tell you is real serious. It is no lie. It is time
for you to be told the facts of drinking too much beer, wine or
distilled spirits. You need to know the facts about the horrible death
I suffered and the excruciating pain and embarrassment I went through
at the end. I did not die of too many drugs like coke or pot. I died
of too much alcohol, which is really the most lethal drug of all.
Trust me, this is no jokel When I died I weighed only about 75 pounds.
I had been a great looking teen and handsome man who was 6'2" and my
normal weight was 175 pounds. I was a real lady's man and women loved
me when I was healthy, but right before I died I was a horrible mess.
My face was unrecognizable to my family and friends. You would have
shuddered from the sight of me, I looked like a walking skeleton. I
was so weak, I couldn't even smile.
I started drinking alcohol when I was 14 years old and until two weeks
before I died, I could hardly remember ever being sober again.
Sometimes when I was drunk I was mean. I am sure some of my friends
could no longer stand me. I am lucky I did not kill anyone driving
drunk and wind up in prison. For years, I would drink a 2 liter bottle
of vodka almost every day and while I was performing I would drink
beer on stage in between songs. When I was young I did not care about
what would happen when I got older and just kept drinking, but believe
me, when you grow up you want to live a full life. I know I did, but I
robbed myself of about 30 years that I could have had fun with my fame
and money and I cheated my son out of having his father.
Please believe me when I say, "I wish I had never taken the first
drink. I wish I was alive today." I got hooked, that's right hooked on
alcohol. It is addictive just like crack cocaine and many people like
myself find it impossible to stop. We are called "alcoholics." And for
people who start and get hooked and cannot stop, it is a fatal disease
and can lead to other serious problems like teenage pregnancy, child
abuse, crime and premature accidental death. For a young person
alcohol is an illegal drug. Alcohol is more harmful than all the other
illegal drugs combined. I know you can get it easily; I did. But don't
be stupid like me. Too many beers or other alcoholic beverages can
ruin your life. If you get hooked you may not finish school and get a
good job, you may lose your health and friends and family. I did other
drugs too, but none like alcohol. Alcohol is so addictive that I warn
you if you get hooked you may not be able to stop by yourself or even
if you get help. It is that powerful.
Right before I died, my liver disintegrated inside my body. You could
see pieces of it breaking off in my guts with a special type of x-ray
picture taken called a sonogram. When I died my liver was the size of
a dime. My pancreas and kidneys were also affected by my drinking.
Because I destroyed my liver with alcohol, my wastes had no way to
leave my body and as a result my testicles swelled up to the size of a
basketball. You can't even imagine how painful they were. It was like
someone took a sledge hammer and hit them about 1000 times and
wouldn't stop. My chest, stomach and legs swelled up so huge I was the
size of a summa wrestler. I could hardly move. My eyes turned yellow
and my skin was discolored from the toxic wastes in my body.
I had to go to the hospital so the doctors could drain the poisonous
fluid from my abdomen to keep me from exploding. They inserted a
catheter into my bladder through my urethra to draw off the urine into
a plastic bag attached to my leg with an elastic strap. I screamed
with the pain. I lost all my dignity and there was nothing more they
could do to save me, so they sent me home to face death. All of my
vital organs stopped functioning and my body started to shrivel from
the inside. The pain was so unbearable that even the morphine they
gave me didn't help. I couldn't eat and I felt nauseated all the time.
They gave me suppositories for the nausea but they did no good at all.
I knew I was soon going to die. Believe me when the end comes, it is
not like you think.
I didn't want to go.
Two weeks later I died.
Before I died I made my soulmate, Susan Paul, promise me to get this
message to you. Please, please I say to you with tears in my eyes, say
no to alcohol the worst drug of all and if you already have a problem
with it, plead with your parents, your doctor or friends to get you
help. If you are drinking at your age you are abusing alcohol.
Let me warn you that you face a crisis in your life.
You might live to be 47 like me and then die a nightmarish death like
I did, or you could be killed or disfigured today in an alcohol
related crash. And if you drink too much alcohol in one sitting,
alcohol poisoning will shut down your breathing and you will die.
Alcohol is a bad drug and a bad trip. Please think about what I have
told you. Look what it did to me. It could happen to you too. So if
you drink, stop! If you can't stop do everything in your power to get
help. If you haven't started drinking yet, don't even take the first
drink. My first drink eventually killed me. I don't want to see what
happened to me happen to any of you. Trust me, you don't want to
suffer like I did, really, it's no joke.
God Bless you all, With all my love,
Michael Clarke
Drummer for The Byrds
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Photo: http://www.bigmagic.com/pages/blackj/MCLARKE2.jpg