Davisville, Oct. 1, 2018: Gene Parsons talks about Mendocino Quartet, plus 1969’s Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde
Mon, 10/01/2018 - 6:05pm | Bill Buchanan
Musician Gene Parsons, who will perform in Davis with the rest of the Mendocino Quartet on Oct. 13, returns to Davisville this week for a discussion that largely has two parts: the quartet, and a few memories about the first LP he recorded with the Byrds -- Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde.
Dr. Byrds followed the popular band's late 1968 country-rock breakthrough record, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Dr. Byrds is not among Parsons’ favorite Byrds records – he prefers Untitled and Ballad of Easy Rider – but he agrees that the playing of Clarence White is one of the attractions of Dr. Byrds. White, a widely admired guitarist, died in 1973 at age 29 after he was struck by a drunk driver. “You hear a lot of Clarence in there [on Dr. Byrds],” Parsons says, “figuring out how he’s going to work with this band.”
