Song of the Day 12/3: The Byrds, “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better”

Alina Habba, the pride of Widener Law School, has been disqualified as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey after an appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration’s ploy for appointing her is illegal. It’s the second such ruling in recent weeks, bad news for Trump’s Lawfare Revenge tour but a rare-enough win for the rest of us. We’ll all feel a whole lot better when she’s gone.

Gene Clark’s 1965 B-side to the band’s second single – the A-side for the follow-up to their seminal cover of “Mr. Tambourine Man” was another Dylan tune, “All I Really Want to Do” – got enough airplay to reach Billboard’s Bubbling Under chart, and became one of their most enduring tunes.

Clark was only with the Byrds from their founding in 1964 to early 1966, but was their principal songwriter and frequent lead vocalist during his tenure. Roger McGuinn got more attention by singing lead on their hit Dylan covers, Clark earned more money through royalties, so there were plenty of resentments to go around. Clark’s fear of flying furthered his decision to leave, but his solo career, often critically acclaimed, was commercially disappointing. He rejoined his Byrds bandmates on various occasions, including a stint with McGuinn and Chris Hillman in the late ’70s, but never experienced a true comeback. Alcoholism contributed to his early death – he was just 46 when he died in 1991.

“I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” has been covered by a lot of people, mostly prominently by Tom Petty, who released a faithful cover of the song on his “Full Moon Fever” album in 1989, the same year Dinosaur Jr. cut a more radical version for a Byrds tribute album.