So Rebellious a Lover

By the mid 1980s, Clark's career had reached its nadir. 1984's Firebyrd, with his short-lived band of the same name, had been another in a string of critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful outings. Around this time, the rising popularity of jangle rockers like Tom Petty and R.E.M. sparked a new interest in the Byrds, and Clark began developing new fans among L.A.'s roots-conscious paisley underground scene.[1] At what would become FireByrd's swansong gig at Madame Wong's West in West Los Angeles, Gene would meet singer/songwriter Carla Olson and her manager Saul Davis.[4] Following a series of impromptu writing sessions at Clark's home, the pair entered the studio in early 1986 with drummer Michael Huey producing.

The album was recorded at Control Center Studios in Los Angeles. For the sessions, Huey assembled a backing band which included Roscoe Beck on bass, Otha Young on acoustic guitar, Skip Edwards on keyboards, and Long Ryders guitarist Stephen McCarthy added dobro and lap steel. Huey himself provided the drums.[5]

Chris Hillman, Clark's former bandmate in The Byrds, performs on mandolin on several tracks.

Retrospective professional reviews

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]

Released in April, 1987, So Rebellious a Lover has been cited as one of the first true Americana albums.[6]

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, music critic Matthew Greenwald wrote, "the feeling of spontaneity and closeness of spirit engulfs all of the cuts here. Olson's strident and powerful vocals mesh beautifully with Clark's slightly world-weary, soulful performances. As for the material, both songwriters obviously put their best foot forward here. Olson's "The Drifter" and "Are We Still Making Love" are excellent country-folk outings. Clark contributes one of his finest later compositions, "Gypsy Rider," a multi-leveled song that can easily be viewed as autobiographical."[2]

Rolling Stone ranked "Gypsy Rider" as one of Clark's 21 best songs.[7] Writer and music critic David Bennun calls the song "as sorrowful a motorcycle tune as you’ll ever hear," concluding, "it invokes an almost unbearable sadness at the prospect of leaving yet another love...It is easy to read too much into words in hindsight, but it truly does sound as if he is performing his own elegy." [8] Olson recalls of the song, "It conjured images, the first time Gene played it for me, of Michael Parks’s character in Then Came Bronson, the 1969 television series. I think that Gene envied that lifestyle — the drifter with a kind heart."[3]

Credits adapted from Discogs.[5]

• Gene Clark – lead vocals, guitar
• Carla Olson - lead vocals
• Otha Young - acoustic guitar on tracks 1-11
• Randy Fuller - banjo
• Roscoe Beck – bass on tracks 1-11
• Joe Read – bass on tracks 13-16
• Hans Christian - cello on tracks 1-11
• Stephen McCarthy - dobro, lap steel guitar on tracks 1-11
• Michael Huey – drums, percussion on tracks 1-11
• Phil Seymour – drums, vocals on tracks 13-16
• Tom Junior Morgan – flute, piano on tracks 1-11
• Skip Edwards – keyboards on tracks 1-11
• George Callins – lead guitar on tracks 13-16
• Chris Hillman – mandolin on tracks 1-11
• Ed Black – pedal steel guitar on tracks 1-11
• Pat Robinson - piano, vocals on tracks 13-16

Technical

• Michael Huey – producer, mixing engineer
• Rick Novack – recording engineer
• Guy Roche – recording engineer on tracks 13-17
• Bob Saldana - producer, recording engineer and mixing engineer on track 17
• Saul Davis - A&R and concept
• Gary Nichamin - photography
• Janis Garza - photography