It’s not often that a single’s B-side ends up being more popular than the featured track, but that’s what happened when the Byrds released their classic “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” as the flipside to the band’s second single, “All I Really Want to Do,” in 1965. Written and sung by founding Byrds member Gene Clark, “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” went on to become a classic rock staple; it was even ranked among the “Greatest Songs of All Time” by Rolling Stone decades later. Interestingly enough, however, the song had its biggest success on the charts thanks to a cover by Tom Petty.
According to Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of The Byrds’ Gene Clark by John Einarson, “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” was written right around the time the Byrds started getting successful, during the band’s residency at Ciro’s nightclub in Los Angeles.
“There was a girlfriend I had known at the time, when we were playing at Ciro’s,” Clark said. “It was a weird time in my life because everything was changing so fast and I knew we were becoming popular. This girl was a funny girl, she was kind of a strange little girl and she started bothering me a lot. And I just wrote the song, ‘I’m gonna feel a whole lot better when you’re gone,’ and that’s all it was, but I wrote the whole song within a few minutes.”
Indeed, the lyrics pretty much sum it all up:
Baby, for a long time, you had me believeThat your love was all mine, and that’s the way it would beBut I didn’t know, that you were putting me on
And I’ll probably feel a whole lot betterWhen you’re goneOh, when you’re gone
“I don’t know how to rightly explain this, except that there was philosophy involved,” Clark reflected years later, contemplating his songwriting process.
“[Bob] Dylan in a way is a philosopher, he’s a deep thinker, John [Lennon] too,” he continued, per Uncut. “I consider Lennon and Dylan two of the best minds that we had, or have, in the 20th century…And they weren’t what you would call religious guys. They were spiritually connected. That vibration came across very strongly from The Beatles to us [the Byrds].”
After writing some of the most influential songs in rock history for the Byrds, Clark left the band to embark on a solo career. Though he didn’t find commercial success as a solo artist, his songwriting has continued to gain the respect and admiration of fans and peers, inspiring covers by the likes of Robert Plant and the aforementioned Petty, who covered “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” (as “Feel a Whole Lot Better”) on his iconic 1989 solo album, Full Moon Fever. Petty’s version far eclipsed its predecessor on the charts, peaking at #18 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart; the original single only made it to #103. (The resurgence resulted in an unexpected stream of royalty revenue for Clark.)
Related: 1966 Iconic Rock Hit, Released One Month Before ‘Eight Miles High,’ Named One of the ‘Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever’
In 2014, 23 years after Clark’s tragic death at the age of 46, Rolling Stone included “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” in a roundup of the “Cult Hero’s 21 Best Songs.”
“The Byrds’ epochal debut featured four chiming Bob Dylan covers that defined the folk-rock sound, as well as five originals penned by Clark, including this one about the ambivalence of a breakup,” wrote Andy Beta, adding, “The track’s raw emotions were rendered smooth by his buoyant melody and the honeyed harmonies of his bandmates David Crosby and Roger McGuinn.”
Speaking of McGuinn, the rock icon remembered his former bandmate as a uniquely talented musician whose solo work didn’t get the attention it deserved.
“For whatever level of acceptance he had going in the commercial market, Gene was a star,” McGuinn said.
Related: 1967 Classic, Originally a Sarcastic Jab at the Monkees, Became a Timeless Rock Anthem
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