Thursday 19th July 1973

Clarence White of The Byrds (1965 US & UK No.1 single ‘Mr Tambourine Man’) was killed by a drunk driver, aged 29. The accident occurred shortly after 2 a.m., while he and his brother Roland were loading equipment into their car in Palmdale, California, following a spur-of-the-moment reunion gig of the Colonels. Especially shaken by his death was Gram Parsons, who would lead a singalong of “Farther Along” at the funeral service and conceive his final song before his own death, “In My Hour of Darkness”, as a partial tribute to White.