Gene Clark SACD of unreleased recordings

Yeah, I got the Sierra email today.

Is John Delgatto going to release one song title at a time to continue to kill us with suspense and whet our appetitie for this eagerly awaited release?!? I may be a drooling fool by the time it gets released

 

Does anyone know if this CD is a real silver pressed CD?

 

A bit of a silly question this. Sierra records is a real label with quality reissues. The first 'Kindling Collection' by Gene Parsons was even a gold cd.

 

As discussed throughout this thread, it is going to be a hybrid SACD (SACD layer and CD layer), not just a CD and definitely not a CD-R.

 

Please please please find the multitracks for "Why Not Your Baby". I would kill to hear a nice stereo mix of this.

 

He pretty much looked the same as on the White Light LP at that point. At least use one of those, or a photo from the Byrds Reunion which was at the same time.

 

Actually, not a silly question. Sierra (at least as a mail order outfit) sells some CDRs without identifying them as such. In this case it is a hybrid SACD, so not the case here.

 

I've ordered dozens of CDs from Sierra, and none were CD-Rs.
(This is off-topic, but important considering the accusation.)
So, to me, it seemed like a silly question.

 

To me too, never I noticed John selling cd-r's.

 

Right. Not the case here. That was made clear earlier -- in the title of the thread, as a matter of fact, and elsewhere by John Delgatto himself. So, yes, it was a silly question.

 

The reason I asked that question is because my copy of the Sierra edition of Gram Parsons "Live 1973" was a gold CD-R. Not sure if all pressings were like that, but the Gram Parsons "Early Years" box set in 2010 was done on silver pressed CDs. For example, a gold pressed CD like a DCC title is very different than a gold CD-R disc.

 

Got this email today from John... last paragraph might be telling to those following this thread.

Just a short email notice to let you know your order for the "new"
John Hartford releases will be shipping next week. The separate DVD
arrives late tomorrow and the two separate CDs sets (one includes the
DVD as well) are arriving the first of week.

You are only one of 15 who placed an order for these John Hartford
releases! With over 4000+ on the email mailing list of previous
buyers, it would seem interest in either in John Hartford's music and
or new releases in general has dramatically fallen off. As a result, only
30 copies of each have been imported of these titles and that will be it.

This only puts into question the wisdom to release this upcoming Fall
2015 our own Sierra Records' of "Gene Clark:The Lost Studio Sessions
1964-1982".

Your friend in music,

John Delgatto,
Founder/President

I for one hope to hell it doesn't influence him to cancel releasing these long lost recordings of our man GC. Wouldn't that be something... not enough interest to justify the expense. Doesn't bode well for the future.

 

I think there's a LOT more interest in Gene Clark than John Hartford at this point in time. There was an Indie all-star tour of No Other performances a couple of years ago. But it is a depressing perspective.

It's nothing new, but it is getting worse and worse. I have a friend who worked for one of the big labels and dwindling sales shelved a number of reissues starting 10 or 12 years ago. I can't remember what the break-even sales threshold was... something like 4,000 copies. In the 1990's and early part of this century they could count on sales of six or eight thousand for just about any vintage Soul or R&B release, but after a while they were lucky to ship a couple of thousand and they just stopped reissuing anything with an aroma of "obscure."

 

Bad foreboding.

From all the responses and interest generated on this thread alone about Sierra's pending Gene Clark releases, to me it sounded like a winner.
(Maybe if this thread was a poll "Will You Buy the Upcoming Gene Clark CDs?"...)

However, I know John Delgatto needs more than just a few dozen forum
comments posted here to reassure him his business expenses will not be a financial loss.

At least, All those that are interested in this and other pending Sierra releases (which John mentions are Gene Clark, Gram Parsons, Randy Meisner, Clarence White, and more) should go to "sierrarecords.net" and sign up for the mailing list.
There's also some great prices and blowout sale items.

Hopefully the spike of interest will give him some optimism.

 

I'm a newcomer in Gene Clark's recordings, but I'm really interested in that SACD. I would like however first to know which unreleased tracks are to find exactly at that album.

 

Hopefully the project has too much momentum to be unplugged at this late date. At least old fart music fans still buy CD's... some of us, anyway.

 

It's my understanding that the vast majority of the material is previously unreleased -- and unbooted, to boot.

 

Breathe easier -

Please excuse the follow up email, but a tiny handful (2) asked about my
comment regarding the Gene Clark album set for the Fall of 2015.

The bottom line is the album will be released as planned, whether only 10 copies
are sold or 10,000 or more! And yes, in due time, the complete song list will
be announced. But since most of the songs have never been published, the
titles probably have little meaning to many. Gene was quite a prolific
songwriter to match his terrific singing. Fortunately these songs were
captured not in some home demo recording setting but in several major
recording studios in Los Angeles/Hollywood.

John Delgatto,
Founder/President

 

I really can't argue about who generates the most interest. Might be hard to judge and depends on what circles you move in. There is a festival held every year (this was the 5th annual) in John's honor. It was this past May at Bill Monroe's Memorial Music Park in Bean Blossom, IN. The headline acts included HotRize with Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers, New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Hackensaw Boys, Split Lip Rayfield, Jamie Hartford and Friends, and Horseshoes and Hand Grenades among others. Is there a festival for Gene? Not that I'm aware of but there should be! There should also be a Bluray/DVD release of that 'No Other' tour for us that didn't get to see it!!

 

I was unaware of all of that.

If that's the case, the non-existent interest in a John Hartford reissue is all the more depressing, although it may be a case of his aging fan base being less inclined to seek out music directly from Sierra on the Internet. Gene Clark is someone who has been rediscovered by younger fans, and they're probably more inclined to buy a collection of previously unreleased recordings. At least I hope so.

The two No Other performances at the Music Hall of Williamsburg sold out, which surprised me... I didn't get tickets in time. That's not a huge place, official capacity 550, but it was an event.

 

There's also a big difference when comparing the Sierra John Hartford releases to the Sierra Gene Clark SACD. The Gene Clark consists of unreleased material and the John Hartford material (except the DVD) has all been available previously on CD.

A John Hartford fan may already own this material. The Raven 5 Essential Albums set has been available for over a year, and the Camden set (John Hartford/Iron Mountain Depot/Radio John) was released in 2002 although now it looks like it's out of print.

 

As Gene's erstwhile Byrds colleague would say, I trust it will all work out.

 

This thread has already cost me $ as I had neglected to add the Floating World 2 disc set mentioned by @Clarkophile earlier in the proceedings. Thanks for the reminder.

 

Since we're mentioning the Gene Clark No Other Band's performances (as an aside)...I saw their appearance at the End of the Road festival in England last year, which I think was the only European show. It was incredible and extremely moving. And a wonderful tribute to Gene.

I can't wait for this forthcoming release.

 

Anyone who signed up for email updates will already be aware of this, but in case you haven't, I'm delighted to report that that the forthcoming set WILL include "Back Street Mirror" and "Don't Let It Fall Through" from 1967.