Gene Clark Solo Albums-album by album & *now* track by track on p. 23*

I could have done without this remake. Firebird has it’s weak and strong points, but I’ve always wished for another new original instead of this.

 

Edsel has bonus tracks other pressings do not?
Please elaborate.

 

It includes the 3 tracks I mention in the post you quoted, tacked onto the end of the album sides. They sound like they are probably from needle drops.

Discogs entry is here: Dillard & Clark - The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard & Clark

 

I agree, it was a bad decision. And the optics were terrible: a casual observer might conclude that Gene was relying on past glories to bolster a sagging career. But like the decision to remake 'Kansas City Southern' for Two Sides, there is a rather ordinary explanation; one that suggests the choices were neither cynical nor desperate, but a natural carryover from what he had been playing: the Nyteflyte version of 'I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better' was recorded in '82, the same year I believe that much of the Firebyrd material was recorded. And while that was a partially successful attempt to recast the song in a modern country arrangement (although one could make the argument that this, too, was a cynical idea) the Firebyrd remake has no such aspirations. It just sounds like a tired bar band who were lucky enough to snag Gene Clark out of the audience. Nyteflyte/Flyte also also played a verse-restoring version of 'Mr. Tambourine Man' at their 1982 show at the Palomino, which is presumably how Gene came to record it for the album.

 

Gene Clark Sings For You coming June 15!
Gene Clark — Gene Clark Sings For You | Omnivore Recordings

ON HER OWN

PAST TENSE

YESTERDAY, AM I RIGHT

PAST MY DOOR

THAT’S ALIRGHT BY ME

ONE WAY ROAD

DOWN ON THE PIER

7:30 MODE

ON TENTH STREET

UNDERSTAND ME

A LONG TIME

BIG CITY GIRL

DOCTOR DOCTOR

TILL TODAY

 

Gene Clark Sings For You trailer

 

Yes indeed. Loved your video.

Thanks -- I don't know where I got my sometime erroneous dates...an odd wiki source, but I got them in order mostly I believe (except at the beginning...ouch).

 

WOW! The record Store Day release on April 21, and now this in June. A wealth of Gene Clark riches!

Thanks, Clarkophile!
Scott

 

Plus the Sundazed white vinyl re-ish of White Light and rumours of another No Other! I can’t remember a year that had this much Gene activity.

 

Very excited about Sings For You! There's also some Gene tracks on The Rose Garden release from Omnivore coming on the same day! (June 15)!

COMING JUNE 15 FROM OMNIVORE RECORDINGS: GENE CLARK SINGS FOR YOU

 

OK...so we all pretty much agree that Gene's last solo effort was his weakest. But still--Firebyrd...has a lot to love there, and I never fault Gene's efforts. Always there fully engaged in every session he has ever recorded, even if his vision is sometimes misdirected. But even that is a matter of debate and opinion.

With that I think we can move on to his last supreme accomplishment --






Carla Olson: ‘Gene Clark Taught Me So Many Things About Singing’

Carla Olson sang, played guitar, and was a leader of the highly respected Los Angeles-based rock band the Textones long before she met Gene Clark. Yet she credits the late Byrds singer for providing her with a musical education.

“Gene taught me so many things about singing,” Olson says, “He used his voice like a woodwind or a cello, with subtlety. Gene showed me that I had to back off the mic — not just belt it out — to make every word count.
“He was a superb guitarist and could hold his own with the likes of Bob Dylan, Donovan, and Joan Baez. I loved the way he played the rhythm parts and the bass lines at the same time, which came from playing solo for many years. He was also an excellent harmonica player and used his beautiful whistle as an instrument as well.”
Olson teamed with Clark for live shows and the 1987 album So Rebellious a Lover.
“Because he had played solo so much, I had to find my place in the song, whether to use a different inversion of a chord, or find a harmony that fit,” Olson recalls. “Many times I opted for a unison part but an octave above. That seemed appropriate to create a single voice on some lines.”
Olson remembers Clark as “incredibly giving and patient.” She says they had a lot of fun working together — “lots of laughs, jokes and tomfoolery.”
Olson was a huge Byrds fan long before she met Clark. She bought their first two albums, Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn! Turn! Turn!, when they were released in 1965.
“I had switched from classical piano — my father's occupation as a young man — to folk guitar, and I wore out my LPs learning to play and sing like the Byrds and the Beau Brummels. We had our version of the British Invasion.”
Olson first met Clark at a club in West Los Angeles where he was playing with his band, the Firebyrds, which, Olson says, included Byrds drummer Michael Clarke, Matt Andes, Michael Hardwick, and Peter Oliva.
“They played their set to a room of maybe 50, mostly UCLA students who were there to drink,” Olson recalls. “At the end of the show, the Gene Clark fans coaxed an encore out of them, and they launched into ‘I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better.’ Tom Slocum, one of Gene's friends, was sitting in the next booth and asked if he could join us. The next thing I knew he was taking my hand and pulling me along toward the stage. He said, ‘You can sing with them on this one, you know it — right?’ Halfway through the guitar solo, Gene says, ‘Hi, I'm Gene Clark,’ to which I replied, ‘Carla, Carla Olson, nice to meet you!’ ”
Olson, who says her relationship with Clark was strictly musical, says his song “For A Spanish Guitar” is “the perfect composition,” poetically and musically. “The melody is very complex, yet follows a natural progression modulating within the verses. Bob Dylan has been quoted as saying that it's ‘something I or anyone else would have been proud to have written.’ "
Another beautiful Clark song is “Gypsy Rider,” Olson says. “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. I wish that Willie Nelson would cut this song, because it's perfect for him. “Gypsy Rider” debuted on the duet album I recorded with Gene, So Rebellious A Lover.”
Despite the beautiful music she made with Clark and during other times in her career, Olson says her proudest accomplishments are the Textones' two albums, Midnight Mission and Cedar Creek.
“We were a band of five very diverse backgrounds and musical influences,” she says. “What we had in common was the energy and desire to entertain. Our music may have been either ahead of its time or too retro stylistically. The fans got it, but the labels did not.”
A new album by the Textones — which, besides Olson, now includes George Callins, Tom Junior Morgan, Joe Read and Rick Hemmert — is being recorded. “Even though we are spread out all over the globe, the five of us have managed to write songs together and share the same passion for the music that we continue to make.”
Olson says it was “a thrill and an honor” to tour with and play alongside drummer/harmony vocalist Phil Seymour in the Textones and on their 1984 Midnight Mission album. Seymour, who had also performed with Del Shannon and Dwight Twilley, was stricken with lymphoma and died in 1993 at age 41.
“He was such a generous and talented soul,” Olson says. “It is such a shame that he passed away at such a young age.”
Midnight Mission was produced by rock and blues great Barry Goldberg and Brad Gilderman. Goldberg, a current member of the Rides with Stephen Stills and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, has too long a resume to list in this column. Among other things, he played with Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Howlin' Wolf, formed the Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield and was the keyboardist for Bob Dylan when Dylan went electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
Olson has traded the favor and produced two of Goldberg’s records. She also has produced albums by Paul Jones, (former Manfred Mann lead singer), Joe Louis Walker, Jake Andrews, Mare Winningham, and Chubby Tavares and tracks by Otis Rush, Sugar Blue, Roy Gaines, Taj Mahal, BJ Thomas, Billy Joe Royal, and Brenton Wood.
“One particularly memorable session was in London,” Olson says, “when Eric Clapton played on the first of the two Paul Jones albums that I produced.”

...continued here:
Carla Olson: ‘Gene Clark Taught Me So Many Things About Singing’



-NeoDepression

 

We miss this brilliant pairing so much...

 

• • 1 The Drifter4:58​
  • 2 Gypsy Rider4:30​
  • 3 Every Angel in Heaven3:58​
  • 4 Del Gato4:54​
  • 5 Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)3:41​
  • 6 Fair and Tender Ladies5:04​
  • 7 Almost Saturday Night2:34​
  • 8 I'm Your Toy (Hot Burrito No. 1)4:17​
  • 9 Are We Still Making Love3:20​
  • 10 Why Did You Leave Me Today4:00​
  • 11 Don't It Make You Wanta Go Home3:24​
  • 12 Lover's Turnaround [bonus track]​

 

Gene at his height, singing and songwriting..

Fair And Tender Ladies

 

Reminiscent of the Gram/Emmylou duets and just as exceptional.

 

This is the first (and only) new Gene Clark album that I was aware of at the time, as I was 16 when it came out. I hadn't heard any of his solo work at the time, except for as covers by other artists (This Mortal Coil comes to mind) and mainly knew him as the guy from the Byrds. I remember that this got a fair amount of press as a bit of a comeback for him and it is a terrific album. Olson seems to bring out the best in Gene and his new songs here are excellent.

 

I think Gene really needed & appreciated her support and love of his music. He had had so many disappointments over the years.

 

This is a very good album. Totally agree that Carla brought out the best in Gene.

It's impossible to know the exact sequence of events, but I get the impression that, around this time Gene was not only working with Carla but on the CRY project, the Byrds tribute band and on solo material.

 

Firebyrd was the first Gene Clark album that I bought on the day of its release and it's still my favourite GC album. I was getting back into buying albums in a big way at this time. Gene had always been my favourite member of The Byrds and I soon started buying whatever other GC albums I could get my hands on. I never have owned 'So Rebellious A Lover', I thought I had it on vinyl but I was wrong. So I have hunted down a CD copy, they're hard to get in the dis-united kingdom but managed to order a copy from the Colonies, not bloody cheap either. The RSD album is only available in the Colonies so I've risked ordering it through the risky Spin CDs.

You guys in the Colonies don't know how lucky you are!

 

There was an email from Sierra/Entree Records today that said the Record Store Day release would be available to purchase from them in a few weeks. I would hold off buying anything from the secondary market at inflated prices.

 

It is really rare here also...very pricy, which attests to the love for this one. Can't get it from Bull Moose. I want the vinyl!

 

I also really love Firebyrd...it has grown in my appreciation to equal status with the rest of my Gene Clark vinyl. Glad to know there are fans.

I always loved and still do, his revisiting "Mr Tambourine Man". It has that Gene Clark melancholy and beauty that only Gene can give a song. Carla Olson's comparing Gene's voice to the subtle tones of a cello is perfect.

 

Hey, Indigo...am I reading this right--are you saying there will be a reissue of "So Rebellious a Lover"? Vinyl PLEASE!!

I'm off to Record Store Day! For Gene's "Back Street Mirror" !! Bundle up Mainers... 39º.

 

She's referring to the RSD release only.

 

Oh I'm sorry, no, I meant the Back Street Mirror EP.