Not sure how I feel about this one—a bit of a head-scratcher, really, since both albums still are readily available individually. It’ll be interesting to see the notes, of course, and it’s always great to see Gene’s music out there. Funny how “Digitally Remastered” seems almost a quaint addition to the cover…very 2006. But truthfully, for those of us who had hoped the success of 4AD’s massive No Other box would inspire subsequent archival releases, this stands as a holding pattern, not a positive step forward. I guess no one is willing to do the work that would be required for anything other than a straight reish. I’ve preordered, of course. Gotta support your team, eh. Release date is May 26.
For "White Light" there is the excellent Intervention Records hybrid SACD out there. But a good release of "Roadmaster" is welcome. BGO generally does pretty good work.
Yes, I’ve heard that the Intervention release is top-notch but last I checked, the cost was ridiculously prohibitive. This might be a nice compromise.
It's still available for $30 from the Intervention site, but I guess international shipping might bump up the cost. BGO releases are a good value when they do them right.
Today is release day for this. Had been provisionally listed at $31.99 (CAD) and is now $19.36. Promo blurb. Leading with Gene’s Christys credentials is a little bizarre, lol. “Dude was in the New Christy Minstrels, man.” “Cool. I’m in.” From 1971 comes ex-New Christy Minstrel and Byrds co-founder Gene Clark's A&M Records album, 'White Light' 'Roadmaster' features the tracks that Clark was recording for his follow-up album for A&M... originally 'Roadmaster' was only issued in Holland. Before these, Clark had recorded two albums for A&M as Dillard & Clark, both receiving critical acclaim. After 'White Light', Clark was involved with more than one Byrds reunion and also with McGuinn, Clark & Hillman. Clark sadly died in 1991 at the age of 46; however, the legacy he left includes such songs as 'Eight Miles High', 'I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better' and 'Set You Free This Time. 'Digitally remastered and slipcased, and with extensive new notes.
Bah. The liner notes are credited to John O’Regan, but a large chunk of them were lifted—word for word, I might add—from the bio I wrote for Gene-Clark.com. Yes, he passes off my writing as his own. Pretty scummy. Lists the website in his bibliography, but my name is nowhere to be seen. Plagiarism.
I think the 37-year-old Edsel CD sounds just fine. One wishes someone would invest the time/effort into a comprehensive Roadmaster reissue with the alternate mix and outtakes, but I suppose that's a pipe dream at this point. Certainly this new release is a must-to-avoid now, given the liner note situation.
Booooooooooooooo! Good night nurse...sorry to hear but we live in an age of lazy, thieving bastids. Quick ?---is that the original RM cover? I've only had the Edsel CD since forever.
It is the original cover, the Edsel LP & CD was the first to use the car cover IIRC. Sundazed used a different cover as well.
As I always say when this topic comes up... it amazes me that there's been three completely different cover designs used for Roadmaster, and not one of them features a photo of Gene taken in the early 70s when the material was recorded.
Sorry about the plagiarism... So how do the albums sound on the BGO? I've generally felt that BGO's releases are pretty OK, nothing spectacular soundwise, not audiophile, but also not horribly screwed up usually. The only version of Roadmaster I have is the 37 year old Edsel CD referenced above in the thread, which is decent sounding to me. Since we are talking about sound quality, how are the 2013 SHM-CD or the 2019 Music On CD versions in comparison to the Edsel?