Gene Clark With the Gosdin Brothers reissued on Sundazed CD

FWIW, my understanding is Boettcher simply did the arrangements, which (excepting the backing vocals) are present on the stereo remixes too.

I'm certainly hanging on to both releases. If you don't have either and want to get one, well...

 

Right. Thanks.
My grasp of the proper terminology is coming along slowly. I'm learning a lot here though.

Can anyone answer a quick question: Was the CBS Special Products CD version of this album remastered? I don't have it with me at work right now.

 

Just answered my own question. Never mind. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

A local indie shop (Record Time ) surprisingly had this in stock when I visited yesterday, so I picked it up. I'm a newbie to this album, so I'm not up on the take numbers, mixes and whether demos are really demos (ignorance is bliss?), but I love the original album tracks and bonuses. I'm a Boettcher fan as well. Great purchase.

 

Revisiting this...

I recently noticed this on Wikipedia:

"In Europe, the album was issued several months after the American release under the title "Echoes," and included two bonus tracks: "The French Girl" by Ian and Sylvia; and "Only Colombe.""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Clark_with_the_Gosdin_Brothers

Does anyone know what mixes those are? Are the mono mixes on the Sundazed CD perhaps not unreleased after all?

I think I'm going to try to dig into the "demo" versions again soon.

 

News to me and I bought it when it came out.
At the time it was common for US albums to have a couple or more months lag before UK release.

 

Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers
Columbia CL 2618/CS 9418 (US) - Released February 1967
CBS 62934 (UK) - Released April 1967

That bit about the album Echoes being released shortly afterwards is false. It was not released until September, 1991, after Gene's death. It was Gene who nixed the backing vocals on 'Only Colombe' and 'The French Girl' for the release, as he was not fond of them.

 

Looks like you're right. I was thinking perhaps the UK LP just happened to be named the same as the later CD, but after some Googling that doesn't appear to be the case. Odd.

So Echoes (1991) was in fact the first time those two tracks were released then?

 

One more...

Thinking about this some more, Gene actually had involvement with the Echoes CD? I had previously assumed it was compiled/released in light of his passing.

 

Yes, it was already in the planning stages before his death. I can't check my sources right now, but I'm pretty sure he was consulted regarding the prev. unrel. tracks and asked that the backing vocals be wiped on the two Boettcher-arranged songs.

Yes. The Only Colombe/The French Girl 45 was scrapped in '67. What we got in '91 was the Gene-approved version of it; what we got with the Sundazed release was the form in which it was intended for the public, Boettcher's arrangements intact.

 

According to Sundazed, the "French Girl"/"Only Colombe" single was "unfathomably canceled at the 11th hour by the label". Sundazed used the previously unreleased original mono mixes of the two songs, whereas Echoes featured remixed stereo versions.

 

There were reasons why it was canceled. The Daily Flash had beaten Gene to the punch and released 'The French Girl' as a single. Gene's music was also in a period of transition during the post-Byrds/pre-D&C period. He was probably very relieved when it was scuppered because he was moving in a new direction anyway. Plus the "Dylan fronting the Left Banke" sound, an analogy coined by Sid Griffin, was already dated by late '67.
It didn't have much potential as a hit, so that may have played into Columbia's thinking as well.

 

That makes sense, as Columbia was probably more interested in singles like the Byrds' "So You Want To Be A Rock 'n Roll Star'. At that time, Gene even briefly rejoined the Byrds for a few live appearances and worked with a new backup group featuring Clarence White, John York and Eddie Hoh.

 

I've always found it odd that no photos have ever surfaced of the Gene Clark Group 2.0 from those gigs.

 

Although I don't have this I always thought that it included the mixes from Gene Clark: Collector's Series: Early L.A. Sessions

 

Isn't the outtake of Tried So Hard included in this reissue from Early LA Sessions?

 

100% accurate. Wikipedia strikes again...those 'bonus tracks' were never released in the 60s, and were not even bootleged as far as I know. I first heard them in their re-mixed form in 1991 along with the rest of the world. I discourage students from using Wikipedia as a primary source for internet research...it is often rife with misinformation, disinformation and biased political opinion.

 

Yes it is. The alternate take of Tried So Hard on the Sundazed reissue is identical to the version on Early LA Sessions.

 

I was kind of surprised that the versions Gene liked were not included on the Sundazed reissue. Your explaination makes sense though. Perhaps including both versions would have been nice since Echoes has been long OOP on CD.

 

Puzzling...

A few more comments:

- Has anyone else noticed the distortion in the right channel of the original mix of So You Say You Lost Your Baby when the electric guitar is playing? I find it almost painful.

- These recordings/mixes affirm my hatred of the Columbia (pop?) vocal sound of the '60s, and to a lesser extent, drum sound. Peaky midrange, zero high frequency extension, nasty sounding echo... I don't know what they were doing.

 

Yes, I have. I always assumed it was a conscious attempt to get a cutting edge psych sound, but the results were unnecessarily harsh and grating. It's similar to the ring one gets from tinnitus.
As it is, that guitar bit is my least favourite part of the song. The solo acoustic demo version on Echoes is my go-to for that one.

 

I like both recordings (the strings on the LP take are great), but that noise on the original mix is painful. I should see if the remix can be "beefed up" a bit with EQ.

 

Has The Daily Flash version ever been reissued anywhere -- CD or otherwise? There's a needledrop on YouTube, but that's all I can find.

Thanks!

 

I've never heard the original mix, but the Echoes remix of SYSYLYB is also painful, it sounds like a screeching organ note being sustained. Really a shame, as it is the strongest track on there, IMO.