Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers
Encyclopedia
Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers is the debut solo album
of Gene Clark
, released in February of 1967
on Columbia Records
, catalogue CS 9418. It was his first effort after his departure from folk-rock group the Byrds
in 1966
. Though the album was a critical success and it established Clark as a talented singer-songwriter
, it appeared very close to the scheduled release date for the Byrds' album Younger Than Yesterday
in both the United States
and the United Kingdom
, hampering its possibilities for commercial success. The musicians on the album include: former bandmates Chris Hillman
and Michael Clarke
; Wrecking Crew
session musicians Glen Campbell
, Jerry Cole
, and Leon Russell
; future Byrd Clarence White
; and Clark's future collaborator Doug Dillard
. The folk/country vocal duo the Gosdin Brothers
added backing vocals, and subsequently received co-billing.
A reissue for compact disc
on the Columbia/Legacy imprint in 1991 was titled Echoes, and also (partially) remixed, though closer to the sound of the original album - the most significant change was the removal of vocal double-tracking. Echoes altered the song running order, added "The French Girl" by Ian and Sylvia
, "Only Colombe", a demo outtake
of So You Say You Lost Your Baby, and several Clark-penned songs from early Byrds recordings.
The 2007 reissue produced by Bob Irwin
on Sundazed Records
restored the original album mix and track order, and uncovered a number of alternate takes from the album sessions, but no new songs were discovered.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
of Gene Clark
Gene Clark
Gene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....
, released in February of 1967
1967 in music
The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The...
on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, catalogue CS 9418. It was his first effort after his departure from folk-rock group the Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
in 1966
1966 in music
-Events:*January 3 – Hullabaloo shows promotional videos of The Beatles songs "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work it Out".*January 8 – Shindig! airs for the last time on ABC, with musical guests the Kinks and the Who...
. Though the album was a critical success and it established Clark as a talented singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, it appeared very close to the scheduled release date for the Byrds' album Younger Than Yesterday
Younger Than Yesterday
Younger Than Yesterday is the fourth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in February 1967 on Columbia Records . The album saw the band continuing to integrate elements of psychedelic rock into their music, a process they had begun on their previous LP...
in both the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, hampering its possibilities for commercial success. The musicians on the album include: former bandmates Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
and Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (musician)
Michael Clarke , was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the 1960s rock group The Byrds from 1964 to 1967. He died in 1993, at age 47, from liver failure, a direct result of more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption.-Biography:Clarke was born Michael James Dick in...
; Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew (music)
The Wrecking Crew was a nickname coined by the drummer Hal Blaine after the fact for a group of session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who earned wide acclaim in the 1960s. They backed dozens of popular singers, and were one of the most successful "groups" of studio musicians in music history...
session musicians Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, Jerry Cole
Jerry Cole
Jerry Cole born Jerald Kolbrack was an American guitarist who recorded under his own name, under various budget album pseudonyms and as an uncredited session musician.-Biography:...
, and Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
; future Byrd Clarence White
Clarence White
Clarence White was a guitar player for Nashville West, The Byrds, Muleskinner, and the Kentucky Colonels. His parents were Acadians from New Brunswick, Canada...
; and Clark's future collaborator Doug Dillard
The Dillards
The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of Douglas Flint "Doug" Dillard The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of Douglas Flint "Doug" Dillard The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of...
. The folk/country vocal duo the Gosdin Brothers
Vern Gosdin
Vern Gosdin was an American country music singer. He idolized The Louvin Brothers and The Blue Sky Boys as a young man and sang in a gospel quartet called The Gosdin Brothers. An inheritor of the soulful honky tonk style of Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard, Gosdin was nicknamed "The Voice" by his...
added backing vocals, and subsequently received co-billing.
Other issues of the album
Gene Clark was first reissued in the US in the early 1970s, omitting "Elevator Operator" and with re-recorded backing tracks designed to "soften" the sound, under the title Early LA Sessions.A reissue for compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
on the Columbia/Legacy imprint in 1991 was titled Echoes, and also (partially) remixed, though closer to the sound of the original album - the most significant change was the removal of vocal double-tracking. Echoes altered the song running order, added "The French Girl" by Ian and Sylvia
Ian and Sylvia
Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959, married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975.-Early lives:...
, "Only Colombe", a demo outtake
Outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not...
of So You Say You Lost Your Baby, and several Clark-penned songs from early Byrds recordings.
The 2007 reissue produced by Bob Irwin
Bob Irwin
Robert "Bob" Irwin is an Australian naturalist, animal conservationist, and a pioneering herpetologist who is also famous for his conservation and husbandry work with apex predators and reptiles...
on Sundazed Records
Sundazed Records
Sundazed Records is a record label based in Coxsackie, in the Catskills of New York. It specializes in obscure and rare recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s.Label founders Bob Irwin and his wife Mary started the label in 1989...
restored the original album mix and track order, and uncovered a number of alternate takes from the album sessions, but no new songs were discovered.
Side one
- "Echoes" (3:15)
- "Think I'm Gonna Feel Better" (1:32)
- "Tried So Hard" (2:18)
- "Is Yours Is Mine" (2:25)
- "Keep on Pushin'" (Clark, Bill Rinehart) (1:44)
- "I Found You" (3:00)
Side two
- "So You Say You Lost Your Baby" (2:07)
- "Elevator Operator" (Clark, Rinehart) (2:53)
- "The Same One" (3:27)
- "Couldn't Believe Her" (1:52)
- "Needing Someone" (2:03)
2007 Sundazed reissue bonus tracks
- "Tried So Hard" (previously unissued alternate version) (2:18)
- "Elevator Operator" (previously unissued alternate version) (2:53)
- "Only Colombe" (previously unissued mono version) (2:18)
- "The French Girl" (Tyson, Fricker) (previously unissued mono version) (2:18)
- "So You Say You Lost Your Baby" (previously unissued acoustic demo) (2:07)
- "Is Yours Is Mine" (previously unissued acoustic demo) (2:25)
Personnel
- Gene ClarkGene ClarkGene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds....
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, vocals - Vern GosdinVern GosdinVern Gosdin was an American country music singer. He idolized The Louvin Brothers and The Blue Sky Boys as a young man and sang in a gospel quartet called The Gosdin Brothers. An inheritor of the soulful honky tonk style of Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard, Gosdin was nicknamed "The Voice" by his...
- backing vocals - Rex Gosdin - backing vocals
- Glen CampbellGlen CampbellGlen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
- electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - Jerry ColeJerry ColeJerry Cole born Jerald Kolbrack was an American guitarist who recorded under his own name, under various budget album pseudonyms and as an uncredited session musician.-Biography:...
- guitars - Bill Rinehart - guitars
- Clarence WhiteClarence WhiteClarence White was a guitar player for Nashville West, The Byrds, Muleskinner, and the Kentucky Colonels. His parents were Acadians from New Brunswick, Canada...
- guitar on "Tried So Hard" "The Same One" and "Needing Someone" - Doug DillardThe DillardsThe Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of Douglas Flint "Doug" Dillard The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of Douglas Flint "Doug" Dillard The Dillards are an American bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri, consisting of...
- electric banjo on "Keep on Pushin'" - Leon RussellLeon RussellClaude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, harpsichordHarpsichordA harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
; string arrangements on "Echoes" and "So You Say You Lost Your Baby" - Van Dyke ParksVan Dyke ParksVan Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
- keyboards - Chris HillmanChris HillmanChristopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
- bassElectric BassElectric bass can mean:*Electric upright bass, the electric version of a double bass*Electric bass guitar*Bass synthesizer*Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-powered singing fish... - Michael ClarkeMichael ClarkeMichael Clarke may refer to:* Michael Clarke * Michael Clarke , Australian cricketer* Michael Clarke , American musician* Michael Clarke , Australian ornithologist...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Joel LarsonJoel LarsonJoel Larson is a rock drummer and percussionist from California. He was born on April 29, 1947 at St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco. He lived near Lincoln Park until he was 12 years old. He took up drumming at the age of 12 and moved near Avalon Park until he was 17. During these five years he...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
uncredited