Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn March 4 1978 Capitol Theatre (Passaic, NJ)
This is a very fine set, good songs from Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn (who also played together in The Byrds) and some very fine covers, among them three Bob Dylan songs.
Continue reading Classic Concert: Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn Mar 4 1978 Capitol Theatre
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Harold Eugene “Gene” Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds. He did write some of The Byrds’ best songs, among them: “Feel A Whole Lot Better”, “Here Without You” and “Set You Free This Time”. |
Continue reading November 17: The late Gene Clark was born 70 years ago
Today: Bob Dylan is 73 years old – top 25 Bob Dylan songs (read more)Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of Dylan’s early songs, such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin’”, became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving his first base in the culture of folk music behind, Dylan’s six-minute single “Like a Rolling Stone” radically altered the parameters of popular music in 1965. His recordings employing electric instruments attracted denunciation and criticism from others in the folk movement. |
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| Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country music icon Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin. |  |
| Gene Clark, born Harold Eugene Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds. |  |
| Elmore James (January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as “the King of the Slide Guitar” and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice. |  |
| Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American composer, pianist, and big-band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions. In the opinion of Bob Blumenthal of The Boston Globe “In the century since his birth, there has been no greater composer, American or otherwise, than Edward Kennedy Ellington.” A major figure in the history of jazz, Ellington’s music stretched into various other genres, including blues, gospel, film scores, popular, and classical. His career spanned more than 50 years and included leading his orchestra, composing an inexhaustible songbook, scoring for movies, composing stage musicals, and world tours. |  |
Spotify Playlist – May 24 |
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Gene Clark – Two Sides To Every Story
| Released | January, 1977 |
|---|---|
| Recorded | 1976 |
| Genre | Country rock |
| Label | RSO |
| Producer | Thomas Jefferson Kaye |
Gene Clark will always be best remembered for years as a vocalist with the Byrds. A fine legacy to be sure, but the shame of it is that there was far more to Clark’s body of work than that; he was a superb songwriter, one of the founding fathers of country-rock, and recorded a number of fine albums with an impressive array of collaborators whose quality far outstripped their modest sales figures. (Read more at allmusic.com)
This is an album that has been difficult to get. But now it is finally beeing rereleased on cd (according to Uncut magazine), it was planned released in the summer of 2011, sadly it didn’t happen. I’m hoping all legal issues have been solved now, and that we finally can get a new and, hopefully, remastered version of this forgotten masterpiece. Update: I read somewhere that august 2013 is the new release month for the re-issue, fingers crossed!
Edit: I have done a bit research on different releases, and there appears to have been at least two cd releases before. Well, I cannot find them and have to wait for the much talked about re-release.
I have an old vinyl lp that I have ripped to digital format (I have put the record player away on the loft somewhere…), it doesn’t sound as good but it’s what I got at the moment. I really look forward to getting the re-issue.
Allmusic:
Two Sides was Gene Clark’s last solo album for a major label. Signed to RSO Records shortly after his wildly experimental (and occasionally engaging) 1974 Elektra album, No Other, which is often cited as his masterpiece, Clark and producer Thomas Jefferson Kaye released this. Two Sides is a much lower-key affair, and it succeeds on many more levels than the more heralded No Other. Clark’s explorations into country music are much more at home on this album, as tracks such as “Mary Lou” and “Kansas City Southern” demonstrate. Oddly, one of the highlights of this record is a non-Clark composition, the traditional “In the Pines,” which showcases Clark’s brilliant (and underrated) vocal ability. The following year would see Clark team up with ex-Byrd mates Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman on the forgettable McGuinn, Clark & Hillman project. Two Sides shows Clark in full command of his awesome gifts. Essential for Gene Clark enthusiasts.– Matthew Greenwald
Two Sides To Every Story came out in January 1977 (exact date ?), and for the most part offered more characteristic Gene Clark country-rock. The ballads are the highlights on the records, especially “Give my love to Marie”, “Hear the wind” and the last two songs on the album are outstandig.
Track listing
Give My Love to Marie:
The Critics then didn’t fare well with the album, they were , as always, extremeley negative towards Gene Clark. This didn’t help with his self esteem, and the terrible review in Rolling Stone must have felt like the last nail in the coffin of his career. He never released an album on a major label after this.
Rolling Stone Magazine:
To those who admire Gene Clark, Two Sides to Every Story is a heartbreaker—in the worst way. (“Is this the dullest album ever made?” was my original opening sentence. “Probably” would have been the second.) Lugubrious to the point of laughableness, the once-classy Clark creeps through a series of Gibranian ballads that is so Antonioni-slow the songs actually seem to stop. Dead. Like this. Bereft of either interest or ideas, this plodding work can only be described as California-liturgidical.Interlarded among the endlessness are some lame bluegrass (“Home Run King,” “In the Pines”), listless rock & roll (“Marylou”) and the worst train song ever (“Kansas City Southern”). Producer Thomas Jefferson Kaye is a great help, offering an interminable supply of nothing but the moldiest clichés.
This is terribly unjust and a review that is not possible to understand when listening to the album. This is an undiscovered treasure, a record that sometimes even surpasses No Other, his masterpiece.
Uncut Magazine:
Even with the chaos and missteps, this is a record that overcomes its flaws, offering moments of hard-won beauty and open-hearted grandeur from an artist fighting for his career.
Sister Moon (audio) with Emmylou Harris:
Featured guest musicians include Emmylou Harris, Byron Berline, Doug Dillard and Al Perkins. Like most of Clark’s albums, it failed to get far on the charts.
Album highlight, Hear The Wind:
– Hallgeir
Harold Eugene “Gene” Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the founding members of the folk-rock group The Byrds. He did write some of The Byrds’ best songs, among them: “Feel A Whole Lot Better”, “Here Without You” and “Set You Free This Time”.
Backstage Pass 1979 with Chris Hillmann and Roger McGuinn, taken from the album, McGuinn, Clark & Hillman:
Gene Clark will always be remembered for his two years as a vocalist with the Byrds between 1964 and 1966 (+ a brief period in 1967 and one in 1973). A fine legacy to be sure, but he did so much more and it’s a shame that Clark’s work outside The Byrds is not more known ; he was a superb songwriter, one of the founding fathers of country-rock, and recorded a number of fine albums (with an impressive array of collaborators) whose quality far outstripped their modest sales figures. So enough about the Byrds, that’s another story.
Here’s the song Gypsy Rider from the album, So Rebellious a Lover (1986) with Carla Olson:
Continue reading Today: Gene Clark was born 17 November in 1944