The album opens with several solo recordings from 1964, beginning with “The Way I Am,” in which Gene Clark sings, “The kind of man you think that I should be/That kind of man, my dear, that’s just not me.” This is the period just after Gene Clark left The New Christy Minstrels, and the song has a good folk feel, with just vocals and guitar. You can hear that sort of traditional folk approach especially in the vocal performance. He adds a bit of whistling to the beginning of “I’d Feel Better,” a song title that reminds us of his Byrds song “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better.” Yet, here he sings, “But I’d feel better, so much better, if you could be by me/To hold me tenderly.” Yes, quite a bit different from the lyrics to the Byrds song.
“That Girl” has a much more somber feel, a darker tone, as he, alone, thinks about someone who has left him. “Why did she go away and leave me alone/Sitting here staring at an empty room/Wondering where she’s at somewhere in this gloom/I wish this loneliness would please let me be/And stop her memory from haunting me.” That’s followed by “A Worried Heart,” which features a rather beautiful vocal performance. “In your voice I hear the warmth of someone true/But it’s now that I must say that I cannot stay with you/For with someone once before I felt this too.” This is one of my personal favorites. Check out these lines: “A river flows its own way to the sea/And the wind has not a mind, but still it’s free/And it’s with this thought I leave you/And a kiss upon your brow/‘Cause you’re so much like the one I’m missing now.” Yes, even in this early session he demonstrated what a talent he had for songwriting. And in “If There’s No Love,” he sings “I know that your touch is gentle and warm/And you’d never mean to do any harm/But if there’s no love in the things that you say/It won’t last long anyway.” These five songs were all written by Gene Clark, and produced by Jim Dickson.
The next two tracks are from 1967, after Gene Clark had left The Byrds. These are full-band tracks, with horns by Hugh Masekela, and Gene’s vocal approach is quite a bit different. There is a certain Bob Dylan influence heard in his delivery of “Back Street Mirror” and in some of the phrasing, particularly in lines like “Introduced to a butcher disguised in socialized relations/By the duchess of sleuth who kept her booth selling famed quotations.” (I listened several times, and am still not sure if he is singing “famed” or “feigned.” But the liner notes have it as “famed.”) “Don’t Let It Fall Through” is a lively and fun number featuring some good stuff from the horns and some nice touches on guitar. “And believing is the way to the answers you already knew/Well, I’m gonna give you everything, all the love I have/‘Cause you know that I need it too.” Gene Clark wrote both of these songs.
Then the disc jumps ahead another few years to 1970 for a set of solo recordings, beginning with “Back To The Earth Again.” There were several songs about getting back to nature around that time. Gene Clark himself had left Los Angeles for northern California. This song has a hopeful tone, even as he sings “But have you ever seen a manufactured flower that really blooms?” That’s followed by “The Lighthouse,” another of the disc’s highlights. “And that the sun would keep on shining/And we need never see the storm/Until the day that I didn’t see her/There was no day or any time that didn’t feel warm.” The word warm (or warmth) shows up in several of these acoustic solo performances. Here he sings of the end of the relationship. “If I ever do forget her/It will be the day this life chooses to release me.” Each of these songs has lines and phrases that stand out. In “The Awakening Within,” two lines that stand out are “For it’s the second moon since you have said that you would be leaving/Another rising you will murmur words you should be believing.” I love that play on “be leaving” and “believing.” There is some sense of urgency in his delivery here. “Sweet Adrienne” features another excellent vocal performance. There is an intimate feel to this one. “You say that love has only let you down/And that the words you hear are either truth or lies.” Then later in the song he sings, “And that you know now that man’s truth is in his lies/And so you sympathize.” Wow.
In “Walking Through This Lifetime,” Gene Clark sings “Wondering if freedom is reality/Or is today just passing by the way/Will another lifetime be free from pain/Or is this how it’s meant to stay?” I suppose people have asked that throughout the years, which means the answer is not the one we want. And check out these lines: “Sometimes I think there’s nothing but believing/Then there’s someone gentle/That makes you feel forever/And then they tell you that they’re leaving/And we speak of times and places we have been/I wonder if there’s ever been an ever.” That’s followed by “The Sparrow,” a gentle and pretty number. “Then there’s the sparrow who still can sing/Even when everything else is wrong.” The last of this group of solo recordings is “Only Yesterday’s Gone.” “Now we’re standing apart/Knowing not where to start/With yourself trying to explain/You remain here in my heart.” All the songs in this section were written by Gene Clark. The next song, “She Darked The Sun,” is also from 1970, but with a full band. And that band is The Flying Burrito Brothers. So, yes, it’s a Byrds members reunion of sorts, with Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, Gram Parsons and Michael Clarke all playing on this track. And it has a certain Byrds flavor. It’s a great song, written by Gene Clark and Bernie Leadon, and originally included on the Dillard & Clark album The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard & Clark, released in 1968. Bernie Leadon is on electric guitar and backing vocals, and Sneaky Pete Kleinow is on pedal steel.
The next group of songs comes from 1972, featuring a full band. Some of the Flying Burrito Brothers play on these tracks too, including Sneaky Pete Kleinow on pedal steel, Chris Ethridge on bass, and Michael Clarke on drums. Also playing on these tracks are Clarence White on guitar, Eric White Sr. on harmonica, Spooner Oldham on piano, and Byron Berline on fiddle, with Claudia Lennear, Merry Clayton, Roger McGuinn and Rick Clark on backing vocals. These songs begin with a cover of “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” different from many of the versions I’ve heard. This is a slow, moving rendition. That’s followed by “She Don’t Care About Time,” this one written by Gene Clark and originally recorded by The Byrds and released on a single. This rendition features nice work on pedal steel and some good backing vocal work. At the beginning of Gene Clark’s rendition of “Don’t That Road Look Rough And Rocky,” his vocals are supported by piano. Then the strings come in. This is a beautiful rendition. “But before the morning, darling, we’ll be many miles apart/Can’t you hear the night birds crying/Far across the raging sea/Can’t you hear my heart pounding/When she’s lying close to me.” Halfway through, there is a nice harmonica part. The last of these tracks from 1972 is “Bars Have Made A Prisoner Out Of Me,” a country number written by Spooner Oldham, Freddy Weller and Michael Hardin, and included on Freddy Weller’s 1972 album The Roadmaster. “But I would beg, steal or borrow/To be in her arms tomorrow.”
The final group of songs comes from 1982, the storied NyteFlyte session, which found Gene Clark reunited with Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke of The Byrds, along with Herb Pedersen and Al Perkins. Quite a band, right? It’s a shame this project was abandoned. But it’s great to have these five tracks, beginning with, interestingly, “One Hundred Years From Now,” a song written by Gram Parsons and recorded by The Byrds for the Sweetheart Of The Rodeo album. “One hundred years from this day/Will the people still feel this way/Still say things that they’re saying right now.” At one moment early on, do the harmonies sound a bit like The Everly Brothers, or am I crazy? That’s followed by a fairly decent cover of The Box Tops’ “The Letter.” It’s not great, but still worth hearing. Things get better again with “Still Feeling Blue,” a song written by Gram Parsons. This track contains some excellent harmonies. That’s followed by a cover of “No Memories Hangin’ Round.” Gene Clark delivers a beautiful rendition that features yet more excellent vocal work and some wonderful stuff on pedal steel. The disc concludes with a good rendition of “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better,” a song that Gene Clark wrote, and that became one of The Byrds’ most well-known and beloved songs.
CD Track List
- The Way I Am
- I’d Feel Better
- That Girl
- A Worried Heart
- If There’s No Love
- Back Street Mirror
- Don’t Let It Fall Through
- Back To The Earth Again
- The Lighthouse
- The Awakening Within
- Sweet Adrienne
- Walking Through This Lifetime
- The Sparrow
- Only Yesterday’s Gone
- She Darked The Sun
- Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms
- She Don’t Care About Time
- Don’t That Road Look Rough And Rocky
- Bars Have Made A Prisoner Out Of Me
- One Hundred Years From Now
- The Letter
- Still Feeling Blue
- No Memories Hangin’ Round
- I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better
The Lost Studio Sessions 1964 – 1982 is scheduled to be released on CD on April 19, 2024, and on vinyl the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment