No Other
Encyclopedia
No Other is the fourth solo studio album
by Gene Clark
. On release in late 1974 it was a critical and commercial failure; the studio time and cost being seen as excessive and indulgent. The record label, Asylum Records
, did not promote the album, and by 1976 had deleted it from their catalog. Clark never recovered from the failure of the album.
A few years after Clark's death in 1991, a double disc compilation, "Flying High", was released with three songs from No Other. Then in the early 2000s, No Other was finally reissued in its entirety to positive critical reappraisal.
. The resulting album
was a showcase for Clark, who sang on two Neil Young
covers and two original songs. By the strength of his contributions to the album, Clark was signed to Asylum as a solo artist by David Geffen
.
While preparing to record, Clark briefly joined the backing group of former Byrds colleague Roger McGuinn
; the two even shared a home together during the period in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean. During an engagement at The Troubadour in Los Angeles with McGuinn, he introduced a song that would remain in his repertoire for the rest of his career, "Silver Raven"; it would be recorded in an arrangement featuring Jesse Ed Davis
and L.A. session player Danny Kortchmar
on No Other. Of the song's composition, Clark said in a 1976 interview:
, Clark began to compose songs for his new album, "analyzing the material" for over a year. According to Clark:
Contrary to rumors that many of the album's songs were conceived under the influence of mescaline
and other illicit chemicals, Clark's wife Carlie stated in Mr. Tambourine Man: The Story Of the Byrds' Gene Clark that he was sober throughout the Mendocino years and was disinclined to experiment for the sake of his children. Living up to the "hillbilly Shakespeare" moniker accorded him by later band mate John York
, the weighty and ponderous nature of most of his lyrics from the period were drawn from his Christian upbringing and discussions regarding Carlos Castaneda
, Theosophy
and Zen
with his wife and friends like David Carradine
and Dennis Hopper
.
Entering the studio in April 1974, Clark was paired with producer Thomas Jefferson Kaye
, who subsequently would become a dependable collaborator of the singer for the next fifteen years. This was a foreboding sign for the label, as Kaye had accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in cost overruns on Bob Neuwirth
's solo debut, which subsequently failed to dent the charts. Most sessions were conducted in Los Angeles and featured the cream of the era's session musicians: Korchmar, keyboardist Craig Doerge
, bassist Leland Sklar
, and drummer Russ Kunkel
, aka 'The Section;' percussionist Joe Lala
, Butch Trucks of the Allman Brothers Band, Jesse Ed Davis, backup vocalists Clydie King
, Claudia Lennear
, & Venetta Fields
, and former Byrd Hillman. The plaintive country-folk sounds of White Light
and Roadmaster
were replaced by intricate vocal harmonies and heavily overdubbed, atypical arrangements in Kaye's "answer to Brian Wilson
and Phil Spector
as a producer". However, there was a pronounced R&B/funk
feel to the title track, which has often been attributed to the presence of Sly Stone
at some of the sessions. According to John Einarson's Mr. Tambourine Man, all of the assembled musicians were impressed by Clark's perfectionism and genial, humble attitude.
Initially, Carlie Clark and the children temporarily relocated with him to Los Angeles, in the hope that the family routine of Mendocino could be preserved. However, it was not long before Clark reacquainted himself with L.A.'s party circuit and the latest fashionable drug - cocaine
. After his disgusted wife moved the family back to Northern California, Clark established house with old friend and band mate Doug Dillard in the Hollywood Hills; "Lady of the North", a song for Carlie and also the album's closer, was written by the twosome in a cocaine haze, their final collaboration on a song.
For years rumors circulated that only half of an intended double album had been recorded, with Geffen baulking at the excessive cost and eventually pulling out. This was corroborated by Clark in a 1976 interview. According to Kaye in Mr. Tambourine Man, 13 or 14 songs had been demoed with acoustic guitar at early sessions but only nine were recorded with a full band. "Train Leaves Here This Morning", a rerecording of a song first released on The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark
, was omitted from the final album.
Released in September 1974, No Other reached a disappointing peak of #144 on the charts without any active promotion from the label. It was also commercial failure; the studio time and cost being seen as excessive and indulgent. Further confounding matters was the album's artwork: the front cover was a collage inspired by 1920s Hollywood glamour, while the back featured a photo of the singer with permed hair and clad in full drag, frolicking at the former estate of John Barrymore
. A rare fall tour staged by the singer could not salvage the endeavour, and demos for a new album—reportedly a fusion of country rock with R&B, funk
, and early disco
stylings—were promptly rejected by Asylum. (By 1976 No Other had been deleted).
In later years, Clark remained disappointed with the lack of success achieved by No Other, which he deemed to be his masterpiece in several interviews.
By the late 1990s, perhaps indirectly because of his death, interest in Clark's catalog had grown to the point where three songs from No Other were included on the double disc compilation entitled "Flying High". In the early 2000s, No Other was finally reissued in its entirety. A 2003 European reissue included "Train Leaves Here This Morning" and several alternate, semi-acoustic renditions while a skeletal version lacking the bonus tracks but containing restored packaging and new liner notes appeared in the United States on Collector's Choice Music.
(bonus tracks on the 2003 release:)
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by 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....
. On release in late 1974 it was a critical and commercial failure; the studio time and cost being seen as excessive and indulgent. The record label, Asylum Records
Asylum Records
Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell...
, did not promote the album, and by 1976 had deleted it from their catalog. Clark never recovered from the failure of the album.
A few years after Clark's death in 1991, a double disc compilation, "Flying High", was released with three songs from No Other. Then in the early 2000s, No Other was finally reissued in its entirety to positive critical reappraisal.
Background
In late 1972, Clark was invited to join a reunion of the original Byrds line-up on Asylum RecordsAsylum Records
Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell...
. The resulting album
Byrds (album)
Byrds is the twelfth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in March 1973 on Asylum Records . It was recorded as the centerpiece of a reunion between the five original members of The Byrds: Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke...
was a showcase for Clark, who sang on two Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
covers and two original songs. By the strength of his contributions to the album, Clark was signed to Asylum as a solo artist by David Geffen
David Geffen
David Geffen is an American record executive, film producer, theatrical producer and philanthropist. Geffen is noted for creating Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, and DGC Records in 1990...
.
While preparing to record, Clark briefly joined the backing group of former Byrds colleague Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
; the two even shared a home together during the period in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean. During an engagement at The Troubadour in Los Angeles with McGuinn, he introduced a song that would remain in his repertoire for the rest of his career, "Silver Raven"; it would be recorded in an arrangement featuring Jesse Ed Davis
Jesse Ed Davis
Jesse Edwin Davis was an American guitarist. He was well regarded as a session artist. His death in 1988 is attributed to a drug overdose.-Biography:...
and L.A. session player Danny Kortchmar
Danny Kortchmar
Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar is a guitarist, session musician, and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as David Crosby, Carole King, Graham Nash, Carly Simon and James Taylor helped define the signature sound of the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s...
on No Other. Of the song's composition, Clark said in a 1976 interview:
Production
Retreating to his coastal home in MendocinoMendocino
Mendocino may mean:* Mendocino County, California, USA* Mendocino, California, a town in Mendocino County* Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, California* Mendocino Brewing Company, a brewery and brewpub located in the county of the same name...
, Clark began to compose songs for his new album, "analyzing the material" for over a year. According to Clark:
Contrary to rumors that many of the album's songs were conceived under the influence of mescaline
Mescaline
Mescaline or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class used mainly as an entheogen....
and other illicit chemicals, Clark's wife Carlie stated in Mr. Tambourine Man: The Story Of the Byrds' Gene Clark that he was sober throughout the Mendocino years and was disinclined to experiment for the sake of his children. Living up to the "hillbilly Shakespeare" moniker accorded him by later band mate John York
John York (musician)
John Foley York is an American bassist and guitarist, born in White Plains, New York on August 3, 1946. He is best known for his work with The Byrds, who he joined in September 1968 as a replacement for the band's original bass player Chris Hillman. He remained with the group until September...
, the weighty and ponderous nature of most of his lyrics from the period were drawn from his Christian upbringing and discussions regarding Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda was a Peruvian-born American anthropologist and author....
, Theosophy
Theosophy
Theosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
and Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
with his wife and friends like David Carradine
David Carradine
David Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...
and Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
.
Entering the studio in April 1974, Clark was paired with producer Thomas Jefferson Kaye
Thomas Jefferson Kaye
Thomas Jefferson Kaye was an American record producer, singer-songwriter and musician...
, who subsequently would become a dependable collaborator of the singer for the next fifteen years. This was a foreboding sign for the label, as Kaye had accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in cost overruns on Bob Neuwirth
Bob Neuwirth
Bob Neuwirth is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and visual artist. A mainstay of the early 1960s Cambridge, Massachusetts, folk scene, he subsequently became a friend and associate of Bob Dylan alongside whom he appears in D.A...
's solo debut, which subsequently failed to dent the charts. Most sessions were conducted in Los Angeles and featured the cream of the era's session musicians: Korchmar, keyboardist Craig Doerge
Craig Doerge
Craig Doerge is an American keyboard player, songwriter and session musician.He began playing in a college band at Hartford, Connecticut, and then moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s to work as a studio player and songwriter with A&M Records, and with Jim Keltner and others playing on cartoon...
, bassist Leland Sklar
Leland Sklar
Leland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
, and drummer Russ Kunkel
Russ Kunkel
Russell Kunkel , also known as Russ Kunkel, is an American drummer and producer who has worked as a session musician with a number of well-known artists.Kunkel was born in Pittsburgh, PA...
, aka 'The Section;' percussionist Joe Lala
Joe Lala
Joe Lala is an actor and voice actor, notable for his dubbing of Kun Lan of the video-game Killer7.He also played drums and percussion on 32 gold and 28 platinum albums. His credits include Blues Image, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Manassas, The Bee Gees, Whitney Houston, and many...
, Butch Trucks of the Allman Brothers Band, Jesse Ed Davis, backup vocalists Clydie King
Clydie King
Clydie Crittendon is an American singer, best known for her session work as a backing vocalist....
, Claudia Lennear
Claudia Lennear
Claudia Lennear is an American soul singer who has worked with many acts including Ike and Tina Turner, Humble Pie and Joe Cocker. She recorded a solo album entitled Phew! in 1973.She was part of a trio of backup singers for Delaney and Bonnie, that also included Rita Coolidge...
, & Venetta Fields
Venetta Fields
Venetta Fields is an American singer best known as session musician for leading rock and pop acts of the 1970s including Pink Floyd, Barbra Streisand, Steely Dan and the Rolling Stones...
, and former Byrd Hillman. The plaintive country-folk sounds of White Light
White Light (Gene Clark album)
White Light, aka Gene Clark, is the second solo album by Gene Clark, former member of The Byrds. It received universal critical acclaim upon its release, but only achieved commercial success in the Netherlands, where rock critics also voted it album of the year...
and Roadmaster
Roadmaster (album)
Roadmaster is a country rock album by Gene Clark from 1973. The album was compiled from various unreleased recordings for A&M Records made in 1970 through 1972, eight tracks yielded from an April 1972 recording session featuring Clarence White, Spooner Oldham, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Byron Berline and...
were replaced by intricate vocal harmonies and heavily overdubbed, atypical arrangements in Kaye's "answer to Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
and Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
as a producer". However, there was a pronounced R&B/funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
feel to the title track, which has often been attributed to the presence of Sly Stone
Sly Stone
Sly Stone is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of...
at some of the sessions. According to John Einarson's Mr. Tambourine Man, all of the assembled musicians were impressed by Clark's perfectionism and genial, humble attitude.
Initially, Carlie Clark and the children temporarily relocated with him to Los Angeles, in the hope that the family routine of Mendocino could be preserved. However, it was not long before Clark reacquainted himself with L.A.'s party circuit and the latest fashionable drug - cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. After his disgusted wife moved the family back to Northern California, Clark established house with old friend and band mate Doug Dillard in the Hollywood Hills; "Lady of the North", a song for Carlie and also the album's closer, was written by the twosome in a cocaine haze, their final collaboration on a song.
For years rumors circulated that only half of an intended double album had been recorded, with Geffen baulking at the excessive cost and eventually pulling out. This was corroborated by Clark in a 1976 interview. According to Kaye in Mr. Tambourine Man, 13 or 14 songs had been demoed with acoustic guitar at early sessions but only nine were recorded with a full band. "Train Leaves Here This Morning", a rerecording of a song first released on The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark
The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark
The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark is a country rock album by Dillard & Clark. The album was recorded in 1968, shortly after Clark departed The Byrds for the second time, and Dillard left The Dillards...
, was omitted from the final album.
Release
No Other was delivered to Asylum Records in the tumultuous summer of 1974. As recording costs had ballooned to over $100,000, a considerable investment in a performer who had seen his last Top 40 hit in 1966, Geffen was dismayed by the dearth of potential hits and the uncommercial nature of the material.Released in September 1974, No Other reached a disappointing peak of #144 on the charts without any active promotion from the label. It was also commercial failure; the studio time and cost being seen as excessive and indulgent. Further confounding matters was the album's artwork: the front cover was a collage inspired by 1920s Hollywood glamour, while the back featured a photo of the singer with permed hair and clad in full drag, frolicking at the former estate of John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
. A rare fall tour staged by the singer could not salvage the endeavour, and demos for a new album—reportedly a fusion of country rock with R&B, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, and early disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
stylings—were promptly rejected by Asylum. (By 1976 No Other had been deleted).
In later years, Clark remained disappointed with the lack of success achieved by No Other, which he deemed to be his masterpiece in several interviews.
By the late 1990s, perhaps indirectly because of his death, interest in Clark's catalog had grown to the point where three songs from No Other were included on the double disc compilation entitled "Flying High". In the early 2000s, No Other was finally reissued in its entirety. A 2003 European reissue included "Train Leaves Here This Morning" and several alternate, semi-acoustic renditions while a skeletal version lacking the bonus tracks but containing restored packaging and new liner notes appeared in the United States on Collector's Choice Music.
Track listing
All tracks composed by Gene Clark; except where indicated- "Life's Greatest Fool" – 4:44
- "Silver Raven" – 4:53
- "No Other" – 5:08
- "Strength of Strings" – 6:31
- "From a Silver Phial" – 3:40
- "Some Misunderstanding" – 8:09
- "The True One" – 3:58
- "Lady of the North" (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...
, Clark) – 6:04
(bonus tracks on the 2003 release:)
- "Train Leaves Here This Morning" (Bernie LeadonBernie LeadonBernard Mathew "Bernie" Leadon, III is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member of two pioneering and highly influential country rock bands, Dillard & Clark and the Flying Burrito Brothers...
, Clark) - 4:59 - "Life's Greatest Fool" (alternate version) - 4:16
- "Silver Raven" (alternate version) - 3:06
- "No Other" (alternate version) - 5:35
- "From a Silver Phial" (alternate version) - 3:42
- "Some Misunderstanding" (alternate version) - 5:17
- "Lady of the North" (alternate version) (Doug Dillard, Clark) - 5:54
Personnel
- Gene Clark - guitar, vocals
- 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....
- mandolin - Jesse Ed DavisJesse Ed DavisJesse Edwin Davis was an American guitarist. He was well regarded as a session artist. His death in 1988 is attributed to a drug overdose.-Biography:...
- guitar - Stephen BrutonStephen Bruton-Background:Born in Wilmington, Delaware as Turner Stephen Bruton, he moved with his family to Texas at the age of two. He fell into the Fort Worth music scene after graduating from Texas Christian University when he joined Kris Kristofferson's band as the latter's career was about to take off;...
- guitar - Bill Cuomo - organ
- Craig DoergeCraig DoergeCraig Doerge is an American keyboard player, songwriter and session musician.He began playing in a college band at Hartford, Connecticut, and then moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s to work as a studio player and songwriter with A&M Records, and with Jim Keltner and others playing on cartoon...
- keyboards - Howard "Buzz" FeitenBuzz FeitenHoward "Buzz" Feiten is a North American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and session musician.He is best known as a lead and rhythm electric guitarist, and for having patented a unique, scientifically designed tuning system which re-configures its stringboard / neck for more accurate tonality...
- guitar - Danny KortchmarDanny KortchmarDanny "Kootch" Kortchmar is a guitarist, session musician, and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as David Crosby, Carole King, Graham Nash, Carly Simon and James Taylor helped define the signature sound of the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s...
- guitar - Russ KunkelRuss KunkelRussell Kunkel , also known as Russ Kunkel, is an American drummer and producer who has worked as a session musician with a number of well-known artists.Kunkel was born in Pittsburgh, PA...
- drums - Joe LalaJoe LalaJoe Lala is an actor and voice actor, notable for his dubbing of Kun Lan of the video-game Killer7.He also played drums and percussion on 32 gold and 28 platinum albums. His credits include Blues Image, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Manassas, The Bee Gees, Whitney Houston, and many...
- percussion - Ted Machell - cello
- Jerry McGee - guitar
- Lee Sklar - bass
- Butch Trucks - drums
- Michael UtleyMichael UtleyMichael Utley, often credited as Mike Utley, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer for Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. He is the musical director of the band...
- keyboards - Richard Greene, Beryl Marriott - violin
- Sherlie Matthews, Cindy Bullens, Ronnie Barron, Clydie KingClydie KingClydie Crittendon is an American singer, best known for her session work as a backing vocalist....
, Claudia LennearClaudia LennearClaudia Lennear is an American soul singer who has worked with many acts including Ike and Tina Turner, Humble Pie and Joe Cocker. She recorded a solo album entitled Phew! in 1973.She was part of a trio of backup singers for Delaney and Bonnie, that also included Rita Coolidge...
, Venetta FieldsVenetta FieldsVenetta Fields is an American singer best known as session musician for leading rock and pop acts of the 1970s including Pink Floyd, Barbra Streisand, Steely Dan and the Rolling Stones...
, Timothy B. SchmitTimothy B. SchmitTimothy Bruce Schmit is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his work as bass guitar player and singer for Poco and the Eagles. Schmit has also worked for decades as a session musician and solo artist.-Early career:Raised in Sacramento, Schmit began playing in the folk music group...
, Carlena Williams - background vocals