| Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Gene Clark |
| Cover: | Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers.jpeg |
| Recorded: | August–November 1966[1] |
| Genre: | Folk rock, country rock |
| Length: | 28:15 |
| Label: | Columbia (US) CBS (UK) |
| Producer: | Larry Marks, Gary Usher |
| Next Title: | The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark |
| Next Year: | 1968 |
Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers is the debut solo album by the American singer-songwriter Gene Clark. Released in January1967 on Columbia Records, the album was his first effort after his departure from the folk-rock group the Byrds in 1966. The music is a unique mixture of pop, country rock and baroque psychedelic tracks, which received favorable reviews and reinforced Clark's stature as a talented singer-songwriter. Unfortunately for Clark, it was released almost simultaneously with the Byrds' Younger Than Yesterday, also on Columbia, and partly because of his 18-month absence from public attention was a commercial failure.[2]
Musicians on the album include: former bandmates Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke; Wrecking Crew session musicians Glen Campbell, Jerry Cole, Jim Gordon, 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.
The album was first reissued in the US in 1972, omitting "Elevator Operator" and with re-recorded vocals and remixed backing tracks designed to "soften" the sound, under the title Collector's Series: Early LA Sessions.
The album's first compact disc reissue appeared in 1988 on the Edsel Records label (UK), using the original 1966 stereo mix.[3] Two years later, CBS Special Products (US) elected to use the original mono master for their CD reissue, which added a previously-unreleased alternate mono mix of "Tried So Hard" as a bonus track.[4]
A repackage on the Columbia/Legacy imprint in 1991 was titled Echoes, and was (mostly) remixed, though closer to the sound of the original album than the 1972 Collector's Series: Early LA Sessions – the most significant changes were the removal of vocal double-tracking and some extended song endings. Echoes altered the original album running order, added "The French Girl" (an Ian and Sylvia cover), "Only Colombe," an acoustic demo of "So You Say You Lost Your Baby," and several Clark-penned songs from early Byrds recordings (also remixed).
Both the 1997 reissue on Edsel Records and the 2007 reissue on Sundazed Records (produced by Bob Irwin) restored the original album mix and track order, with the latter including a number of alternate takes from the album sessions.
A 2014 CD from Sony Music Japan included the original 1966 mono mix, the 1972 Collector's Series: Early LA Sessions remix, and eleven mono and stereo bonus tracks – a total of thirty-two tracks.[5]
All tracks by Gene Clark, except where noted.
"...sessions for [Gene Clark's] own album [began] in lateAugust [1966].... [They] stretch into October and November..."