No Other

When the heavily produced No Other went absolutely nowhere commercially, the eternally stage-frightened Clark was practically forced go on tour with a minimal backing band in an effort to bring in some cash and remind the world that one of the greatest songwriters of the 60s and 70s was still crafting extraordinary songs. While the tour was hampered by Clark’s alcoholism, if Live 75 is any indication, there were many stirring moments when Clark’s beautiful tenor combined with the scaled back virtues of a 3 piece band to produce profound readings of some of the gems in the Clark songbook.

Gene Clark - Spanish Guitar [buy]

Gene Clark - Here Without You [buy]

The night these songs were recorded Clark shared the bill with Tom Waits. Here's a clip of Waits doing his drunk at the diner shtick from 1975.

Gene Clark

While still working within the boy-girl context (he had yet to absorb the Dylan school of abstract lyricism), Gene was far better equipped to express his emotions openly in lyrics than were the others in the group. “Gene was fairly mature in an emotional, romantic kind of male way that I wasn’t,” offers Roger, acknowledging Gene’s gift for penning emotionally charged love songs. “I couldn’t sincerely even sing a song like [“Here Without You”], much less write one. And Gene was like a latin lover compared to me. He was a handsome guy, very suave and cool with it. He was popular with the ladies.”
-from Mr. Tambourine Man

Gene Clark, latin lover, who knew. Maybe the key aspect to Clark’s emotional maturity as a songwriter, which colored so many of his best songs, was his vulnerability and refusal to give into resentment. An early articulation of this appears as the tinge of self-doubt in the famous “probably” in Clark’s “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better.”

The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better [buy]

On his album with the Gosdin Brothers, Clark wisely takes a long-view of the ups and downs of relationships with “Tried So Hard” and “Think I’m Gonna Feel Better.” Both songs have someone walking out on the singer, but Clark feels that not only will he get through the loss, but he’s mature enough to hope that the one leaving him will “see the sun” as well.

Gene Clark & The Gosdins - Think I'm Gonna Feel Better [buy]

Fast forward to the the Byrds last studio album and even after 8 years of walking off the plane, Clark’s “Full Circle” once again gives evidence to his being, at least in song, the emotionally mature Byrd. This time instead of the rising sun bringing emotional renewal, Clark employs the image of a spinning wheel to express the cyclical nature of love and loss -- in a way it’s Clark’s own version of “Turn! Turn! Turn!”

The Byrds - Full Circle [buy]

But for me it’s with the The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark cut “Out On The Side” that Clark, writing from what feels like a space of great pain, pens his most powerful song on the necessity for openness and refusing the easy charms of self-righteous pride.

No I'm not looking to find any holes
From what I think has been denied
That's not the feeling of love when it flows
I hope I can lose that much pride

Dillard & Clark - Out on The Side [buy]

slide that note right thar

In the midst of interwebbing to gather words about Hazel Dickens, I found Mike Seeger (younger brother to Pete) and Alice Gerrard traveling the rural roads with some gorgeous film stock to make a short film about old-time music. Tommy Jarrell teaches Gerrard a fiddle lick, Roscoe Holcomb talks about wanting to be a working-man again, and Lily May Ledford sings about biscuits - and that's just in the first 15 minutes. Take your digital self out to the backporch and catch a little Homemade American Music. There's plenty more where that came from over at Folkstreams. Here's a clip with Holcomb to whet your appetite.