Gene Clark - No Other (1974)

“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
In late 1972, Clark was invited to join a reunion of the original Byrds line-up on Asylum Records. 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:
There are no edges on “No Other”, even in its rockier tracks such as "Strength of Strings," which echoes Neil Young's "Cowgirl in the Sand" melodically, but its bridge is pure mystic Eastern harmony, complete with slide guitar wizardry. The shimmering dark textures of "Silver Raven," where Clark's falsetto vocal is kissed by synth and muted basslines and extended by a chorus that could have come off CSNY's Déjà Vu, is one of the most heartbreakingly blissed-out country-folk songs in recorded music history.
 "From a Silver Phial," as haunting and beautiful as it is, is one of the strangest songs Clark ever wrote, given its anti-drug references (especially considering this is one of the more coked-out records to come from L.A. during the era). The final two cuts, "The True One" and "Lady of the North" (co-written with Doug Dillard), are the only two pieces on the disc that mirror back with accuracy where Clark had come from, but even these, as they wind around the listener, are far bigger than mere country-rock tunes, and they offer glissando passages of pedal steel and ostinato piano that create narrative movement in the lyrics.

Track listing

01. "Life's Greatest Fool"   (Gene Clark)  - 4:44
02. "Silver Raven"   (Gene Clark)  - 4:53
03. "No Other"   (Gene Clark)  - 5:08
04. "Strength of Strings"   (Gene Clark)  - 6:31
05. "From a Silver Phial"   (Gene Clark)  - 3:40
06. "Some Misunderstanding"   (Gene Clark)  - 8:09
07. "The True One"   (Gene Clark)  - 3:58
08. "Lady of the North"   (Gene Clark, Doug Dillard)  - 6:04

Credits
Gene Clark - guitar, vocals
Chris Hillman - mandolin
Jesse Ed Davis - guitar
Stephen Bruton - guitar
Bill Cuomo - organ
Craig Doerge - keyboards
Howard "Buzz" Feiten - guitar
Danny Kortchmar - guitar
Russ Kunkel - drums
Joe Lala - percussion
Ted Machell - cello
Jerry McGee - guitar
Lee Sklar - bass
Butch Trucks - drums
Michael Utley - keyboards
Richard Greene, Beryl Marriott - violin
Sherlie Matthews, Cindy Bullens, Ronnie Barron, Clydie King, Claudia Lennear, Venetta Fields, Timothy B. Schmit, Carlena Williams - background vocals
Producer - Thomas Jefferson Kaye

Notes
Recorded at Spring 1974 at The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles
Genre: Psychedelic rock, Folk rock, Country rock
Length: 43:01
Label: Asylum Records

© 1974