No Other
| No Other | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) |
||||
| Studio album by Gene Clark | ||||
| Released | September 1974 | |||
| Recorded | Spring 1974 at The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | Folk rock, country rock, roots rock, soul, R&B, gospel | |||
| Length | 43:01 | |||
| Label | Asylum 7E 1016 | |||
| Producer | Thomas Jefferson Kaye | |||
| Gene Clark chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  |
| Head Heritage | (positive) |
| No Depression | (positive) |
| Stylus Magazine | A |
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 were 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. Just after Clark's death in 1991, "No Other" was reissued in its entirety on CD. In 1998, a double disc compilation, Flying High, was released with three songs from No Other. Then in the early 2000s, No Other was reissued a second time in its entirety to positive critical reappraisal.
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:
Retreating to his coastal home in Mendocino, Clark began to compose songs for his new album 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 drugs, 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.
...
Wikipedia