Ahh, Gene Clark. Where do I begin to tell the story of how great a love can b-... Growing up, The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark seemed to be one of those records always playing in the background. Having older brothers and music-loving parents meant I grew up with a great variation of music - Berlioz, Dylan, Santana, Beach Boys, Guns'n'Roses. Although my Dad tried to be tolerant of our musical obsessions (Michael Jackson, the Ghostbusters-soundtrack), I think 'Use Your Illusion I' was the last straw and in December 1991 our Dad introduced us to Dillard & Clark.
Then a couple of years ago, after seeing Adam Green live and craving some hot banjo action and digging up our old Dillard & Clark-records yet again, my brother and I set out on a mission to find out more on Gene's solo career. We started out with 1974's No Other, and I don't know about my brother, but I was gobsmacked. How people seem to have managed to grossly overlook such a great record, will forever be a mystery to me.
It was originally released on LP with only eight tracks, which (according to John Einerson's biography Mr. Tambourine Man) Gene Clark was very unhappy with, having intended it to be released as a double LP with extra material. In the early 1990s, after Gene's untimely death, the album was released on CD with the intended extra bonus material, such as the alternate takes to several songs on the original LP.
To be honest, the alternative takes really did it for me on that album: hearing Clark experiment with reverb, backing choirs, vocals - some experiments work and some don't: the songs show exactly what makes Gene Clark such a great and influential songwriter. A melting pot of pretty much any music genre you could ever think of, great lyrics and a beautiful, beautiful voice.