Gene Clark: Silver Raven

Continuing my list of the Top 20 albums of 1974, coming in at #14 is No Other by Gene Clark. Clark was co-founder of The Byrds and their only consistent songwriter when the band was created. The early Byrds albums are famous for their covers, especially those written by Bob Dylan, but Clark was the member writing their original material. His compositions include two of their best early originals (“I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better” and “Eight Miles High”). He left the band in 1966 and embarked on a long, tortuous, often failed solo career that focused in bluegrass and country music. By 1974, Clark was a forgotten artist when David Geffen signed him to Asylum Records because Geffen liked his old Byrds compositions. His first release for the label was No Other. It was a commercial failure, was attacked by Geffen for being too expensive, was almost immediately dropped from the label’s catalog, and marked the beginning of the end of his recording career, with only two more albums released before his death at the age of 46 in 1991. No Other is now considered his masterpiece. It heralds the sound that was about to become internationally successful by bands such as Fleetwood Mac. The variety of sounds presented in only eight songs is amazing. It is one of a handful of albums universally hailed by modern artists who focus in Alt-Country and Roots Music. Every song on the album is great, but “Silver Raven” is the highlight. It is a beautifully crafted alt-country ballad composed decades before the term alt-country even existed. The beautiful melody, vocals, and harmonies are reminiscent of Clark’s early Byrds tunes, but the song sounds like it could have been recorded thirty years later by any of today’s alt-country artists.

To learn more about Gene Clark, read this great article from the publication Uncut.

To check out all of the old Faux Show Best of the Year Shows, visit The Year In Review Series page.

To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.

• Uncategorized