Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod the Mod finds his solo footing, headed for stardom, with the Faces in his wake.
6:00 AM GMT 22/06/2011
Features Disc of the day
Gene Clark
Flying High
(A&M, 1998)
Is this the best single-artist compilation ever?
There is a school of thought that holds the 'Best Of' artist compilation to be superior to all studio releases. In some instances, that might be an argument worth having, that here is the all killer-no filler rubric writ large. But for the most part, there comes with compilations a feeling of dissatisfaction, a sense that you are merely skimming the surface of a band or artist's oeuvre, rejecting nuance and shade in favour of a harsh, energy-saving-bulb brightness. One career compilation that refuses to conform to type is Gene Clark's Flying High. Released in 1998, this glorious collection (compiled by sometime MOJO contributor, one time Long Ryder, current Coal Porter, and friend of Gene, Sid Griffin) touches parts other anthologies cannot reach. For one, it opens out a career that, up to that point, had been shut down or closed off to many. Lest we forget, back in 1998, Clark's '70s solo work had been largely forgotten, while their composer, dead some seven years, had been written off by many as but a shy, boozy footnote in the history of The Byrds. Yet while Flying High single-handedly restored Clark's reputation and revived his back-catalogue, it also worked, as a complete listening experience. From the early Byrds tracks at the start of CD 1 to high-flying cosmic country and the lost, lonesome tracks that rounded off CD2 here was a compilation that served its purpose as a job of curation but also, thanks to Clark's skills as a songwriter and Griffin's skills as a compiler, told a rich, sad compelling story of an American visionary and storyteller, one superior in every way to that other broken Western poet, Gram Parsons. In fact, one night, some years ago in a bar called The Two Boots in New York's Lower East Side I tried drunkenly arguing that same point with Black Crowes' frontman and number one Gram Parsons fan Chris Robinson. It ended with me being sick on a tree but I think I won. Gram Parsons never wrote anything as tragically beautiful as this, and no Gram Parsons compilation could come close to the rich, dark complexities of Flying High.
Andrew Male
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 03/12/2010
Further Listening
Dillard & Clark – The Fantastic Expedition Of… (A&M, 1968)
Gene Clark – No Other (Asylum, 1974)
Gram Parsons – Grievous Angel (Reprise, 1974)
Previous Disc of the day
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Earl Brutus - Larky
Last salvo of Ginsters Pasty-Warholism from Britpop ramraiders.
12:04 PM GMT 08/06/2011
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Loudon Wainwright - T-Shirt
An overlooked small wonder from an unpredictable career.
6:00 AM GMT 03/06/2011
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Landscape - From The Tea-rooms Of Mars… To The Hell-holes Of Uranus
Dry computer club Futurists, upon hitting implausible chart paydirt.
6:00 AM GMT 17/05/2011
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Causa Sui - Summer Sessions Vol 1-3
Epic Danish jams, for when the neighbours get you down.
6:00 AM GMT 12/05/2011
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Comments
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A drunken muso argument with a Black Crow followed by tree-related illness? Sounds like a perfect night to me!
Great point regarding compilations and this one is indeed a rare exception. Although to be fair to GP, Gene did have another decade or two of music making under his belt.
Posted by Dr Ollie at 5:10 PM GMT 03/12/2010 Report Abuse
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Well said Andrew
Posted by Pat Carty at 7:29 PM GMT 03/12/2010 Report Abuse
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There is No Other than "No Other" Forget the compilation argument crap about Filler.
There is No Filler on "No Other"
Thank You and Good Night
Elvis Has Left The Building
Crankie Frisp
Somewhere in Melbourne Time.
04/12/2010
Posted by Crankie Frisp at 7:09 AM GMT 04/12/2010 Report Abuse
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Gene is good. No question. Gram is better. Will always be better. Return of the Greivous Angel tops any Gene Clark song.
Posted by captaincrowe at 12:55 PM GMT 04/12/2010 Report Abuse
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Sorry, but Flying High is more than a bit bloated compared to the magnificently potent single-disc compilation that Raven put out. Looking for a place to start with Gene, this cannot be topped. Then you'll find that you must start loading up on the albums themselves.
As for comparing him to Gram, both were pioneers in this kind of music, but it really comes down to who gets listened to the most, and the ratio around is about 20 to 1, Clark to Parsons. You might be able wrestle Gram out of my record collection, but good luck and make sure your insurance is paid up if you come around here looking for the G.C.
Posted by Rocco's Butler at 5:37 PM GMT 06/12/2010 Report Abuse
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Sorry, but Flying High is more than a bit bloated compared to the magnificently potent single-disc compilation that Raven put out. Looking for a place to start with Gene, this cannot be topped. Then you'll find that you must start loading up on the albums themselves.
As for comparing him to Gram, both were pioneers in this kind of music, but it really comes down to who gets listened to the most, and the ratio around here is about 20 to 1, Clark to Parsons. You might be able wrestle Gram out of my record collection, but good luck and make sure your insurance is paid up if you come around here looking for the G.C.
Posted by Rocco's Butler at 5:38 PM GMT 06/12/2010 Report Abuse
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well andrew, too much information. attempting to argue who is the greatest/most influential/best songwriter is no more than a moot drunken (and ultimately degrading) point. why waste your time? they were both great songsmiths & musicians, and both influential, in their own way. the tragedy is that neither are around to share their music any more. do their memories a favour - enjoy their music and lay off the substances in their honour.
Posted by vince in victoria at 10:24 PM GMT 06/12/2010 Report Abuse
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Country music that would not see the light of day on a country music stioatn. Shame.Word around the campfire is that Gram coached up Mick Jagger for some of the Stones' country-flavored songs on "Sticky Fingers", "Exile on Main Street" and "Let it Bleed".I always get asked about my t-shirt with the "Sweetheard of the Rodeo" album cover./geek alert
Posted by Venkatesh at 11:09 AM GMT 08/03/2012 Report Abuse
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Country music that would not see the light of day on a country music stioatn. Shame.Word around the campfire is that Gram coached up Mick Jagger for some of the Stones' country-flavored songs on "Sticky Fingers", "Exile on Main Street" and "Let it Bleed".I always get asked about my t-shirt with the "Sweetheard of the Rodeo" album cover./geek alert
Posted by Venkatesh at 11:09 AM GMT 08/03/2012 Report Abuse
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Country music that would not see the light of day on a country music stioatn. Shame.Word around the campfire is that Gram coached up Mick Jagger for some of the Stones' country-flavored songs on "Sticky Fingers", "Exile on Main Street" and "Let it Bleed".I always get asked about my t-shirt with the "Sweetheard of the Rodeo" album cover./geek alert
Posted by Venkatesh at 11:10 AM GMT 08/03/2012 Report Abuse
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RE: Crankie Frisp
HELLO
Posted by ME at 9:28 AM GMT 03/04/2012 Report Abuse
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