White Light, aka Gene Clark, is the second solo album by Gene Clark, former member of The Byrds. It only achieved commercial success in the Netherlands, where rock critics also voted it album of the year.[1] Like all of his post-Byrds records, it did very poorly on the US charts.
In June 2018, independent reissue label Intervention Records released White Light on vinyl and as a hybrid CD/SACD.[2]
Background
Clark's backing band on the album included producer and guitarist Jesse Ed Davis, bassist Chris Ethridge of the Flying Burrito Brothers, organist Michael Utley, along with pianist Ben Sidran and drummer Gary Mallaber, both of the Steve Miller Band. Although Clark began another album for A&M, the label stopped the sessions before that album was completed. Those tracks were available in the Netherlands on Clark's 1973 album Roadmaster, which was not released in the United States until 1994.[1]
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
Music critic Thom Jurek, writing for AllMusic, wrote the album "has established itself as one of the greatest singer/songwriter albums ever made... Using melodies mutated out of country, and revealing that he was the original poet and architect of the Byrds' sound on White Light, Clark created a wide open set of tracks that are at once full of space, a rugged gentility, and are harrowingly intimate in places. His reading of Bob Dylan's "Tears of Rage", towards the end of the record rivals, if not eclipses, the Band's. Less wrecked and ravaged, Clark's song is more a bewildered tome of resignation to a present and future in the abyss. Now this is classic rock."[3]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Gene Clark, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Virgin" | 3:40 | |
| 2. | "With Tomorrow" | Clark, Jesse Ed Davis | 2:27 |
| 3. | "White Light" | 3:41 | |
| 4. | "Because of You" | 4:06 | |
| 5. | "One in a Hundred" | 3:36 | |
| 6. | "For a Spanish Guitar" | 5:00 | |
| 7. | "Where My Love Lies Asleep" | 4:23 | |
| 8. | "Tears of Rage" | Bob Dylan, Richard Manuel | 4:15 |
| 9. | "1975" | 3:49 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Because of You" (alternate mix) | 4:04 | |
| 11. | "Stand by Me" | Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller | 2:43 |
| 12. | "Ship of the Lord" | 2:32 | |
| 13. | "Opening Day" | 4:00 | |
| 14. | "Winter In" | 3:17 |
Personnel
- Musicians
- Gene Clark – vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica
- Jesse Ed Davis – electric guitar, bottleneck guitar
- John Selk – acoustic guitar
- Chris Ethridge – bass
- Gary Mallaber – drums
- Mike Utley – organ
- Ben Sidran – piano
- Bobbye Hall – congas, percussion
- Production
- Jesse Ed Davis – producer, mixing
- Joe Zagarino – engineer
- Baker Bigsby – assistant engineer
References
- ^ a b Robertson, Ray (2016). Lives of the Poets (with Guitars). Biblioasis. ISBN 9781771960731.
- ^ "White Light CD/SACD (Pre-Order) – Intervention Records". www.interventionrecords.com. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
- ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "White Light > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved January 10, 2017.