Tipton, Missouri's favorite son is covered once more...

It's been a good while that One Buck Records has gone without a sighting of anything Gene Clark-related and that state of affairs has been going on long enough, you hear me young man middle-aged dude? Oh, sorry, the voices in my head have spilled on the page again. Yes, long time no Geno, or friends and fans of Geno as it were. We've Got You Covered goes on, and we're up to Volume Four of our Gene Clark part of the series. And honestly, that is a bit of a surprise in itself, because for a man with such an outstandingly strong songbook, Clark doesn't have many high-profile covers attached to his name. This gets even worse once we take off Byrds material, which is naturally what most of the bigger names flocked to (we see you, Tom Petty). But even if we take musicians of any kind, level of fame or walk of life, there just isn't much there, and wht there is, will inevitably end up here, in this series, on this blog. 

Part of this is of course my own blind spot concerning one of my favorite artists. Clark is so well-represented on this blog, that I sometimes forget how small of a cultural imprint the man really left. Even the Genaissance of the early 2010s didn't make him into a real household name. Sure, the No Other Band tour and the No Other album re-issue on 4AD brought on some people, but the cult stays small. 

Which of course means that I am really digging, and digging hard, to find material for this series. The good news is, that for this fourth volume, I have found another batch of top material, with the usual mix of known and little-to-unknown performers. The big names on this volume are probably Richard Thompson (who already featured on Vol. 3 with Fairport Convention), the Flamin' Groovies with their take on "She Don't Care About Time " - also the kick-ass opener here - and Pure Prairie League, whose fine take on "She Darked The Sun" somehow never made an album in the early 70s. Oh, and there's Paul Weller, as guest singer with Death In Vegas, covering "So You Say You Lost Your Baby", a song I found years ago when fishing Death In Vegas' album out of a bargain bin, for, indeed a buck, I believe. 

Mid-tier acts which again are really known in One Buck Land but not everwhere else include the late, great Neal Casal with "With Tomorrow" from his cover record Return In Kind, and of course loyal-way-beyond-the-grave comrade Carla Olson, who is supported on her cover of "After The Storm" by *checks notes* 80's Brat Pack actress Mare Winningham?! O.k., why not. Brother Rick also shows up again, with a lovely rendering of the heartbreaking "Lonely Saturday", written after Clark broke up with his common-law wife Carlie. 

Of the 'never heard of 'em'-tier of artists, I'm happy to hear Chris Deschner cover "Rain Song" from Clark's last studio album Fyrebyrd, as that's a song that, like the rest of that album, almost never gets attention despite its obvious qualities. Australia's The Bitter End cover "The Virgn", Anna Mitchell has a wonderful, recorded line in concert take on "Polly Come Home", Byrds contemporaries Suburban 9 To 5 bring lots of garage rock energy to "Elevator Operator", in no small part due to future REO Speedwagon axeman Gary Richrth on guitar, and U.S. Indie group Mazarin do a fine job with the also very rarely covered "Only Colombe". 

As you can see, lots of artists and songs to discover or re-discover, and the One Buck Guy wouldn't want it any other way...