Michael Fremer

Let's divide the world into two groups: one that says "Gene who?" and the other that recognizes the late Gene Clark as one of the greats from the rock era. That's my side of the divide.

Note: the review below was written and posted before we received a technical note that was supposed to have been included in the review LP. The note from Reference Vice President Marcia Martin says there were both analog and digital masters of this production. When the analog tape is still in good condition it will be used as the source for these new Reference Mastercut LPs. In this case and for From the Age of Swing the analog tapes were transferred to 176.4kHz/24 bit digital and the file was used to cut the lacquer. This is safer, Ms. Martin says, when dealing with older tapes.

The very first London "Blueback" probably engineered by the great K.E. Wilkinson in London's superb sounding Kingsway Hall combines stunning sonics with an accessible, lyrical musical program. Mendelsohn wrote the Overture opus. 21 in 1826 when he was but 17 years old. The remainder was written almost two decades later, commissioned by Prussian King Frederick William IV as accompaniment to an 1843 performance of the play.

Johnny Cash's third album and his major label debut  recorded in 1958 and issued in early 1959 doesn't mess much with the Sun era shuffle-and-twang musical formula. Luther Perkins does the twanging as he did as a member of The Tennessee Three, Cash's backing group but the overall sound is somewhat watered down.