Any recommendations for songs that sound like Gene Clark's "Echoes" ?

"Tuesday's Gone", Skynyrd

By The Time I Get To Phoenix--Glen Campbell

Any of his 60s stuff with Jimmy Webb fits here.

"Introspective and haunting, celestial string arrangements, lyrics that seems to address all the vagaries of memory and their constituent reflections."

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hehe. i was in a weird mood when i wrote that. gene clark will do that to you ! srly though scott, i know your library is deep. help out a man in need !

Scott Walker 1-4
Colin Blunstone's One Year

Bill Fay, Emmit Rhodes/The Merry-Go-Round, Neil Diamond, Glen Campbell, Tim Hardin, Phil Ochs (later records), Del Shannon's late 60s stuff, The Beach Boys, Harry Nilsson's Perfect Day, John Cale's I Keep A Close Watch.

I love this shit.

me too. and i can't seem to find enough of it.

here's parts of a Viva Radio playlist I made called "Big Man In Town"

American Spring-Lady
Beach Boys-In My Room
Bob Dylan-Lay Lady Lay
Bob Lind-Elusive Butterfly
Bobbie Gentry-Girl from Cincinatti
Brian Hyland-Sealed With a Kiss
Colin Blunstone-Caroline Goodbye
Del Shannon-It's My Feeling
The 4 Seasons-Big Man in Town
Fred Neil-The Dolphins
Gerry and the Pacemakers-Don't let the sun catch you crying
Glen Campbell-Wichita Lineman
Harry Nilsson-Perfect Day
John Cale-Paris 1919
John Cale-I Keep a Close Watch
Left Banke-Pretty Ballerina
Mickey Newbury-Good Morning Dear
Lee and Nancy-Sand
Neil Diamond-Holly Holy
Nick Drake-Way to Blue
Nico-Fairest of Seasons
Phil Ochs-Cross My Heart
Scott Walker-The Amourus Humphrey Plugg
Scott Walker-The World's Strongest Man
Tim Hardin-Don't Make Promises
Todd Rundgren-Hello It's Me
Van Dyke Parks-The Attic
Van Morrison-Ballerina
The Walker Brothers-Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

Dan, thanks so much ! that playlist will be of much help. i will now be hunting may of these records out this weekend. gracias :)

Also, I just recently discovered "Lady" by Dennis Wilson, a perfect fit for this kind of stuff.

I just downloaded this album based on this thread and was annoyed to discover that I apparently have gotten a version that has been "remixed" to remove doubletracked vocals...?!

I dunno how big a deal it is with this material but normally I like doubletracked vocals. :(

the bootleg i got still has the doubletracked vocals but the sound quality leaves much to be desired. i think id still prefer the muddier version though.

yes on Lady...the American Spring Lady mentioned above is from the Brian Wilson productions CD, it's his wife and her sister or whatever covering Lady...actually their version is called Falling in Love, I just typed Lady!

haha. ive just spent the last 20 minutes trying to find "lady" by spring on allmusic, discogs. i was like damn, dan must have found a b-side on an obscure 45.

because nothing is listed anywhere !

yeah, first thing i was gonna suggest (w/o knowing exactly which song is echos) was Dennis Wilson.

some other things i've filed on the same shelf as Gene Clark (a few have already been mentioned) are Terry Melcher (sooo good), the Dillards "Wheatstraw Sweet", Beau Brummels "Triangle", Van Dyke Parks "Song Cycle", Bill Fay, Colin Blunstone, Space Opera, Euphoria (so good), West Coast Pop Art Exp Band, Nico "Chelsea Girls", Bobbie Gentry, Everly Brothers "Roots", Roy Harper

oh and Joe South

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"Blue Museum" on that Arthur album will make you wanna die and be reborn and then die again.

"Blue Museum" on that Arthur album will make you wanna die and be reborn and then die again.

More songs like these should exist. Thanks Scott, Dan and Jaxon for all your input. Massive notes are being compiled on all this. Will post mix here when I am done.

oscar, please do

funny jaxon, a song from Everly Bros Roots was the one thing from that playlist I accidently left off when entering it here! So good. Beau Brummels is amazing too. I'll have to do some exploring of Scott's suggestions. What issues does Tim Hollier have about clowns?

and the one word that hasn't appeared on this thread yet for some reason but really sums up what we're talking about of course is...

MELANCHOLY

"and the one word that hasn't appeared on this thread yet for some reason but really sums up what we're talking about of course is...MELANCHOLY"

Dan OTM...

but also I think there is a strange clarity that these kinds of songs induce. hard to explain the kind of clarity im referring to here but its that moment when the dawn is breaking after a hard night of drinking. argh gene clark is more eloquent on this matter. lyric excerpt from echoes:

"On the streets you look again
At the places you have been
Or the moments that you thought
Where am I going
Though the walls are like the dead
They reflect the things you've said
And the echoes in your head continue showing
Near the castles you can build
Out of dreams you half fullfilled
Won't keep out all of the ill wind that is blowing
And you look still for a trace
Of an opening in a place
Where you find the life that you were used to knowing"

more melancholy epics with strings:
Dylan - Isis
Procol Harum - Conquistador
Portishead Live at Roseland (Try Roads or Mysterons)

of course Kashmir is the classic rock epic with piercing but not so melancholy strings

(a bit more alt-country but)
offshoots of Crosby, Stills, Nash, The Eagles, and The Byrds
+ Poco

If you get down to it, country music feels dry and gene clark's echoes sounds more lush and more like a pleasant stoner romp through a bright leafy woods.

Skip Spence's "All Come to Meet Her," "Little Hands" and "War in Peace."

you know what song i love love love that is so haunting in a good way? "L Ballade" by Shawn Phillips. So good.

http://www.modernguitars.com/imagefiles/shawnphillips/SPcontribution1970.gif

you might want to check this record out too. it's a little uneven, but good. jeff monn was the lead singer of The Third Bardo and then he left that band to make this heavily orchestrated pop/rock album for Vanguard. Very cool sound. Strings and full orchestra. But the even cooler thing is, Jeff is still VERY much a garage band singer. So the album turns out to be the first chamber-punk record.

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