Echoes is a repackaging of
Gene Clark's debut album, Gene Clark With the Gosdin Brothers. The
Byrds comparison is really unavoidable: it's both
Clark's best solo work and, not coincidentally, the one which resembles
the Byrds most strongly. Indeed, this could easily pass for a somewhat less-than-average vintage
Byrds album, with actual
Byrds Chris Hillman and
Michael Clarke forming the rhythm section and
Vern and Rex Gosdin on guitar (hence the title). To be brutal, it doesn't measure up to
Clark's best songs from his
Byrds days, but it's fairly strong, melodic '60s folk-rock nonetheless, perhaps with a bit of a more countrified, laid-back, generic feel. "So You Say You Lost Your Baby," "Echoes," and especially "Tried So Hard" are standouts. The
Echoes CD adds three interesting previously unreleased outtakes from the era, as well as six of the best early
Byrds songs graced by
Clark's songwriting and vocals. ~ Richie Unterberger