I just wrote a response to another blog so long that I decided I was going to paste it here. R. S. Crabb has an excellent blog (a few actually). Check out his Blogger profile for links to his different projects.
Click here to read the specific (interesting and informative) blog entry that inspired my novellic response. Crabb points out the importance of Clark and Dillard to country rock and their relative obscurity despite their impact. I couldn't agree more. While I am a devoted fan of Gram Parsons and his projects, and The Byrds, I'm also a fan of Gene Clarke and Doug Dillard.
And my response:
Gram Parsons, The International Submarine Band, and the Flying Burrito Brothers manage to be somewhat obscure today. If it wasn't for Record Store Day, there are music fans who may have no idea who Gram and ISB are. I've had actual conversations in which "who's that?" and "never heard of 'em" were uttered by the other party. I get much less so with the Byrds, but it does still happen. I remain shocked that music fans can be unfamiliar with any of these artists/bands, but I encounter it often enough that I can only assume its prevalent.
Dillard and Clark are, unfortunately, not as well known as they should be. Mediocre chart success pushed them into obscurity; critics loved them though! It didn't matter that they Chris Hillman, Bernie Leadon, and Sneaky Pete were among the players on their albums and that Dillard and Clark themselves were signficant of their time, people just didn't get the music I guess. The band was important to country rock, as you said, and is by far too unknown, but the good news is that with the recent Sundazed reissues are introducing them to a new generations of fans. I had a discussion with another customer at my local record store about the band and he ended up pick in up a copy.
Trivia of sorts....
Clark became a Burrito after Dillon and Clark broke up. He left the Byrds because he was afraid of flying. Clarke has an impressive solo catalogue that everyone who likes country, country rock, Americana should check out. Hell, anyone who likes music should check out Clarke's solo catalogue. He's so darn talented. And died too young - he was diagnosed with throat cancer and literally drank himself to death. :(
Dillard is rumored to be the primary banjo player for the score/soundtrack of Bonnie & Clyde, with Flattery & Scruggs only song being Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Doug Dillard is nothing short of a genius with a banjo. Sadly, the man doesn't even have a Wikipedia page - how's that for obscure?
Hi Jaime
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and mentioning my little side project I call the Consortium.
You'd be surprised how few people know about Dillard And Clark, judging from the guy at Half Priced Books who sold me that CD and thinking they were from England. And still had a funny look when I one of them was Gene Clark from The Byrds and Doug Dillard who was part of the Missouri based band The Dillards. I hope some day to check out some of their music. Doug passed away in 2012
That said, if you take a look at the late 60s country rock movement, that the Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons, the USB and the Byrds pretty had a lot of the same people playing on their albums, Chris Ethridge and Chris Hillman, Bernie Leadon and drummer Jon Corneal, who if I read the stories right, played on those bands albums as well as the second Dillard And Clark album. But out of all the four bands mentioned, Dillard And Clark are hardly mentioned in the Americana side of things, but in that great era long ago and far, I still believe the four best albums remain, Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, Safe At Home, Gilded Palace Of Sin and The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard And Clark. The guess is that Fantastic Expedition may have been a bit too bluegrass for the mainstream folk but those who do find that album think it's a classic too. I think Sundazed issued that record on vinyl too, but as far as I know the second album is only been available as an import.
Cheers!
I am not at all surprised by how few people know Dillard and Clark, judging by the number of people who don't know Gram Parsons and the Byrds. Its sad really. That's what people like us are here for. To tell the masses, recommend to the kid in the record store, etc. Some of the best music is discovered via word of mouth.
DeleteThere is a lot of overlap for sure within the 60s rock scene. Same with the folk scene. Sometimes it almost feels like the same few people play on all the best albums! That's how I meandered through the various bands and artists of the era. Here's how it happened. Emmylou Harris lead me to Gram who led me to the Byrds, International Submarine Band, and Flying Burrito Brothers. This in turn lead me to Gene Clarke, Dillard and Clarke (oh, I know Doug Dillard from those bluegrass albums), Roger McGuin, Chris Hillman, the Desert Rose Band, and the list goes on. The connections expand out to include David Crosby who had been a member of the Byrds and more high profile bands such as Buffalo Springfield, CSN/CSNY, The Hollies, Poco, and the Eagles. There are these amazing connections to be found within any musical genre that lead you to discover someone new, something new, and then lead you back to something you've known for years.