Dillard and Clark

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Dillard & Clark were a country rock band formed in 1968 by Gene Clark and Doug Dillard . Together with groups like The Byrds , The Flying Burrito Brothers and Poco , she founded the new musical genre of country rock.

prehistory

Gene Clark was a singer and songwriter with the folk rock group The Byrds, which he left in March 1966. In 1967 he recorded his first solo album Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers . This already included early original compositions in the style of country rock such as Keep On Pushin ' and Tried So Hard . At the same time, the Byrds release their album Younger Than Yesterday , on which Chris Hillman also brought his country influences to The Girl With No Name and Time Between . Clark continued to be looked after by Byrds managers Jim Dickson and Eddie Tickner , who also had Californian bluegrass pioneers Vern and Rex Gosdin under contract. Hillman had already played with these in 1962 for the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers.

For the recordings of the album Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers , besides the Byrds Hillman and Michael Clarke, other session musicians were hired, including Bill Rhinehart, Clarence White , Glen Campbell , Jerry Kole and Doug Dillard. Dillard was a virtuoso banjo player and had supported the Byrds in 1965 and 1966 with his band The Dillards . There he became friends with Clark, who also came from Missouri and from a musical family.

Dillard & Clark I.

For his next project, Clark planned a more intensive examination of country and bluegrass, as did the Byrds on their album Sweetheart Of The Rodeo . The initiator of this development was Gram Parsons , whom Clark had already met in early 1967. Parsons and his International Submarine Band had already put together a mature repertoire of new country songs or arrangements of songs by Johnny Cash or Bobby Bare . The band's live performances fascinated Clark and motivated both him and later Hillman and Roger McGuinn to play more country songs as well.

In early 1968, Clark signed a recording deal with A&M Records, but for several months could not produce any material for a single or album. Instead, he jammed intensely with Doug Dillard and Bernie Leadon , a talented multi-instrumentalist who lived with Dillard. Clark came up with the idea of ​​forming a modern bluegrass band with both of them. The three musicians wrote new songs and Larry Marks of A&M Records gave them studio time and took over production.

Other musicians joined the project were the double bass player David Jackson , who had previously played with Leadon in the Hearts and Flowers group , Don Beck on dobro and mandolin, Andy Belling on harpsichord and Hillman on mandolin. In October 1968, their first album The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark was released and received positive reviews thanks to the mixture of bluegrass , rock , folk , country and gospel , but could not reach the chart. Only one of the self-composed songs, Train Leaves Here This Morning , became known to a larger audience when Leadon included it in the program of his later band The Eagles .

Dillard & Clark II

Although they were largely without a drummer on their first album, Dillard & Clark decided to include ex-Byrd Michael Clarke in the band. He was a close friend of Clark's and had lived in Hawaii since he left the Byrds in late 1967. With him, the group began performing live in the Los Angeles area and recorded the single Lyin 'Down The Middle with the Elvis Presley cover Don't Be Cruel as the b-side. Dillard & Clark, which had previously mainly focused on acoustic instruments, now added electric guitars. Don Beck had left the band shortly before.

Dillard & Clark III

In January 1969, Michael Clarke left the group to join the Flying Burrito Brothers. Jon Corneal , one of the drummers on the first Burrito LP, was hired as a replacement . Around the same time, Dillard brought his girlfriend Donna Washburn into the group, which largely took over Leadon's vocal part. This formation recorded the ballad Why Not Your Baby , which, like Lyin 'Down The Middle and Don't Be Cruel , only reappeared as bonus tracks on Edsel's first album, which was re-released in 1986.

Dillard & Clark IV

Unhappy that Washburn had taken over his vocal part, Leadon left the band in May 1969 and also joined the Flying Burrito Brothers. The violinist Byron Berline , a friend of Dillard's, who had played with him on the Dillards LP Pickin 'and Fiddlin' in 1965, was accepted in his place .

This formation finally took up the LP Through The Morning, Through The Night , released in September 1969 . With more cover versions and fewer original songs as well as a less coherent interaction, the album received mixed reviews.

Dillard & Clark V

Dissatisfied with the album's failure and Dillard's rather conservative ideas about the future musical direction, Clark got out and resumed his solo career. He was followed by David Jackson and Jon Corneal. Under the name Doug Dillard and the Expedition and with the addition of Roger Bush on bass and Billy Ray Lathum on banjo, the band continued to play live performances. When Washburn also went to Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishman tour and the record company dropped the band, Dillard was able to continue as a pure bluegrass formation with the rest of the members until the end of 1970. After the breakup, Dillard also began a solo career, Lathum joined the Dillards and Berline and Bush founded Country Gazette , which in March 1971 would become part of the Flying Burrito Brothers.

Discography

  • The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard & Clark (album, 1968)
  • Out On The Side / Train Leaves Here This Morning (Single, 1968)
  • Lyin 'Down The Middle / Don't Be Cruel (single, 1969)
  • Why Not Your Baby / The Radio Song (single, 1969)
  • Through The Morning, Through The Night (album, 1969)
  • Rocky Top / No Longer A Sweetheart Of Mine (single, 1969)

Web links