The Dillards - Roots And Branches (1972)

The Dillards were an American bluegrass group who in the mid-60s moved away from traditional music, becoming pioneers in the country-rock and 'progressive bluegrass' genres.

With zero chart successes to boast about, The Dillards were let go by their label Elektra in 1970. They next released a couple of singles on White Whale Records, but they went nowhere. Around this time Herb Pederson also left, and was replaced by Billy Ray Lathum. The band now consisted of Rodney Dillard (lead vocals/guitar/dobro), Lathum (banjo/guitar), Dean Webb (mandolin), Mitch Jayne (bass) and Paul York (drums). They then signed with Anthem Records, and managed to finally break into the Top 100 with the single "It's About Time" (albeit only at #92). In 1972 they opened for Elton John on his first American tour, and at the same time their sixth album was released.

Roots And Branches saw the band move fully towards rock music. With electric guitar and drums on almost all songs, it was pure Californian country-rock, with both rootsy flavours (banjo and mandolin still audible amidst the rock instrumentation) and some real strong pop hooks. The songs were mostly covers (including Gib Guilbeau's "Big Bayou"), with a couple of Rodney Dillard originals and an a-capella rendition of the traditional "Man Of Constant Sorrow". With smooth production, great instrumentation and superb vocal harmonies, the end result was a truly wonderful album, showing how drastically the band's sound had changed since their debut almost ten years ago. It also had one song that could surely have been a hit if released as a single, Paul Parrish's "One A.M." The album did actually become their most successful, breaking into the album charts at a modest #79.

Copperfields (1970) <|> Tribute To The American Duck (1973)
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The Dillards - Copperfields (1970)

The Dillards were an American bluegrass group who in the mid-60s moved away from traditional music, becoming pioneers in the country-rock and 'progressive bluegrass' genres.

In the late 60s The Dillards had left their traditional roots behind and fused bluegrass with rock and pop music, becoming pioneers in the country-rock genre. 1970's Copperfields was the follow-up to their groundbreaking but underappreciated Wheatstraw Suite album from two years earlier, and featured the lineup of Rodney Dillard, Herb Pederson, Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne being extended by the addition of drummer Paul York. It followed in the same style, making even greater use of electric bass, pedal steel, drums and strings, and even a bit of electric guitar (though of course it was all built on the foundation of their bluegrass instrumentation). For the most part it consisted of very strong original material, but it did have some standout covers of Harry Nilsson's "Rainmaker", Eric Andersen's "Close The Door Lightly" and The Beatles' "Yesterday" (the latter sung a capella). Also featured a guest apperance from their old friend fiddler Byron Berline.
The result was another really fantastic record, and like its predecessor was actually really quite commercial sounding, with a good dose of pop sensibilites. However, again like its predecessor, it failed to chart.

Wheatstraw Suite <|> Roots And Branches (1972)
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The Dillards - Pickin' And Fiddlin' (1965)

The Dillards were an American bluegrass group who in the mid-60s moved away from traditional music, becoming pioneers in the country-rock and 'progressive bluegrass' genres.

By 1965 The Dillards had begun to start experiment outside the traditional bluegrass framework - they befriended The Byrds and toured with them, and also peformed with a drummer (incidentally the drummer was Dewey Martin, soon to be a founding member of Buffalo Springfield). They were not playing bluegrass festivals, but the rock & roll circuit instead.
However, before they decided to make radical changes to their recorded music, they actually thought it would be best to prove to the bluegrass elite that they could still play in the traditional style. Their third album was all instrumental, and featured a prominent guest musician - fiddler Byron Berline, 19 years old at the time. The album was appropriately titled Pickin’ And Fiddlin’, as Berline’s presence was to the fore throughout. After this final traditional album, they left Elektra Records and re-signed with Capitol to explore their plans for stylistic change.

Live... Almost!!! (1964) <|> Wheatstraw Suite (1968)
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The Dillards - Live... Almost!!! (1964)

The Dillards were an American bluegrass group who in the mid-60s moved away from traditional music, becoming pioneers in the country-rock and 'progressive bluegrass' genres.

The Dillards' second album was a live one, though the repetoire and performance was in the same mould as their debut - traditional bluegrass music, featuring both folk songs and band originals. There is one notable cover song - "Walkin' Down The Line", an early Bob Dylan song which was unreleased by the man himself (they were probably the first to record this song). An important part of the band's early sound and character was their humour - they were still acting as the fictional family band The Darlings on The Andy Griffith Show at the time, and this live recording showcases this side of them well. Bassist Mitch Jayne talks and jokes extensively between songs, getting lots of laughs from the audience... though its probably fair to say that the humour hasn't exactly aged well, making Live... Almost!!! very much a product of its time.

Back Porch Bluegrass (1963) <|> Pickin' & Fiddlin' (1965)
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The Dillards - Back Porch Bluegrass (1963)

The Dillards were an American bluegrass group who in the mid-60s moved away from traditional music, becoming pioneers in the country-rock and 'progressive bluegrass' genres.

This is their debut album, from the beginning of their career when they were a pretty much straight-up traditional bluegrass group. At this time they became well-known to TV audiences through playing the fictional bluegrass family group The Darlings on The Andy Griffith Show.
Back Porch Bluegrass consists of a selection of both traditionals and band originals, played with breakneck instrumental virtousity, and featuring the founding lineup of Rodney Dillard (lead vocals/guitar), Doug Dillard (banjo), Dean Webb (mandolin) and Mitch Jayne (bass).

|> Live... Almost!!! (1964)
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The Dillards - Wheatstraw Suite (1968)

The Dillards were an American bluegrass group who in the mid-60s moved away from traditional music, becoming pioneers in the country-rock and 'progressive bluegrass' genres.

The Dillards first few albums were pure traditional bluegrass. However since the mid-60s they had started to innovate, and were moving towards a more progressive sound. They had toured backing folk-rock band The Byrds, with Dewey Martin on drums (later of Buffalo Springfield), and Doug Dillard had appeared on Gene Clark's first solo album. They were leaving their traditional roots behind and becoming part of the rock scene. Their record company, Elektra, had originally been resistant towards this new sound, so they had released a few singles on Capitol records. However Capitol soon grew unsympathetic towards their style, and they re-signed with Elektra, who were now willing to let them try their new commercial sound. However at this time the groups' banjoist, Doug Dillard, quit. By the time they recorded Wheatstraw Suite he had been replaced by multi-instrumentalist Herb Pederson, giving them the new lineup of Rodney Dillard (vocals/guitar/dobro), Pederseon (vocals/banjo/guitar), Dean Webb (mandolin) and Mitch Jayne (bass).
It was a truly innovative album in its mix of bluegrass, rock, pop, folk and country. Similar blends were being made around this time by The Byrds, The International Submarine Band, Buffalo Springfield, Gene Clark and others, but this was probably the first time this country-rock hybrid was approached from the bluegrass angle. The band were joined on various songs by electric bass from Joe Osborn, drums from Toxey French and Jim Gordon, and pedal steel guitar from Buddy Emmons, but their bluegrass instrumentation remained at the core throughout. Several songs were fleshed out with strings, which added to its commercial appeal. Pederson's presence strengthened the vocal harmonies, and he proved himself a great lead singer in his own right. The material itself mostly consisted of originals, though it had some standout covers of Tim Hardin's "Reason To Believe", The Beatles' "I've Just Seen A Face" and Jesse Kincaid's "She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune", all being nods to contemporary pop and rock songwriters. The result of all these factors was a pioneering progressive bluegrass album which crossed the boundaries into the then-present folk-rock scene. Today it is looked back on as an influential early example of country-rock.
Ironically, Doug Dillard, who had left the band due his lack of enthusiasm with their new sound, would the same year be making a similar fusion of genres with Dillard & Clark.

Pickin' & Fiddlin' (1965) <|> Copperfields (1970)
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