The Dangerous Duo Of Bluegrass or The Ballad Of Doug And Geno

Some really old school One Buck Heads might remember my long write-up for my alt version of Mannassas' second album, which also doubled as a reflection on how many early counytry rock/Americana acts followed up a classic debut album with a disappointing follow-up. And for no act is this probably more true than Dillard & Clark, whose short but sweet debut The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard And Clark was an instant classic, then followed up one year later with Through The Morning, Through The Night, which has three Clark classics ("Kanssa City Southern", "Polly", "Through The Morning, Through The Night"), but is otherwise a misshapen dog's breakfast of an album also including what is probably the worst original song Gene Clark ever wrote ("Corner Street Bar") with an awful vaudeville vocal from Clark, a dreadful version of "Rocky Top" sung by Donna Washburn who is decidely neither Dillard nor Clark, a weak lead vocal exercise from Doug and a ton of cover songs instead of the band profiting from having one of the best songwriters of their time among its midst. 

And yet it had started out so promisingly, at least musically. Gene had signed with A&M Records while fronting The Gene Clark-Laramy Smith Group, but that group had only yielded a couple of demos and then petered out. Dillard, having the infamous 'creative differences' with brother Rodney had quit The Dillards, and with nothing else going on, the two hooked up to form Dillard & Clark. The connection between the two was instantanous, musically and unfortunately also in how they spent their leasure time. Both were into fast motorbikes - sporting some slightly Village People-ish leather motorbike gear on some of the pictures for The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard And Clark. The other hobby they had in common: heavy drinking, unfortunately. 

When the dangerous duo of bluegrass played, it was heaven. When they got to drinking, it could be hell. None more so then their disastrous debut concert at the famed Troubadour, when Dillard & Clark had topped off an afternoon of drining Martinis with a side dish of Acid. The concert started with Gene sitting on an amp facing the wall instead of the audience and, after two songs, a shit-faced Dillard voluntarily jumping on his fiddle and breaking it into bits, prompting mandolin player Don Beck to walk off stage, never to return! Clark spent most of the concert with his back to the audience, and then the band called off the rest of the gig halfway through.  

Drug-related activities aside, musically, for one album at least, it was a match made in heaven. The instant cameraderie of Dillard, Clark and running mate Bernie Leadon is obvious in these recordings. If The Fantastic Expedition had a flaw, it was that at a mere nine tracks and a running time of 29 minutes it was a decidedly skimpy proposition. 

The infamous Troubadour concert...everything looks a-okay here, right?!

The quality loss in between albums is best explained by the fundamental change in band dynamics. The arrival of Donna Washburn, the band's own Yoko Ono, brought a third harmony vocal to the band that could be magnificent, as on "Why Not Your Baby", but it also pushed Leadon out of the band. Not only a loss in terms of his guitar playing, but as a creative contributor : Leadon co-wrote six of the first album's eight original songs. With Donna pushing for more attention for her Dougie, Clark now had to compete for lead vocals, but what really changed the dynamics was that Dillard also realized that with master fiddler Byron Berline now on board, The Expedition could be a fast-paced electric bluegrass band  - a discipline for which Clark, the master of moody melancholia and slow to midtempo rhythms - had little use or natural affection for. So Clark as a songwriter was starting to get sidelined by his own band, with his natural style of songwriting not fitting with the 2.0 version of the band. 

Thus, a stunning seven out of eleven tracks on Through The Morning, Through The Night were covers, with Gene relegated to a mere four songs, including the awful "Corner Street Bar". Most of the covers faild to impress, though their reading of The Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down" was a certified highlight, notably the only non-bluegrass cover on the album. To make things worse, A&M still went by the old 'singles are singles and albums are albums' credo, when "Lyin' Down The Middle" and "Why Not Your Baby" could have boosted the album after a failed run as as singles releases and most certainly upgraded the quality of Through The Morning, Through The Night by replacing, say, "Rocky Top" and "Corner Street Bar".  

The Dillard &Clark Experience 2.0 - why is Gene with The Beverly Hillbillies? 

Seeing how his role in the band had been reduced and the cameraderie changed, Clark left the band in late 1969. Dillard tried to keep the band going as The Doug Dillard Experience, though the band only ever released a single song, "Runaway Country" from the 1971 soundtrack to car-racing cult classic in waiting Vanishing Point. While running the Experience, Dillard also decided to cut a solo album in the winter of 1969, with The Banjo Album being released in 1970. Dillard brought in Clark to guest on harmonica on his own composition "With Care From Someone". Later in 1971 The Doug Dillard Experience cut a demo tape, mostly of bluegrass standards in hopes of finding a record deal, but when that failed to materialize, Dillard finally called it quits on the band. He released another solo album in 1974, then rejoined The Dillards. 

Woof, quite a bit of history to get through before reaching at our One Buck Record of the day which I proudly call The Complete Expedition Of Dillard & Clark. Because it pretty much is. This set features every track Dillard & Clark ever issued on albums or singles, plus the bonus tracks that came out on re-issues of the band, plus the one released song by The Doug Dillard Experience. But that's not all folks! It also includes almost all of Dillard's The Banjo Album - which, seeing how it was cut simultaneously to Dillard's time in the band seems a fitting inclusion - and finally most of the demos the The Doug Dillard Experience cut in 1971. That's a whooping 46 tracks for the dedicated bluegrass and country rock lover! 

Dangerous Liaisons!

But since not everyone might be that dedicated, that's where my sequencing of the collection comes in. If you just want the highlights of Dillard & Clark, and notably Gene Clark's best work, then Disc 1 is for you, as it's programmed as a sort of 'Best Of' for Dillard & Clark, collecting all the best moments from their two albums and two non-album singles, plus the Doug Dillard Experience song and two Dillard instrumentals. Just rename the folder and the half Complete Edition becomes a full Best Of! It's genius! 

Disc 2 is then for the serious Bluegrass or Dillard & Clark lover, collecting the weaker moments from Dillard & Clark, including two outtakes from Through The Morning, Through The Night, the fun but slight b-side Elvis cover "Don't Be Cruel", the lead vocal contributions of Donna & Dougie, as well as the 1971 Experience demos and the rest of Dillard's solo Banjo Album tracks. So, Disc 1 is for beginners, Disc 2 is for advanced students of the matter and if you want the whole shebang - well, good on you! And as a free bonus for nuts like me who burn things to disc, you even get CD artwork! 

Oh boy, this sure is getting long, so I'll leave you with some of the finest country and bluegrass picking the burgeoning L.A. country rock scene had to offer in 68 and 69. Get a hold of The Complete Expedition of Dillard & Clark...