135: The Dillards - Live!!!! Almost!!! (1964)
“I’m not trying to be arrogant, but in fact, we were one of the first major bluegrass groups. We helped expose bluegrass to the world.”
Amanda has been threatening to talk about bluegrass on the podcast for years, and we finally settled on the perfect album to start with: Live!!!! Almost!!! by the Dillards. Half a comedy album and half a virtuoso performance by expert musicians, it’s a fantastic introduction to the genre. It was recorded in front of an audience completely unfamiliar with bluegrass music, so the band chose songs that were catchy and accessible, then made it even more engaging by adding Smothers Brothers-style jokey commentary in between. The result is an interesting and very entertaining live album that stands a good chance of winning over any bluegrass skeptics, and even if it doesn’t, it gives us a chance to explain why we like it.
Miscellany
The teaser comes from The Andy Griffith Show, specifically this YouTube compilation of the songs that made Charlene cry.
Amanda misspoke about the songwriting credits; most of them were cowritten by Mitchell and Rodney, not Douglas.
The existence of a mono mix makes sense, given that stereo was fairly new at the time and lots of record players could only play mono records. We still think it probably wouldn’t sound great.
We didn’t clip the intro to “The Whole World Round,” but it’s probably significant that it’s the only commentary that isn’t jokey at all. Mitch Jayne speaks very seriously about the meaning of this song and how important it is to them.
Amanda’s other favorite Dillards album is Wheatstraw Suite, which came out in 1968 and has been called the first country rock album, the first folk rock album, and the first Americana album. (Those might all be the same thing.) It’s astonishingly good and you should all hear it.
One of our major sources for this episode was the excellent book Bluegrass: A History by Neil V. Rosenberg. It’s more of a textbook than a popular history, but it’s a great overview of the whole bluegrass genre.
Stick around until the very end if you’ve ever wondered what “Watcher of the Skies” would sound like on a mandolin.
Other links
The Bluegrass Hall of Fame: The Dillards (bluegrasshall.org)
The Dillards inducted into the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame (bluegrasstoday.com)
Rodney Dillard looks back on his music career at 80 years young (bluegrasstoday.com)
Bluegrass is Metal (Medium.com)
Discord & Rhyme’s merch store (TeePublic)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Amanda Rodgers (host)
Ben Marlin (moderator)
John McFerrin
Live!!!! Almost!!! tracklist
Black Eyed Susie
Never See My Home Again
There Is a Time
Old Blue
Sinkin’ Creek
The Whole World Round
Liberty!
Dixie Breakdown
Walkin’ Down the Line
Jody’s Tune
Pretty Polly
Taters in Sandy Land/Gimme Chaw T'Baccer
Buckin’ Mule
Other clips used
The Dillards:
Polly Vaughn
Duelin’ Banjo
Banjo in the Hollow
Don't You Cry
Others:
Metallica - One
Steve 'n' Seagulls - Thunderstruck
Joan Baez - Old Blue
The Byrds - Old Blue
The Folksmen - Never Did No Wanderin'
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - Liberty
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Meeting of the Spirits
Bob Dylan - Walkin' Down the Line
101 Strings Orchestra - Quando, Quando, Quando
Dick Dale - Misirlou
Wolves in the Throne Room - Vastness and Sorrow
B. F. Shelton - Pretty Polly
Jean Ritchie - Pretty Polly
Judy Collins - Pretty Polly
Bob Dylan - The Ballad of Hollis Brown
Nazareth - The Ballad of Hollis Brown
The Flaming Lips - ******* (Plastic Jesus)
Camille Saint Saens - Persons With Long Ears
Ween - Pumpin 4 the Man
Dillard & Clark - She Darked the Sun
The Weavers - Dark as a Dungeon
Band/album personnel
Rodney Dillard - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, mandolin
Douglas Dillard - banjo, guitar, vocals
Mitchell Jayne - acoustic bass, vocals
Dean Webb - mandolin, vocals
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
The Dillards - The Whole World Round (this episode only)
You can buy Live!!! Almost!!! and other albums by the Dillards at your local record store if you’re lucky - they are hard to find used and haven’t been reissued - or at the usual places such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.