Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

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.”

Rodney Dillard


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 

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Amanda Rodgers (host)

  • Ben Marlin (moderator)

  • John McFerrin

Live!!!! Almost!!! tracklist 

  1. Black Eyed Susie

  2. Never See My Home Again

  3. There Is a Time

  4. Old Blue

  5. Sinkin’ Creek

  6. The Whole World Round

  7. Liberty!

  8. Dixie Breakdown

  9. Walkin’ Down the Line

  10. Jody’s Tune

  11. Pretty Polly

  12. Taters in Sandy Land/Gimme Chaw T'Baccer

  13. 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.

This website and all episodes' discussion/commentary © 2018—2024 Discord & Rhyme. Excerpts from recordings appearing in episodes are included for purposes of review only, and all rights to such material remain property of their copyright holders. Please note that we make a good-faith effort to ensure all information included in these episodes is accurate, but if we get something wrong, let us know at discordpod@gmail.com and we will print a correction in the show notes. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Website design by Amanda Rodgers. Thank you for visiting, and keep as cool as you can.

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