7. Dillard & Clark The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard & Clark
I was and still am a huge Byrds fan. As much as I was listening to the roots music as a kid, I was stretching out and trying to find music of my own, and with The Byrds, there was an element of straddling the chasm between something roots-based and some kind of modernity. Gene Clark checked out pretty early, but I think he’s one of the world’s greatest songwriters. And Doug Dillard was from a family of unbelievable musicians. I think when I first heard my mum playing this, it was a bit like, "Oh, that’s her stuff." It was slightly out of my reach at the time. I was into the floppy haircuts and the 12-string Rickenbackers, but there is an older, more experienced aspect to this record and when I eventually came back to it, I was like, "Oh, my God." The level of musicianship involved is incredible. They used an acoustic, basic roots template, but came back through a different entrance to the house, somehow. Or they smashed a window. And Gene’s broken, you can tell that. But it’s not a Gene Clark album; he’s playing with Doug and all these amazing country musicians and it’s all live. It starts with ‘Out On The Side’, which is a country-psych track and there’s the brilliant cover, with Gene and Doug sat there on what looks like a late-’50s Harley Davidson Electra Glide with a sidecar, just passing a joint.
