Those very lucky people who were there had a great time! I saw them in 1973 in Virginia; it was like seeing the Beatles. They were so genuine and talented; what harmonies. The best. Thanks!
I saw the Dillards in Pasadena, Cal. in the 60's & he'd be smoking the pipe while they performed & every once in a while he'd just put the pipe in his back pocket while it was still lit!! Didn't miss a beat! The internet made it possible for folks like us who enjoy other than just mainstream music to enjoy our fav's easier.
Love this and the Copperfields album, but my hero from this band is totally Herb Pedersen. One of the absolute best harmony voices. Timeless. And I'm thankful for having met him in person.
Don't think Herb was playing on this clip and the harmonies are amazing nevertheless! Line up was Rodney & Doug Dillard, Mitch Jayne and Dean Webb. Not sure who was on drums!
Herb was a member of Old and in the Gray (Grisman, Rowan,Clements) shows I promoted in 2003. First time meeting him. Very friendly man & a great talent.
Awesome - thanks! I've been dying to see this clip, but unfortunately the Dillards were not included in the Playboy After Dark DVD release. Wheatstraw Suite and Copperfields are two of the best albums of the late '60s.
Well now I've seen everything. Thank you UA-cam. The Dillards on Hugh's show.Doing a few of their better known songs. Saw them many times around Toronto back in the day. Bluegrass Canada , The Brunswick House etc. Looks like Hugh's girls and boys are really enjoying themselves stomping around the room. Great.But if one of them went out and bought a Bluegrass record - I'll eat my bunny ears.
I think that they, along with Dillard&Clark really bridged rock and grass (not rock and country). The Dillards kept leaned a bit toward the bluegrass and harmonies, while Dillard and Clark leaned a bit more toward rock. Both brilliant, both overlooked and vastly underrated for their influences on bands that followed.
Totally agree... There was a stunning uniqueness in the electric Dillards. I love Dillard and Clark, the Byrds, Gram, and even the Everly Bros '68 album, but Wheatstraw Suite is one that I never ever get tired of. Maybe it is because they held a bit closer to their roots...
For you guitar players out there, I am nearly certain that the guitar Rodney is playing, was the prototype for a new kind of guitar with a rounded back that we all now know as an "OVATION." The back (bowl) was very shiny with a smooth, high gloss shine. Unlike the later models that were textured on the back. The sound of the early ones was much better than the later ones, IMO. The smoothness (like glass) of the rounded bowl back, caused great frustration when trying to sit and play the instrument. It continuously slid down your lap If you didn't wear a strap while seated. A great annoyance indeed.
My newish Ovation fell onstage, and the aluminum neck bent. No trussrod, so short of buying a new neck, all I could do was raise the action, sold it and got a Guild..
The banjo tune was a Ralph Stanley one. What was the name of it? Wonder what the boys thought lookin' at all the hot girls dancing in front of them. What a scene. Long way from Salem, Mo.
Had a fortune teller looked into her crystal ball before this happened, and foretold that one day I'd see my two favorite things, the Dillards and Barbie Benton in the same video, I'd have turned to a pillar of salt in disbelief, as the chances of a bluegrass band and the world's most famous Playboy bunny, the "brunette Barbie doll" Barbie Benton miraculously appearing adjacent to one another at that time were about zero point zero zero percent.
Great band, such a ridiculous venue! I can't imagine those women were much into the music. So phony, right up there with when the Dead played on the show. The band looks mortified!
Aw, I don't know. I agree in part with you, though. But here, every face has what looks like a sincere (not just for the cameras) smile on it, especially during the up tempo "Hard Times" when they are all "dancing" in such a lively manner. I've played lots of Bluegrass in my life for such audiences, and found that at a dance, everyone likes the upbeat bluegrass tune inserted into the set for about 1-2 songs (but that is all they can generally tolerate), so they can jump around, and then even those who cannot dance, who've been sitting over on the side will usually recognize their opportunity to finally get on then floor and make their girlfriend happy, and join in. After all, it's not really a dance step, but more just an unstructured, unrestrained, joyous romping about. Even the most uncoordinated among us can jump up and down. But if you try to play too much pure Bluegrass to these types of people, yes, you are entirely correct, they lose interest almost instantly, and want their top 20 pop music back. The drunk among them will lose patience first, and begin obnoxiously calling out song requests that they KNOW a bluegrass band cannot and would not, play. Pretty dang sure they edited out those requests that must have inevitably come during this swingin Playboy mansion party later in the night as the alcohol levels increased. Sometimes I picture a couple hours later after the show was finished taping, people are finally all plastered, and Hefner himself was out on the dance floor, glassy-eyed and slack jawed, calling out , "HEYYY GUYS, PLAY SOME ZEPPELIN!"
@@carlanderton7201 Check again. That's Doug Dillard... One of the Dillards. From the bluegrass icons, The Dillards. The band in which Doug Dillard played the banjo. Just like on this clip.
Doug had left the group by this point to do his own thing because Rodney thought they should change with the times in order to pay the bills. Doug wanted to continue more or less, in the bluegrass genre. Rodney, on the other hand, wanted to do more contemporary tunes and perhaps to even use a few electric instruments and drums because by this time it was getting difficult to get reasonably high paying gigs playing only Bluegrass. The folk craze of the early 60s was WAY past and college kids were not playing folk and bluegrass anymore on campus here in the US. They were listening to Jimmi Hendrix, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, Steppenwolf, etc and the drug craze was at it's peak. Rodney felt it was better to adopt a different sound and to still be able to make a living playing music, rather than doggedly remaining faithful to Bluegrass, and starving. Doug was happy continuing to play mostly Bluegrass and began playing with Gene Clark. This is the legendary Herb Pedersen you see playing and singing Hey Boys. Herb as it turns out in retrospect, may have quite possibly been the only banjo player alive at the time, whose playing style, technique, singing (Rodney had never had the luxury of someone else in the band who could sing as well as he could, and could give him a rest) appearance, and personality, could have replaced Douglas Dillard, and taken the band UP, albeit in a different musical direction, but definitely UP and not down. The last comment I could make on Douglas' departure, I admit is conjecture, but I make the observation from personal experience as a banjo player myself. Sure, Doug, like most Bluegrass musicians, could pick up other instruments and play them to a certain degree, some very well indeed. However, Doug wanted to make his living playing primarily the instrument he knew and loved: the BANJO. And the Banjo, played three-finger style is largely relegated to Bluegrass music, due to its own inherent limitations. As I can attest from painful experience, when the Bluegrass band that you are a member of, suddenly announces that they'd like to delve into other kinds of music, it instantly creates stress and worry in the banjo player. Why? Because he knows he will now have to make a dire choice. Of all the bluegrass instruments, banjo is the one that lends itself LEAST to other types of music, and has the least versatility. Some may argue with this, but I submit that if the banjo player is really mostly a bluegrass, Scruggs style player, the spectre of having to play along with "Purple Haze" or just about any other cover of a top-40 pop single on your banjo is downright revolting and frightening, all at the same time. The primary problem for the banjo player, whose "finger rolls" are designed for 4:4 timing, is having to play songs with other timings. Even 3:4 timing is challenging (eg. Darling Corey). Bluegrass works great on banjo because it is nearly always 4:4. Banjos also have a very unique sound, and do not sound good in most rock settings. I've been in bands before that decided to play other types of music. It was highly traumatic for me, the banjo player. As a banjo player, that meant' I either had to lay down my instrument and be content playing a different music on a totally different instrument, or...quit. It felt a little like your girl announcing out of the blue, that she had found a different type guy that interests her more, and that you are no longer her type. HE is now her "type." The only thing that may give you veto power over the change of musical direction of the band, is if you own all the sound equipment. hehe. (sorry, inside joke for the band members out there). Anyway, I'm not saying this is precisely what happened in the case of the Original Dillards when they reached their fork in the road, but I will guarantee you that Douglas LOVED playing Bluegrass music with his "arch-top" banjo all the way to the very end. And thank goodness for the bluegrass banjo lovers among us that he did! It should be noted that what happened after the split is a rare outcome in music. Normally, when a great band breaks up, and two primary members go their own ways to pursue some of "their own projects," they BOTH end up, perhaps after some initial mild success...failing. What happened here is almost unheard of, since BOTH SUCCEEDED! Rodney's groups produced an incredible fund of music that was highly influential on subsequent musicians, and had a LONG career at an international tourist destination Theme Park in Missouri. Douglas continued to create fantastic music with a series of different players and to cultivate and showcase young talent (eg. Billy Constable) that secured his place for all eternity among the very top banjo playing legends. One really has to include Douglas in the same sentence with the forefathers of Bluegrass banjo, such as Earl Scruggs, and also with those who exerted Extreme influence on the way subsequent generations of banjoists played. Some of the venerated members of that group include Alan Munde, Courtney Johnson, Bill Keith, Bela Fleck etc.
Oh wow! Barbie Benton! Hmm, looks-pre,Playboy! 😁? &, we see the “cross-over” efforts of the “executives”! Along with, the “lame - elites” attempt at “rapid - clogging”!! 😂🤣
The 70s?? Dude there is a coffee shop in Hendersonville, NC called the Black Bear. Let me tell you they both blend together more than you think on music night.
This is like finding a huge chunk of pure gold on the ground. The Dillards are masters.
When it comes to bluegrass, no-one can touch the Dillards. This is rare colour footage of their best line-up.
Those very lucky people who were there had a great time! I saw them in 1973 in Virginia; it was like seeing the Beatles. They were so genuine and talented; what harmonies. The best. Thanks!
I saw the Dillards in Pasadena, Cal. in the 60's & he'd be smoking the pipe while they performed & every once in a while he'd just put the pipe in his back pocket while it was still lit!! Didn't miss a beat! The internet made it possible for folks like us who enjoy other than just mainstream music to enjoy our fav's easier.
At The Ice House! Saw them there many times myself.
Love this and the Copperfields album, but my hero from this band is totally Herb Pedersen. One of the absolute best harmony voices. Timeless. And I'm thankful for having met him in person.
Don't think Herb was playing on this clip and the harmonies are amazing nevertheless! Line up was Rodney & Doug Dillard, Mitch Jayne and Dean Webb. Not sure who was on drums!
Herb is the blonde guy in the middle. He wrote and sang “Hey Boys,” so it sorta has to be him
@@mattthrun-nowicki8641 You're right. He looks very like Doug so my mistake!
@@aliwhitwell Yes, he does!
Herb was a member of Old and in the Gray (Grisman, Rowan,Clements) shows I promoted in 2003. First time meeting him. Very friendly man & a great talent.
Herb Pederson is amazing with his solid and interesting back-up licks while busy with so much harmony singing.
I love this group - so great on Andy Griffith show.
The Dillards influenced so many with their superb musicianship and awesome harmonies!
The Beatles of bluegrass
Yes!! With Herb Peterson ! Never seen this - thanks for posting this!
Awesome - thanks! I've been dying to see this clip, but unfortunately the Dillards were not included in the Playboy After Dark DVD release. Wheatstraw Suite and Copperfields are two of the best albums of the late '60s.
Agree on those albums. Both were gems.
The harmonies in "Hey Boys" are just sublime. :-)
Well now I've seen everything. Thank you UA-cam. The Dillards on Hugh's show.Doing a few of their better known songs. Saw them many times around Toronto back in the day. Bluegrass Canada , The Brunswick House etc. Looks like Hugh's girls and boys are really enjoying themselves stomping around the room. Great.But if one of them went out and bought a Bluegrass record - I'll eat my bunny ears.
This is really a gem!!
Yesssss I love this song ❤
I think that they, along with Dillard&Clark really bridged rock and grass (not rock and country). The Dillards kept leaned a bit toward the bluegrass and harmonies, while Dillard and Clark leaned a bit more toward rock. Both brilliant, both overlooked and vastly underrated for their influences on bands that followed.
What a boring way to parrot old cliches and received wisdoms.
?
Totally agree... There was a stunning uniqueness in the electric Dillards. I love Dillard and Clark, the Byrds, Gram, and even the Everly Bros '68 album, but Wheatstraw Suite is one that I never ever get tired of. Maybe it is because they held a bit closer to their roots...
I dunno that I hear the 'rock' in Dillard and Clark...Gene Clark's songs are more...Gene Clark, but soundwise there's not a lot in it.
The later Dillards albums (Roots and Branches, and Trbute to the American Duck) had a pretty evident rock sound.
5:12 for Hard Times
crazy-good!
For you guitar players out there, I am nearly certain that the guitar Rodney is playing, was the prototype for a new kind of guitar with a rounded back that we all now know as an "OVATION." The back (bowl) was very shiny with a smooth, high gloss shine. Unlike the later models that were textured on the back. The sound of the early ones was much better than the later ones, IMO. The smoothness (like glass) of the rounded bowl back, caused great frustration when trying to sit and play the instrument. It continuously slid down your lap If you didn't wear a strap while seated. A great annoyance indeed.
My newish Ovation fell onstage, and the aluminum neck bent. No trussrod, so short of buying a new neck, all I could do was raise the action, sold it and got a Guild..
The first generation of Ovations were hand-made, high quality guitars that sounded great.
Thank you.
Very cool!! Thanks!!
I LOVE this band... You can trace a certain kind of AMERICANA from THE DILLARDS to THE EAGLES to REM... (You really can...) RESPECT... xx SF
The banjo tune was a Ralph Stanley one. What was the name of it? Wonder what the boys thought lookin' at all the hot girls dancing in front of them. What a scene. Long way from Salem, Mo.
Not the crowd I'd expect with the music but they are sure enjoying and getting down to it in their own way.
If you've got any more clips of the boys live they'd be gratefully received
I love how Mitch is smoking a pipe!
Great live performance of a great song from a great album of this great band! Also great: how much Rodney looks like Gomer Pyle in these old videos!
Had a fortune teller looked into her crystal ball before this happened, and foretold that one day I'd see my two favorite things, the Dillards and Barbie Benton in the same video, I'd have turned to a pillar of salt in disbelief, as the chances of a bluegrass band and the world's most famous Playboy bunny, the "brunette Barbie doll" Barbie Benton miraculously appearing adjacent to one another at that time were about zero point zero zero percent.
Mitch Jayne was a funny guy.
Doug… great friend !
So your telling me that Rodney doesn't sing "hey boys"? I need to go think about my life.
Herb redid the song for his own solo album
Doug didn't like the country rock sound so he left: that's Herb Pedersen on banjo. (I love both Dillards incarnations though).
This is what The Beach Boys would sound like if they did bluegrass and it fucking rocks
Great band, such a ridiculous venue! I can't imagine those women were much into the music. So phony, right up there with when the Dead played on the show. The band looks mortified!
Aw, I don't know. I agree in part with you, though. But here, every face has what looks like a sincere (not just for the cameras) smile on it, especially during the up tempo "Hard Times" when they are all "dancing" in such a lively manner. I've played lots of Bluegrass in my life for such audiences, and found that at a dance, everyone likes the upbeat bluegrass tune inserted into the set for about 1-2 songs (but that is all they can generally tolerate), so they can jump around, and then even those who cannot dance, who've been sitting over on the side will usually recognize their opportunity to finally get on then floor and make their girlfriend happy, and join in. After all, it's not really a dance step, but more just an unstructured, unrestrained, joyous romping about. Even the most uncoordinated among us can jump up and down.
But if you try to play too much pure Bluegrass to these types of people, yes, you are entirely correct, they lose interest almost instantly, and want their top 20 pop music back. The drunk among them will lose patience first, and begin obnoxiously calling out song requests that they KNOW a bluegrass band cannot and would not, play.
Pretty dang sure they edited out those requests that must have inevitably come during this swingin Playboy mansion party later in the night as the alcohol levels increased. Sometimes I picture a couple hours later after the show was finished taping, people are finally all plastered, and Hefner himself was out on the dance floor, glassy-eyed and slack jawed, calling out , "HEYYY GUYS, PLAY SOME ZEPPELIN!"
I'll bet the Dillards didn't spike the coffee with acid like the Dead claimed to have done.
The Darlings from the Andy Griffith Show
Omg. Weird venue for the dillards
Is that Herb Peterson on the banjo?
wallawallahunahow It sure is Herb!
Herb Pedersen on banjo
Its Doug Dillard
@@tedfogarty2033 except it isn't. It's Herb Pederson.
@@carlanderton7201 Check again. That's Doug Dillard... One of the Dillards. From the bluegrass icons, The Dillards. The band in which Doug Dillard played the banjo. Just like on this clip.
Is that Doug playing the banjo? Doesn't look like him??
Herb Pedersen. Doug left the group to work with Gene Clark
Thanks for answering
Who is that 1:10...?
Not to mention the dancing girls?? Come on.
who's on drums?, those brushes are sweet
Paul York.
thanks
MY DAD!!!! :-D
SmarkBusters ahahaha shoulda known I'd find you here
Tom Green
Is that Doug Dilliard on the banjo? It doesn't look like him.
No, Doug was gone at this point and was in Dillard & Clark. That's Herb Pedersen on banjo.
Top bit of footage, all those phoney hipsters. The Dillards are something else.
they played the second song just for that reason !!
Where Doug Dillard?
Doug had left the group by this point to do his own thing because Rodney thought they should change with the times in order to pay the bills. Doug wanted to continue more or less, in the bluegrass genre. Rodney, on the other hand, wanted to do more contemporary tunes and perhaps to even use a few electric instruments and drums because by this time it was getting difficult to get reasonably high paying gigs playing only Bluegrass. The folk craze of the early 60s was WAY past and college kids were not playing folk and bluegrass anymore on campus here in the US. They were listening to Jimmi Hendrix, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, Steppenwolf, etc and the drug craze was at it's peak. Rodney felt it was better to adopt a different sound and to still be able to make a living playing music, rather than doggedly remaining faithful to Bluegrass, and starving. Doug was happy continuing to play mostly Bluegrass and began playing with Gene Clark.
This is the legendary Herb Pedersen you see playing and singing Hey Boys. Herb as it turns out in retrospect, may have quite possibly been the only banjo player alive at the time, whose playing style, technique, singing (Rodney had never had the luxury of someone else in the band who could sing as well as he could, and could give him a rest) appearance, and personality, could have replaced Douglas Dillard, and taken the band UP, albeit in a different musical direction, but definitely UP and not down.
The last comment I could make on Douglas' departure, I admit is conjecture, but I make the observation from personal experience as a banjo player myself. Sure, Doug, like most Bluegrass musicians, could pick up other instruments and play them to a certain degree, some very well indeed. However, Doug wanted to make his living playing primarily the instrument he knew and loved: the BANJO. And the Banjo, played three-finger style is largely relegated to Bluegrass music, due to its own inherent limitations. As I can attest from painful experience, when the Bluegrass band that you are a member of, suddenly announces that they'd like to delve into other kinds of music, it instantly creates stress and worry in the banjo player. Why? Because he knows he will now have to make a dire choice. Of all the bluegrass instruments, banjo is the one that lends itself LEAST to other types of music, and has the least versatility. Some may argue with this, but I submit that if the banjo player is really mostly a bluegrass, Scruggs style player, the spectre of having to play along with "Purple Haze" or just about any other cover of a top-40 pop single on your banjo is downright revolting and frightening, all at the same time.
The primary problem for the banjo player, whose "finger rolls" are designed for 4:4 timing, is having to play songs with other timings. Even 3:4 timing is challenging (eg. Darling Corey). Bluegrass works great on banjo because it is nearly always 4:4. Banjos also have a very unique sound, and do not sound good in most rock settings. I've been in bands before that decided to play other types of music. It was highly traumatic for me, the banjo player. As a banjo player, that meant' I either had to lay down my instrument and be content playing a different music on a totally different instrument, or...quit. It felt a little like your girl announcing out of the blue, that she had found a different type guy that interests her more, and that you are no longer her type. HE is now her "type." The only thing that may give you veto power over the change of musical direction of the band, is if you own all the sound equipment. hehe. (sorry, inside joke for the band members out there).
Anyway, I'm not saying this is precisely what happened in the case of the Original Dillards when they reached their fork in the road, but I will guarantee you that Douglas LOVED playing Bluegrass music with his "arch-top" banjo all the way to the very end. And thank goodness for the bluegrass banjo lovers among us that he did! It should be noted that what happened after the split is a rare outcome in music. Normally, when a great band breaks up, and two primary members go their own ways to pursue some of "their own projects," they BOTH end up, perhaps after some initial mild success...failing. What happened here is almost unheard of, since BOTH SUCCEEDED!
Rodney's groups produced an incredible fund of music that was highly influential on subsequent musicians, and had a LONG career at an international tourist destination Theme Park in Missouri. Douglas continued to create fantastic music with a series of different players and to cultivate and showcase young talent (eg. Billy Constable) that secured his place for all eternity among the very top banjo playing legends. One really has to include Douglas in the same sentence with the forefathers of Bluegrass banjo, such as Earl Scruggs, and also with those who exerted Extreme influence on the way subsequent generations of banjoists played. Some of the venerated members of that group include Alan Munde, Courtney Johnson, Bill Keith, Bela Fleck etc.
Oh wow! Barbie Benton! Hmm, looks-pre,Playboy! 😁? &, we see the “cross-over” efforts of the “executives”! Along with, the “lame - elites” attempt at “rapid - clogging”!! 😂🤣
Those dancers were having a genuinely great time; it was not a put on.
Love the Dillards, hate hippies!!!
Damn, those bunnies sure don't know how to flatfoot! (but they are cute so who cares)
Dang hippy chicks....
That is not Doug.
this is cool but why is it out of sync?
wish the chick in the purple would SIT DOWN.
Not really sure about the whole hillbillie-hippie thing.
+Marilla “Ladybug” Byrd OK, Ladybug.
The 70s?? Dude there is a coffee shop in Hendersonville, NC called the Black Bear. Let me tell you they both blend together more than you think on music night.
WE were VERY sure; we liked ALL kinds of real music equally. That's the beauty of music.