Desperados by John Einarson

Author:John Einarson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cooper Square Press
Published: 2001-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

*So called because they were designed by Hank Williams’ tailor, Nudie Cohen.

*“Girls Together Outrageously,” a band of extremely adventurous young women well known in the rock world for their excesses.

7

White Line Fever: 1970

It was all new and I didn’t have a clue. Amos Garrett didn’t know how to put his instrument out there in front of electric instruments. Buddy Cage definitely didn’t, N. D. Smart was a psychotic redneck drummer, and Jim Colegrove was stoned all the time. And that’s who we were. It was just completely incompatible. But our karma was such that on the occasional night in the recording studio we made some music that’s a little bit timeless and of that era.

—Ian Tyson, on his move to an electric format with the Great Speckled Bird

Following up their groundbreaking Wheatstraw Suite album was no mean feat for the Dillards, but in January 1970 they released Copperfields. “Copperfields was the same kind of direction as Wheatstraw,” notes Herb Pedersen, “but we used different players and had some different ideas. I think Wheatstraw had a little more of an edge to it. But I liked them both.” Relying even less on their bluegrass roots this time out, Copperfields was more of a country rock effort, once again utilizing orchestration to great effect. Drummer Paul York had been added to the group between sessions, and his presence gave the music more country swing. Rodney Dillard deferred to John Boylan to handle production, though the singer continued to play a major role in shaping the sound. “That’s when I learned that a producer could put his name on an album, stay on the phone making other business while you’re recording, and never really have a hand in what’s going on,” smirks Dillard. “John Boylan ‘produced’ it. He was Linda Ronstadt’s manager. Herb and I would be doing something, look up to see if John got the take—and he’d be on the phone. So we just did it ourselves.”

Copperfields opens with Harry Nilsson and Bill Martin’s whimsical “Rainmaker,” and the track set the tone of the album. “In Our Time” features the group’s unique harmonies, as does a remake of “Old Man At The Mill,” from their debut album, which is a traditional bluegrass arrangement. The most overtly country track, “Woman Turn Around,” is followed by a Beatles cover, a wonderful a cappella version of “Yesterday.” “That was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” acknowledges Dillard. “We were just warming up. We did it like ‘I’ll Fly Away.’ That was our signature. All of a sudden we found ourselves having to put an a cappella song on each album. We were just goofing around, and it sounded so pretty, we just recorded it. To this day I just grin whenever I hear it.” Side one closes with one of the most daring numbers in the Dillards’ catalog, a Dave Brubeck—inspired jazz number, “Brother John,” incorporating bluegrass instruments. The song works marvelously, with Dillard and Dean Webb (mandolin) taking solos. “ ‘Brother John’ was Herbie’s thing,” cites Dillard.

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