Customer Reviews

Everybody on the Truck!: The Story of the Dillards (The Life and Times of the Dillards)

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"Everybody on the Truck!" is an unabashed valentine to the unfairly unsung Dillards, who were bluegrass when bluegrass wasn't cool and country rock when there wasn't such a thing. As breezily told by Lee Grant, The Dillards' story is refreshingly devoid of raging egos, self-destruction and bitter ends. You'll come away from this compelling biography knowing, perhaps identifying with, and most assuredly liking The Dillards.

Grant sketches the original Dillards - brothers Douglas and Rodney Dillard, Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne - as proud sons of Missouri who longed to set the world afire with their hell-for-leather approach to bluegrass music. Grant's account of the band's misadventures during their go-for-broke journey from the Show Me state to California in late 1962 is funnier and more unbelievable than anything Hollywood could concoct. Against all odds, The Dillards enjoyed nearly instant but well-deserved success soon after reaching Los Angeles, landing a major recording contract and what would become a recurring role on "The Andy Griffith Show".

Grant devotes a good chunk of his book to his subject's indelible association with the Darlings, the eerily deadpan but musically gifted hillbilly clan The Dillards played on six episodes of "TAGS." Interestingly, The Darlings are the source of lingering ambivalence for Rodney Dillard, the group's integrity-conscious musical heart, who wasn't wild, at first, about playing a hayseed stereotype.

Between 1963 and 1970, The Dillards produced five critically-acclaimed albums, rubbed shoulders with the likes of Perry Como, Judy Garland, the Byrds and Bob Dylan and seldom rested from public appearances. "Truck" lets The Dillards themselves analyze the music and their somewhat anachronistic place in the swingin' Sixties. The insights and anecdotes of Mitch Jayne, who played bass and dispensed folksy humor in the role of group spokesman, are particularly entertaining.

To paraphrase Jayne, this "Truck" will run. Hitch a ride and hold on.

This book is an excellent reference for one of bluegrass music's legendary bands, the Dillards. Anyone interested in learning about Rodney, Doug, Dean and Mitch need to get a copy of this book, and fast. Lee Grant has provided us Dillards junkies with a veritable "bible" on the lives and careers of the boys. It is an engaging read. When I bought my copy, I read it straight through in one sitting! For me, that is a rarity. :-)

Suggestion: put on a copy of their CD, "There Is A Time", while reading this book. See why Briscoe Darling once said, "they's all keyed up"!

They were, and you'll be, too.

Lee Grant's fresh southern (but not too southern) writing style lights up the page. This book is a real joy to read. I highly recommend it. I am eagerly awaiting another Lee Grant book. I have heard rumors of a novel in the works. I am waiting anxiously to see if this is a rumor or plain old fact.

GG

I'm a big Dillard and Andy Griffith Fan.
This book provided information I other wise would have not have access to. I have read everything I could find on the group, but It never told the whole story and left me longing for more.
Lee filled that hole. Nicely laid out, kept a smooth timeline, plenty of
funny stories.
I recommend this book to anyone.
On top of that Lee is a fine person to do business with. The book was shipped promptly and in great condition.

Thanks for a great book.

John
Chepatchet , R.I.