Doug Dillard Expedition - Live At The Hotel Fremont, Las Vegas, September 1970

  by Julie Cruickshank

published: 4 / 5 / 2024

Label: Select Label
Format: N/A

intro

Julie Cruickshank is impressed by a legendary 1970 performance from bluegrass band The Doug Dillard Expedition, captured live at the Fremont Hotel, Las Vegas.

Doug Dillard, of American Bluegrass family The Dillards, was one of the premier banjo players of the late 20th century. In 1969 Dillard brought together Roger Bush on bass and vocals, Billy Ray Lathum on banjo, guitar and vocals and Byron Berline contributing fiddle, mandolin and vocals, calling his band The Doug Dillard Expedition. The combination of these musicians, some of the finest doing the rounds of the bluegrass/country/folk circuit, produced a wildly exciting live sound captured on this newly-released CD ‘The Doug Dillard Expedition Live at the Fremont Hotel, Las Vegas, 1970’. The album opens with the 30-second ‘Fire On the Mountain’, followed by Bill Monroe classic ‘Uncle Pen’. A frenzied ‘Dixie Breakdown’ showcases the virtuoso musicianship of the quartet, stirring up whoops and hollers from the appreciative audience. Impressive vocal harmonies drive the song ‘Singing All Day, Dinner On the Ground’. The standard ‘Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down’ is played with a skill worthy of this famous song, while ’Orange Blossom Special’ whips up the audience once again as Byron Berline’s fast and furious fiddle takes centre stage. Dillard and Berline shine in ‘Bugle Call Rag’, Dillard’s banjo and Berline’s fiddle urging each other on, duelling through the song, ramping up the excitement. ‘Dear Old Dixie’ features more exceptional banjo playing, while ‘Cumberland Gap’ is controlled yet laid-back in its execution. Dillard breezes through ‘Down the Road’, a masterful performance of one of the banjo’s most difficult tunes. ‘Will You Be Loving Another Man’, ‘Wheel Hoss’ and ‘Lee Highway Blues’ bring the album to a close, these popular classics played with the reverence they deserve. ‘The Doug Dillard Expedition Live at the Fremont Hotel, Las Vegas, 1970’ is a wonderful record of a great performance, and kudos to Floating World Records who have released it. Only bass player Roger Bush is now still alive, so this CD stands as a tribute to Doug Dillard, Byron Berline and Billy Ray Lathum, their talents captured forever, recorded for posterity over 50 years ago yet still sounding new and fresh. A must-buy for any lovers of country and bluegrass.

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