Search - Dillards :: Let It Fly

1st reunion w/ excellent new songs and great old harmonies

07/03/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Let It Fly tells of how they were and how they all got back together. I believe this album was the first of the reunion.It reminds me of the live performances I enjoyed back in 19-mumblemumble."

The Dillards Touch The Sky On "Let It Fly"

Kevin Cook | McDonough, Georgia USA | 11/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Make no mistake: This ain't your daddy's Dillards. "Let It Fly" is slicker than deer guts on a door knob, to borrow a phrase from Mitch Jayne. But in this case, that's a very good thing. Trumping Nashville's "hat acts" at their own game, the Dillards have put their unique stamp on a superb modern country album.It's Old Home Week as the core Dillards - Rodney Dillard, Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne - are reunited with honorary Dillards Byron Berline and Herb Pedersen (who also produced) on what, for my bucks, is easily the group's best latter-day studio album.Berline's rollicking fiddle punctuates "Darlin' Boys," a catchy ode to the Dillards' television alter egos. (The song earned the group their first Grammy nomination in 1990.) Pedersen lends his divine tenor to the gently chugging "Old Train" and to gorgeous harmonies with Rodney on nearly every track.The musicianship is superb. Dean's mandolin playing, the most mellifluous in the business, shines on the sad sing-along "Missing You." Pedersen and Dillard-in-training Steve Cooley, both awful good on anything with strings, get to strut their chops on "Ozark Nights," a lively nod to the group's humble roots.Rodney's robust lead vocals are a revelation. A completely guileless singer, he has always sounded like he means every single word he sings. On demanding songs like "Tears Won't Dry in the Rain," Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings" and the title track, his voice sounds heartbreakingly earnest. Rodney has matured into a great country singer who deserves his due.The album ends with the downright strange and inventive "Wizard of Song." In his delightful rusty drawl, Mitch voices the role of a cynical Music Wiz tutoring a pesky songwriting wannabe. Rodney chimes in with a tongue-twisting rap that hilariously skewers country music cliches and even references TV sister Charlene, she of the famously sensitive tear ducts. Instead of making her cry, though, this one would make Charlene bust a gut laughing."

"Pure" bluegrass this isn't...but...

Paterfamilias | Center of Cardinal Nation (StL) | 03/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...this is a delightful selection of some of eclectic country/rock/newgrass sounds, played with true virtuosity by exceedingly fine musicians.



Not their top album if you are new to the Dillards, (Get everything they recorded for Elektra first) but for the Dillards aficionado, a very enjoyable listen.



If you like "pure" bluegrass, go buy a Bill Monroe album, and quit dissing my boys...(Bluegrass purists have been dumping on the Dillards since I was 5 years old, (even saying that Doug couldn't pick a banjo that fast...the recording had to be sped up), but for my dollar, "Pickin' And Fiddlin'" is one of the best pure bluegrass albums ever.)



These guys aren't for everyone...just people with good taste."