In 1965 Missouri-born Gene Clark was riding the crest of unprecedented success and adulation as a member of the Byrds. Anointed as America’s answer to the Beatles, the Byrds topped the charts with folk-rock anthems like “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and “Eight Miles High.” Gene was front and center as tambourine player, singer and principal songwriter for the group. But in early 1966 he flew the Byrds’ coop. A gifted songwriter, expectations ran high for a stellar solo career, but those hopes were dashed when his debut solo album and single both failed to chart. Dropped by Columbia Records the following year, Gene’s career remained in limbo until teaming up with banjo player extraordinaire Doug Dillard. 

 

What emerged from a series of informal jam sessions in and around Laurel Canyon was a loose-knit group of pickers seeking to break bluegrass music out of its traditional confines and redefine it in a contemporary country-rock context. The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark is a groundbreaking album that helped define country-rock and set the template not only for that genre but the entire alt.country, Americana and Roots Rock movements of the ’90s. Together with future Eagle Bernie Leadon, who co-wrote “Train Leaves Here This Morning” with Gene (featured both on the Fantastic Expedition album and later on the Eagles’ debut release), the Dillard & Clark merger represents a high-water mark in Gene Clark’s impressive canon of recordings and one of the most satisfying periods in his often troubled career. 

 

The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark ranks among a handful of seminal 1960s country-rock experiments. “I think we made our mark in country rock,” muses Doug Dillard. “We didn’t make the charts but we sure influenced a lot of people.” To insure that their influence carries on