1968 on A&M
German pressing
vg+/vg+
A desert island record in my opinion. The Allmusic Guide gave it a full 5 stars.
"The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark initially grew out of a series of informal jams between Clark and Dillard but by the time they went into the studio, Dillard Clark, and their picking partners Bernie Leadon, Don Beck and David Jacksonhad honed their music to a fine point; there's still a breezy sense of freedom and discovery in this music, but the musicians mesh with one another beautifully, and while elements of bluegrass, vintage country, folk, and rock all inform this music, the songs (mostly written by Clark in collaboration with Dillard, Leadon or both) and arrangements integrate the pieces seamlessly. Doug Dillard's banjo and fiddle figure prominently in the arrangements, and his performances are expert and heartfelt, but Clark is the true cornerstone of this album; he rarely, if ever, sang this well in the studio, and the poetic sensibility and intelligent, graceful tone of the songs brought out the best in him, with "She Darked the Sun," "Something's Wrong," and "The Radio Song" standing proudly alongside anything in his catalog. The Dillard and Clark partnership proved short-lived, and their second and final album was a disappointing set dominated by covers, but The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark is one of the first, inarguable classics of country-rock. Time has been kinder to this album than most of the genre's founding works, and it's a work rooted in tradition while reveling in freedom and new ideas and making the most of them all.“ (All Music Guide 5 out of 5 stars)
