Live!!! Almost!!! was the Dillards’ second album for Elektra (Elektra EKL 265, mono; stereo copies are EKS 7265), released in September 1964. It was recorded at The Mecca in Los Angeles and produced by Jim Dickson, with Jac Holzman supervising for Elektra; Mitch Jayne and John Stewart wrote the liner notes.
The Dillards came from Salem, Missouri. Brothers Doug (banjo) and Rodney (guitar) Dillard, Dean Webb (mandolin) and Mitch Jayne (bass) moved to Los Angeles in 1962, signed with Elektra within weeks and were soon booked on The Andy Griffith Show, where they played a family of mountain musicians, the Darlings, from 1963 to 1966.
The thirteen tracks mix traditional pieces (“Black-Eyed Susie,” “Old Blue,” “Pretty Polly,” “Buckin’ Mule”) with Don Reno’s “Dixie Breakdown,” Bob Dylan’s “Walkin’ Down the Line” and the band’s own writing: “There Is a Time” and “Never See My Home Again” by Jayne and Rodney Dillard, “The Whole World Round” by J. Stuart and Jayne, Doug Dillard’s “Sinkin’ Creek,” and “Jody’s Tune” by Webb and Rodney Dillard.
Tracklist
- 1 Black-Eyed Susie - Recorded at the Mecca, Los Angeles 2:20
- 2 Never See My Home Again - Recorded at the Mecca, Los Angeles 3:23
- 3 There is a Time Source Recording 2:48
- 4 Old Blue - Recorded at the Mecca, Los Angeles 5:33
- 5 Sinkin' Creek - Recorded at the Mecca, Los Angeles 2:29
- 6 The Whole World Round Source Recording 3:27
- 7 Liberty! - Recorded at the Mecca, Los Angeles 2:27
- 8 Dixie Breakdown - Recorded at the Mecca, Los Angeles 2:27
- 9 Walkin' Down the Line - Recorded at the Mecca, Los Angeles 3:01
- 10 Jody's Tune - Recorded at the Mecca, Los Angeles 2:30
- 11 Pretty Polly - Recorded at the Mecca, Los Angeles 5:00
- 12 Taters in Sandy Land / Gimme Chaw T'baccer - Recorded at the Mecca, Los Angeles 3:43
- 13 Buckin’ Mule alt version 4:07
