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Revision as of 21:43, 30 October 2005 by 12.208.30.14 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since the original founding in California in 1965. The group's membership has had at least a dozen iterations over the years, including five years, between Dirt, Silver & Gold (1976) and Let's Go (1983), when the band performed and recorded as The Dirt Band. The band's best-known song was a 1970 cover of Jerry Jeff Walker's folk song "Mr Bojangles". Their greatest critical acclaim has been for a 1971 album of country and folk standards, recorded in Nashville in collaboration with more traditional country artists, entitled Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
"Will the Circle be Unbroken was a collaboration album recorded in 1972 by the Dirt band with Traditional artists such as Mother Maybell Carter, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, Merle Watson, Jimmy Martin, Junior Huskey, Normal Blake and Pete Oswald Kirby (known to Grand Ole Opry fans as Bashful Brother Oswald). Vasser Clements, not widely known then, was tapped for fiddle duties which led to greater noteriety and success for him. The album featured classic Bluegrass and Folk standards written by A.P Carter, Doc Watson and others. The title comes from the song of the same name but indicates what the Dirt Band was trying to acheive. The long haired boys from California were making an effort to reach out to the older veterans of American music and unite them in a divided America. Two other editions were released, one in the 80's and another after Sept. 11, 2001.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's peak in popularity – at least on the radio — came during the mid- to late-1980s, when they charted a string of successful songs. Among the lot were three No. 1 singles: "Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)" (1984); "Modern Day Romance" (1985); and "Fishing in the Dark" (1987). Other successful songs were "Dance Little Jean" (1983); "I Love Only You" (1984); "High Horse" (1985); "Home Again in My Heart," "Partners, Brothers and Friends" and "Stand a Little Rain" (1986); "Fire in the Sky," "Baby's Got a Hold on Me" and "Oh What a Love" (1987); "Working Man (Nowhere to Go)" and "I've Been Lookin'" (1988); and "Down That Road Tonight" and "When it's Gone" (1989).
They briefly entered the pop culture again in April of 1992, when they were the unwitting subject of one of George H. W. Bush's malapropisms, referring to the group as the "Nitty Ditty Nitty Gritty Great Bird" at a country music awards ceremony in Nashville:
- "I said to them there's another one that the Nitty Ditty Nitty Gritty Great Bird and it says if you want to see a rainbow you've got to stand a little rain."
This unusual phrasing was repeatedly used as an example of Bush's garbled syntax (notably, in the book Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway), which in turn led to increased visibility for the band.
The current members are:
- Jeff Hanna on guitar, washboard, and vocals;
- Jimmie Fadden on drums, harmonica, and vocals;
- Jimmy Ibbotson on guitar, mandolin, bass, and vocals;
- Bob Carpenter on keyboard, accordion, and vocals' and
- John McEuen on banjo, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin.
External link
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