Down To The Nitty Gritty
From camping it up with The Teddybear's Picnic to becoming heritage music curators on a par with the Smithsonian is quite a leap, but the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band made it. The earliest line-up, in 1965, included Jackson Browne, who bailed for a solo career before the first album. Chris Darrow passed in and out before Uncle Charlie, which was when perseverance (and talent) started to pay off.
It's impossible to overstate these guys' importance, which is strangely counterbalanced by their relative lack of fame.
They'd passed through the core American music genres; jugband, bluegrass, folk, pop, country, blues, rock n' roll, before curating (and for once, the word is used correctly) the epochal Will The Circle Remain Unbroken; that rare thing, a precious historical document that's also a lot of fun. It was a project that was only possible because the NGDB approached Nashville with respect and humility - qualities that have a bearing on their low showbiz presence.
Since then, a little bland AOR, and a slight return to the roots they never left, but here's their early œuvre [French - egg - Ed.], sounding fresh and timeless and fun and beautiful all at the same time.
Oh - and beautiful album artwork, too.
Nice selection of the NGDB albums, however, you left out my favorite album "Alive!" which came out between "Rare Junk" and "Uncle Charlie". Any album with a song like Fat Boys (Can Make It in Santa Monica) is a classic.
ReplyDeleteI notice you did not post links (no big deal since I have all the NGDB albums).
I don't have Alive, but I'm unsurprised it's your favorite.
DeleteI'll wait until someone who doesn't have them wants them before I upload them.
Hello Mr III,
ReplyDeleteMy first Dirt Band album was Uncle Charlie, and then I was hooked until they got all MOR schmaltzy in the 1980s
I don't have the earlier ones. Pretty please?
Mr Plowmanslunch, your request is a model of civility and correct form. All too frequently these days, music blogs are patronized by - to put it frankly - cheap, grasping freeloaders with the manners of pigs in a trough. What a pleasure it is - both to me and the other three or four guys - to read your request! Almost a throwback to happier, more genteel times, when gentlemen removed the dishes from the sink when taking a piss.
DeleteIt is, therefore, with the greatest pleasure that I append the requested linkage.
I beg to remain, etc. etc.
(sign this for me please Cody - and don't forget my enema this PM!!! PS delete this part of the comment)
Used to be a huge NGDB fan. Always thought of them more as being John McEun's band. When Hanna started to yield more of an influence was when the ROCK/POP influences emerged. Sadly, that's when it appears they started to make the real bucks. Thanks for the shares, Farq. Had a few ofmthese, but nice to reacquire and get the rest, too.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Mr. Mac. If anyone would like to upload the live album, I'm sure there'd be interest.
DeleteThank you! I remember liking the "Pure Dirt" compilation quite a lot, so I'm
ReplyDeletelooking forward to playing through this whole bundle.
Here is a link to one of the Nitties' not yet mentioned 'Circlin' Back; Celebrating 50 Years' from 2015-09-14: https://we.tl/t-6M2DAofxNE
ReplyDeleteThis is on WETransfer as a reminder of how we miss the deliciously wet Cody - please return her from her banishment
Yours aye, JJWombat
Gee, what a swell crowd we gots today! Must be th' pigs feet à la mode. That and I rinsed out th' cuspidor.
ReplyDeleteYour unending generosity and exemplary etiquette is much appreciated Mr. III.
ReplyDeleteYour humble follower,
Mr Dave
Merci, Dave!
DeleteHere's Alive! (1969) @320
ReplyDeletehttps://www31.zippyshare.com/v/PqwaXLGT/file.html
Mucho gracias, Senorita!
DeleteI was just gonna do that! Glad you did.
DeleteHuge fan from the moment I first saw their jugband act at the Ash Grove in L.A. sometime in 1966. My friend and I instantly went to the hardware store to pick up a washboard and laundry tub. We didn't get far with those things though. When "Uncle Charlie" came out I was thrilled ... I still think it one of the great folk-rock LPs, one that isn't super-familiar to people now despite the showcasing of "Mr. Bojangles." In short they had a long history prior to the "Circle" discs that isn't well known, and that they themselves pay little attention to as in their much-debased form they travel the state fair and rodeo circuit endlessly. Sad,
ReplyDeleteWow.....The Grits come alive at Santa Monica Civic? Who's the curly haired blonde guy that used to be in Humble Pie, right?
ReplyDeleteThat's Gene Wilder, FGW.
DeleteThey kicked John McEuen out of the band, and now continue to play the same set list year after year.
ReplyDeleteAm I going blind? Where is the link?
ReplyDeleteSilvio. Silvio. C'mere. Come to poppa. Lissen. Lissen to me now. You're a good boy. I love ya. Ya know that, right? When did I ever gyp ya? Tell me when. I never gypped ya. Dere's always a link. Always. Sometimes, ya jus' gotta woik for it. Ju'a liddle bid. Dis time, it wus in brackets. You know brackets. Look in the brackets. It's dere. Trust me on dis. Okay? We okay? Okay.
DeleteOh Farquhar, my beloved poppa...lissened to your kind words and they revealed the truth...I love ya too...follow you always...thanks...
Delete