The Music of NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen iterations over the years, including a period between from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded as The Dirt Band. Constant members since the early days are Singer-guitarist Jimmie Fadden and drummer Jeff Hanna. Multi-instrumentalist John McEuen was with the band from 1966 to 1986 and returned in 2001. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter joined the band in 1977.

The band's hits include a cover version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles". Albums include 1972's Will the Circle Be Unbroken, featuring such traditional country artists Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Merle Travis and Jimmy Martin. A follow-up album based on the same concept, Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two was released in 1989, was certified gold and won two Grammy Awards and was named Album of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.

History 1966-1969
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was founded around 1966 in Long Beach California by singer-guitarist Jeff Hanna and washtub bass player Bruce Kunkel who performed as the New Coast Two. Trying to, in the words of the band's website, "figure out how not to have to work for a living," Hanna and Kunkel joined informal jam sessions at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Long Beach, California. There they met several multi-instrumentalists: guitarist-washboard bassist Ralph Barr, guitarist-clarinetist Les Thompson, harmonicist and jug player Jimmie Fadden and guitarist-vocalist Jackson Browne. As the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the six men started as a jug band and joined the burgeoning southern California folk rock, playing in local clubs, wearing pinstripe suits and cowboy boots.

Browne was only in the band for a few months before he left to concentrate on a solo career as a singer-songwriter. He was replaced by John McEuen on banjo, fiddle, mandolin and steel guitar. McEuen's older brother, William, was the group's manager, and he helped the band get signed with Liberty Records, which released the group's debut album, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1967. The band's first single, "Buy for Me the Rain," was a Top 40 hit, and the band gained exposure on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, as well as concerts with such disparate artists as Jack Benny and The Doors.

A second album, Ricochet was released later in the year and fared less successfully than their first. Kunkel wanted the band to "go electric", and exited the group in the dispute. He was replaced by guitarist-fiddler Chris Darrow (guitar, fiddle).

By 1968, the band went electric anyway, and added drums. The first electric album, Rare Junk, was a commercial flop, as was their next, Alive!.

The band continued to gain exposure, mainly as a novelty act, making a cameo appearance in the 1969 musical western film, Paint Your Wagon, performing, "Hand Me Down That Can o' Beans". The band also played Carnegie Hall as an opening act for Bill Cosby and played in a jam session with Dizzy Gillespie.

1969-1976
The group took a break in 1969, reforming in Aspen, Colorado with Jimmy Ibbotson replacing Chris Darrow. With William McEuen as producer and a renegotiated contract that gave the band more artistic freedom, the band recorded and released Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy, issued in 1970. Embracing a straight, traditional country and bluegrass sound, the album included the group's best-known single, a cover version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles".

The next album, All The Good Times, released in early 1972, was similar in feel.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band next sought to solidify its reputation as a country band, heading for Nashville, Tennessee and recording the triple album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken with Nashville stalwarts Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs and Jimmy Martin, country pioneer Mother Maybelle Carter, folk-blues guitarist Doc Watson and others. The title is taken from the song, "Can the Circle Be Unbroken (Bye and Bye)", as adapted by A. P. Carter, and reflects the album's theme of trying to tie together two generations of musicians: long-haired boys from California and older veterans of the middle American establishment. The track, "I Saw the Light" with Acuff singing, was a hit, and the album received two nominations for Grammy Award. Veteran fiddler Vassar Clements was introduced to a wider audience by the album. The band also toured Japan.

Les Thompson left the group, making the band a foursome. The next album, Stars & Stripes Forever, was a live album that mixed old hits such as "Buy for Me the Rain" and "Mr. Bojangles" with Circle collaborations (fiddler Vassar Clements was a guest performer) and long storytelling spoken-word monologues. A studio album, Dream, was also released.

In July 1974, the band was among the headline acts at the Ozark Music Festival at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Missouri. Some estimates have put the crowd count at 350,000 people, which would make this one of the largest music events in history. At another concert, the band opened for the rock band Aerosmith.

1976-1981: The Dirt Band
Jimmy Ibbotson left the band at the end of 1975, leaving Fadden, Hanna and McEuen. John Cable and Jackie Clark were brought in on guitar and bass. The band shortened its name around this time to The Dirt Band, and released its first greatest hits compilation, Dirt, Silver & Gold, in 1976.

The Dirt Band was the first American group allowed by the Soviet Union to tour Russia, playing concerts and a televised appearance that is estimated to hve been watched by 145 million people.

Pianist Bob Carpenter joined in 1977, and the group's sound became more pop and rock oriented. Saxophonist Al Garth, drummer Merel Bregante and bassist Richard Hathaway were also added. Jeff Hanna became the group's producer.

Albums during this period included The Dirt Band and An American Dream. The single "American Dream" with Linda Ronstadt reached No. 13 on the pop charts. The band also appeared on "Saturday Night Live", and, billed as The Toot Uncommons, provided backing for Steve Martin on his million-selling novelty tune, "King Tut."

The albums Make a Little Magic and Jealousy were released in 1980 and 1981, with the single "Make a Little Magic" featuring Nicolette Larson reaching the Top 20 on the pop chart.

1982-1989: Nitty Gritty again
The band returned to its original name and it country roots, with Jimmy Ibbotson rejoining for recording session in Nashville, Tennessee for the album Let's Go, which yielded the hit "Dance Little Jean" which was a Top 10 country hit. The next album, 1984's Plain Dirt Fashion had the band's first No. 1 hit, "Long Hard Road".

There were two more No. 1's: "Modern Day Romance" (1985) and "Fishin' 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).

Performances included the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and the inaugural Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois. A 20-year anniversary concert at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado featured such guests as Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson and John Prine.

John McEuen left the band at the end of 1986, replaced by Bernie Leadon, formerly of the Eagles. He was with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1987 and 1988. The band's 19th album, Hold On featured the No. 1 singles "Fishin' in the Dark" and "Baby's Got a Hold on Me." The band appeared on the "Today Show" and the "Tonight Show" in the same week, and toured Europe.

In 1989, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band again returned to Nashville, to record Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two. Returnees from the first Circle included Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements and Roy Acuff. Johnny Cash and the Carter Family, Emmylou Harris and Ricky Skaggs joined the sessions, as did John Prine, Levon Helm, John Denver, John Hiatt, Bruce Hornsby and former Byrds Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. This album won two Grammy Awards and was named Album of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards for Best Country Vocal Performance (duo or group) and the Country Music Association's Album of the Year Award in 1989.

1990-2000
As a foursome of Hanna, Fadden, Ibbotson and Carpenter, the band again toured the Soviet Union, as well as Canada, Europe, and Japan. A 25th anniversary concert was recorded on Live Two Five in Red Deer, Alberta, produced by T-Bone Burnett.

In 1992, the band collaborated with Irish folk music's The Chieftains for the Grammy Award-winning Another Country. Other efforts included the album Acoustic, spotlighting their "wooden" sound, a duet with Karla Bonoff, "You Believed in Me" for the MCA Olympic compilation, One Voice, and a cover version of Buddy Holly's "Maybe Baby" for the Decca tribute album, Not Fade Away. The Christmas Album was released in 1997, followed by Bang! Bang! Bang! in 1999.

The band 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 Dave Barry's book Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway), which in turn led to increased visibility for the band.

Listen to their songs.