Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Yes, that is a great performance.
Denver was good friends with the entire band, and he sang lead on a 1989 single released by the NGDB, "And So It Goes," which is a very good track from "Will The Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two." It should have been a hit.

 

I picked up a sealed copy of the 3-LP Dirt, Silver & Gold compilation several years ago. Fantastic packaging!
I haven't played the vinyl in a long time, but I do pull out my Minidisc "needle-drop" pretty regularly.

 

Replying to my own message here... I now see that "And So It Goes" made it to No. 14 on the Billboard country charts back in 1989 -- which is a very respectable showing. Still, it would have been nice to see Denver back in the pop charts at that point in his career. He was singing better than ever.

 

I saw Steve open for NGDB in the early-to-mid 70s.

 

The band was in Kent, Ohio last Saturday night and my friend opened the show for them. Being a fan of this band since my older brother first brought home "Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy", way back when it was first released back in 1970, it was a real pleasure to finally meet Jeff Hanna, Jimmy Fadden and John McEuen, whom I had previously met back around 2001, when he was touring the area with the great Jim Ibbotson. I also got to meet John Sebastian at that 2001 concert!

The band still sounds great but they really need Ibby there to make it complete, in my opinion.

The following is from a different concert from last year (2016), but this song was still one of the highlights of the show last week ...

 

By the way, in case you didn't know, but John McEuen has a new CD! It's not John singing on this song, but it's still an interesting bluegrass take on the late great Warren Zevon ...

 

That concert last Saturday night in Kent, Ohio, made me dig out all of my old albums and CD's of theirs and I had completely forgotten how many great tunes they did during those "The Dirt Band" years, like "An American Dream" with Linda Ronstadt , "Make A Little Magic" with the late Nicolette Larson, "Fire In The Sky" with Kenny Loggins, "In For The Night" and "Stand A Little Rain". All great "pop" tunes that should be revisited by any old fans of this band!

I also never realized (which is kind of shameful, especially since I played this record about a thousand times on the radio, when it was new), but that member Jeff Hanna wrote the song "Bless This Broken Road", that was a Grammy winning song for both him and Rascal Flatts. I guess since the song was originally released on their overlooked album "Acoustic", as "The Broken Road", it never even occurred to me, until Jeff brought it up at the concert!

 

One of the greatest live bands, I've ever seen and I've been a fan since Uncle Charlie. Love these guys.

 

all of their work is so great - but I want to emphasize just how diverse and interesting and conceptually linked "symphonian dream" is.
not a lot of mention for it here so far - but along with "uncle Charlie", they were works of art. IMO

 

Here's a lively and smoking rendition of The Battle of New Orleans , the old Johnny Horton hit.
Great performance and audio quality!


Battle of New Orleans-Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
youtube.com

 

Got the three "Circle" sets, but have sometimes felkt I should investigate Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy as well.

 

Not quite as engaging as was "Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy", but every bit as interesting of a "complete album" listening experience, "Symphonian Dream" is my second favorite album by them. Naturally, the original "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" album fits right in there, as VERY important, but since it features many guest musicians, I don't just call it a "Nitty Gritty Dirt Band" album, as it is clearly a Various Artists piece of work.

Someone earlier mentioned their "All The Good Times" album and how much they enjoyed it, which I'm naturally very happy for them, but for me personally, that album has absolutely no place literally being between "Uncle Charlie" and "Dream", as it hasn't got any of the heart, soul (or better yet), feel of either of those classic albums do. "Good Times" has always sounded like a bunch of songs just thrown together, where the other two albums had continuity with beautiful ebb and flow.

Much of the "Symphonian Dream" album was recorded at Leon Russell's house/studio and he is even featured on the following song ...

 

Buy "Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy" today and thank me later, my friend!

 

Just have, so probably will when it arrives!!!

 

That's great and you are truly going to LOVE that album! I only recommend one thing when you finally get to sit down with it and that is, to honestly give it your full undivided attention, as you will be taken on a musical journey, like no other.

 

By the way, many of you may not know this, but Dean Torrence (of "Jan & Dean"), designed nine different "Nitty Gritty Dirt Band" album covers, three of which were nominated for Grammys, for "Best Album Cover Design". Dean started his "KittyHawk Graphic Designs" company, way back in the '60's and he eventually designed over two-hundred album covers!

Any guesses on which was his very first album cover design?

ANSWER: The Turtles "Golden Hits"

 

i enjoy the entire dirt band catalog, which by the way, took some time, effort and money to acquire.

"let's go" was the most difficult to get, and i still, to this day, have never seen it used or new, in a store.

it's a shame that their very first album is not on CD, and if it is and i missed it, someone please point me the proper direction.

 

Good band. I have Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy, Dirt, Silver and Gold, and the 2nd Volume to the Twenty Great Years on Vinyl, and have listened to some of their other albums from borrowing them from the library.

 

I own their entire catalog as well, some on vinyl, some on CD, including their super rare 78 rpm of "Mr. Bojangles", which has a home in my Seeburg M100A jukebox from 1949! I found the first three albums the hardest to find, but I finally did, on one of my old radio station library digs. I vividly remember buying "Let's Go" on vinyl, when it was brand new and of course loving it, as they were covering the likes of Marshall Crenshaw (Maryann) and Andrew Gold (Heartaches In Heartaches), which was a great treat!

That very first, self-titled album on CD is a rare one (I do not own that one on CD), but it was released in 1998 and only in Japan.
The catalog number is: Toshiba EMI Ltd ‎– TOCP-3476.
There seems to be three used copies of it for sale, one claiming to be NM, starting at $125 dollars, on Discogs

 

Arrived, played, loved. Many many thanks!!!!!

 

That makes me happy that you enjoyed it, you are VERY welcome!

 

Yesterday I was playing my United Artists LP pressing of "Dirt, Silver & Gold", (which I also have on the UK BGO CD) and while I realize that there are some different mixes used on that album, compared to the original versions of the songs from "Uncle Charlie", some of the songs on "Dirt, Silver & Gold" sound terrible. "House At Pooh Corner" (one of my favorites), is missing some of the instruments and it sounds very muddy and the same goes for "Some Of Shelly's Blues". Mr. Bojangles is a different recording, which sounds like they used some of the original basic backing tracks, then they added some new instrumentation and Jeff Hanna clearly re-recorded his lead vocal. I guess that I had forgotten just HOW different those tracks were on that "Dirt, Silver & Gold" album!

Here is "House At Pooh Corner", from the "Uncle Charlie" album, where it sounds great ...

 

Top 10 on the country charts.

 

Before NGDB recorded 'Fishin In The Dark,' Ed Bruce did an enjoyable version of his own on the 1986 "Night Things" album.

 

I recently heard an interview with John McEuen on the radio to promote his current solo tour. He left NGDB in Fall 2017, but the interview didn't give specific details to explain why the decision was made.

NGDB became a registered business entity in 1989 in Tennessee.
NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND, INC.
Initial Filing Date: 01/31/1989

According to this online article,
https://www.nashville.com/john-mceuen-immediate-departure-nitty-gritty-dirt-band/

“In assessing the situation surrounding our performances, business disagreements and ongoing difference of opinions, the timing is appropriate for my departure. As a catalyst to my decision, in December 2015, I received confirmation from Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Inc. that I was an ‘employee’– no longer a member of the corporation that I helped to build,” stated McEuen.

In another article on Relix, McEuen sheds more light on the decision.
John McEuen Reflects on Departure from The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

McEuen also says he has been left out of several critical decisions for the last couple of years, including matters related to touring and finances. He lists a long liturgy of grievances, including the fact he wasn’t allowed to sell his own CDs at the merch table, his music was being ignored as far as both concerts and recordings were concerned, his arrangements had been shunned, the band refused to vary the set list or incorporate video into their performances, and his opinions in general were ignored and overlooked. “We couldn’t make anything new,” he argues. “Our time is limited here, and I felt like it was important to move ahead. We should have things that were new, that people could talk about, and not just things we did so long ago.”

“...I got my brother to manage us and he got us a record deal, and we formed a corporation and put out the first album. I was president of that corporation for 21 years until I left in the ‘90s. Jeff Hanna once said to me, ‘You don’t have to put a banjo part over this because we have someone else to do it. That was in 1985 and it was a tough day for me. But again, it was about difference of opinion.”