American Dream

Buck Norris sings "American Dream" by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band".
Founded in California during 1965, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has lasted longer than virtually any other country-based rock group of their era. Younger contemporaries of the Byrds, they played an almost equally important role in the transformation from folk-rock into country-rock, and were an influence on such bands as the Eagles and Alabama. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's beginnings lay with the New Coast Two, a folk duo consisting of Jeff Hanna (guitar, vocals) and Bruce Kunkel (guitar, washtub bass), formed while both were in high school in the early '60s. By the time the two were college students, they were having informal jams at a Santa Monica, CA, guitar shop called McCabe's. It was there that they met Ralph Barr (guitar, washtub bass), Les Thompson (vocals, mandolin, bass, guitar, banjo, percussion), Jimmie Fadden (harmonica, vocals, drums, percussion), and Jackson Browne (guitar, vocals). This lineup became the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in late 1965, and began playing jug band music at local clubs. At that time, Southern California was undergoing a musical renaissance, courtesy of the folk-rock movement and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fit in with these other folkies-turned-rockers. Browne left after a few months to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by John McEuen (banjo, fiddle, mandolin, steel guitar, vocals), the younger brother of the group's new manager, Bill McEuen. With Bill McEuen's guidance, the group landed a recording contract with Liberty Records and released their debut album, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, in April of 1967. Their first single, "Buy for Me the Rain," became a modest hit and got the band some television appearances.
A second album, Ricochet, released seven months later, was a critical success but a commercial failure. The group now found itself at an impasse over the issue of whether to go electric. During the dispute, Kunkel, who wanted to add an electric guitar to their sound, exited the lineup. He was replaced by Chris Darrow (guitar, fiddle). Ironically, by mid-1968 the group had gone electric, and also added drums to their sound. Their first electric album, Rare Junk, released in June of 1968, was also a commercial failure. The band was barely working, a far cry from their success of a year earlier. The band persevered, however, and released Alive! in May of 1969. The album was another commercial disaster, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band closed up shop soon after.
The members scattered for several months, but six months later the group was back for another try; the new lineup included McEuen, Hanna, Fadden, Thompson, and Jim Ibbotson (guitars, accordion, drums, percussion, piano, vocals). They returned to their record company with a demand for control over their recordings and the record company agreed. Bill McEuen became the group's producer as well as its manager. The first result of this new era in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's history was Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy, issued in 1970. Rooted tightly in their jug band sound, the album had a country feel but no trace of the vaudeville and novelty numbers that had appeared on their earlier records. The album yielded what is the group's best-known single, their cover of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles," and suddenly, the band had a following bigger than anything they'd known during their brief bout of success in 1967. Their next album, All The Good Times, released in early 1972, had an even more countrified feel.
By 1972, several rock bands, most notably the Byrds and the Beau Brummels, had gone to Nashville seeking credibility from the country music community there, only to be received poorly by that community and to have their resulting work ignored by the press and public. At the suggestion of manager Bill McEuen, however, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band went to Nashville in 1972 and recorded a selection of traditional country numbers with the likes of Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, Mother Maybelle Carter, and other members of country and bluegrass music's veteran elite. Some of the veteran Nashville stars were skeptical and suspicious at first of the bandmembers and their amplified instruments, but the ice was broken when they saw how respectful the band was toward them and their work, and their music, as well as how serious they were about their own music. The resulting triple album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, released in January of 1973, became a million-seller and elicited positive reviews from both the rock and country music press.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Buck
• Norris
• Classic
• Country
• Nitty
• Gritty
• Dirt
• Band

[WEIRDALROXMYSOX]

LOL I don't, & never have. I wear my Star of David and I'm good.

[bucknorrismusic]

What a waste, why wear their feet for good luck then? LOL

[WEIRDALROXMYSOX]

LOL How true, I have 3 rabbits [actually they belong to my 3 younger siblings] they like music, but can't even pick a Mandolin.

[bucknorrismusic]

Every where you go there you are! And other humans. That is the problem. Still I would rather be a human than a Rabbit.

PS: They don't make guitars for Rabbits.

[WEIRDALROXMYSOX]

They're everywhere ya know. Even Oklahoma has problems I'm sure. Yeah I know about that story, something just sounds wrong about the whole thing... I know nobody's perfect, but still...

[bucknorrismusic]

I don't know, there seems to be a lot of crooked politicians in NJ in fact even the Rabbis have problems with them! LOL

[WEIRDALROXMYSOX]

Hey, if you're ever in NJ during the summer when that Farmer's market is going... Just bring acoustic! :)

[bucknorrismusic]

Thanks Josh. We ought to meet there and just jam on the beech! :)

[WEIRDALROXMYSOX]

I'm lovin' this tune! Great job!

[bucknorrismusic]

Me too! Thanks Frank.