Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol III

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has existed in one form or another since 1966, when they formed this

bluegrass/Americana amalgamation and rose to fame with their hit version of "Mr. Bojangles". In 1972, they recorded the first volume of this series, mixing traditional bluegrass and Nashville country artists with West Coast hippies - something that was not very popular in the Vietnam era. But, they proved their love for traditional music and brought in such stalwarts as the legendary Mother Maybelle Carter, Roy Acuff, Merle Travis, Earl Scruggs and many more. This third volume was done in 2002 and includes some of the same people - Scruggs, Doc Watson, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements as well as larger-than-life characters like Johnny Cash and his wife June (daughter of Maybelle, whose legacy started this series), Willie Nelson, Taj Mahal, Tom Petty and many more.

The music is as advertised - early country, in the vein of the Carter Family, and bluegrass, all performed by quality musicians with care and passion and a respect for tradition. This is a very cool project and I will certainly be researching the earlier volumes. Nicely done!

NItty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle Be Unbroken

 The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is, naturally, most well known for their major hit song, "Mr. Bojangles", which gave them the credence with the record company to produce this special three-LP set. What started as a collaboration with the famous banjo player Earl Scruggs ended up (with Earl's help) including a monumental list of stars of early Americana, Country and Bluegrass, who had mostly fallen out of favor by the early 70's when this was initially released. With a roll call that included Roy Acuff, Mother Mabelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Merle Travis, Pete Kirby, Norman Blake, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements and others, this is an incredible achievement by a bunch of West Coast hippies who had to win the favor of some of the classic artists, some of whom were a bit hesitant of this experiment.

To say that the experiment was a success would be an understatement, though! The NGDB were extremely respectful and faithful to the original artists and arrangements and even the signature sounds from back in the day. They recorded live for 6 days, with the musicians generally sitting around in a circle, capturing the sound and style of the original recordings, although with better equipment, of course!

While the instrumentation is quite similar to the originals, there are often more harmony vocalists, adding a fuller and, frankly, sometimes better sound to the songs. There are some extra instrumental breaks, as well, since there are sometimes more players than the artists had initially. But, anyone who enjoyed the music of these older artists will certainly dig these recordings, as well. The songs still ring true, without any attempt to "modernize" them.

The NGDB did a great, reverential job here and I'm certain that they helped to bring these artists to a wider and younger audience. I love this stuff myself and am glad I finally picked up this set!

Jimmy Martin 20 Greatest Hits

 

I was not familiar with Jimmy Martin specifically as a solo bluegrass artist until my old friend Ray Brandes posted one of his songs on Facebook, but I unknowingly knew his work with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, who gave Jimmy his start in the biz. He clashed with Monroe personally - both too hot-headed, apparently - and went his own way with his Sunny Mountain Boys who won over the bluegrass crowd with his simple harmonies, catchy melodies and strong rhythm. With a long, although volatile career, he had many hits, traveled extensively and appeared on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will the Circle Be Unbroken Volumes II and III.

This budget release has very little info other than an basic overview of the man in the liner notes, but the music speak volumes for Jimmy! Opening with his classic, oft-covered, upbeat calling card "Freeborn Man", he moves into a harmony-filled take on "Truck Drivin' Man" (rock'n'rollers will know this from The J. Geils Band version on Blow Your Face Out) with some different/extra lyrics, there's a great banjo breakdown in "Pete, The Best Coon Dog", and some extraordinary harmonies in "Beautiful Brown Eyes". "Uncle Pen" sounds like it's made for square dancin', there's the compulsory "Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky", "Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die" and "Honey, You Don't Know My Mind" are in a similar vein, even melodically, while the harmony-drenched morbid ballad "Widow Maker" is considered his signature hit.

Back to the upbeat bluegrass in "Lover's Lane" (although, for some unspoken reason, Jimmy does not get the girl), more fine banjo pickin' in "Sweet Little Maggie", three-part harmonies dominate the lovelorn "I Know You're Married", the Boys do an excellent job on "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (another obligatory bluegrass tune, but always fun), there's another ode to his hunting dog (complete with barkin') in "Run Pete Run", he gets autobiographical in "Bluegrass Singing Man", goes fullblown hillbilly in "One Woman Man", he longs for his lost love in "Who's Calling You Sweetheart", there's another bouncy instrumental in "Taylor Made Sally Good" and they close things out with the traditional "Knoxville Girl".

While I might dispute his title of "King of Bluegrass", he certainly is among the royalty of the genre. Great comp!

Steve Martin - The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo

Steve Martin has been an accomplished banjo player long before he first rose to fame in the 70's as a comic

(he did use it in his act even then) and recently he has seriously forged a side career as strictly a musician with his own bluegrass combo. This is another CD I picked up at our library and so it did not have the booklet in it, but I understand that this is his 2nd music album and here he has a long list of accompanying musicians and singers, from Dolly Parton to Earl Scruggs to Vince Gill and many more. The record is also produced by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's John McEuen, an old high school buddy.

While a lot of this is instrumental bluegrass, mixed in are some vocal numbers, proving that Martin can truly sing, as well as pick. His inner comic comes out in the goofy "Late For School", but that is the only tune that he plays for chuckles. The rest is simply classic bluegrass/traditional/Irish picking and a-strummin' with some clever and interesting touches, keeping it from being just more-of-the-same. Well-done effort and well worth checking out!

Southern Culture on the Skids with Paige Overton at the Bunkhouse, Thursday Nov 15th, 2018

I admit that during their hey-day, I thought that SCOTS were a bit too goofy/gimmicky for my tastes and I really didn't give them much of a chance. These days, I guess I don't have as much of a stick up my butt, and I think they have toned down the goofiness - other than their lyrics - and are simply a hip, swampy, surf/country/blues rock'n'roll band that is here to entertain you.

Opening the night was Paige Overton of Clydesdale (I do not know if the band still exists, but they were a fun time when they did) accompanying herself on her electric Gretsch guitar, performing her own folk oriented tunes. She has a fine voice and some interesting Dylan-esque material for a quiet start to the evening.

Quite the contrast, SCOTS came out and proceeded to tear up the stage and put on a show with their own brand of stripped down rock'n'roll featuring a stand up drummer (Dave, who was excellent and very creative despite the limitations of his kit - the cowbell was prominent in a number of songs to good effect), a tremelo'd Dan Electro guitar and a groovin' bass. Their album Dirt Track Date still seems to be their most popular outing and they highlighted a number of songs from that, along with some newer tunes (which they describe as more folk/psych, but is really not that much of a deviation for them), and a mix of older numbers and covers. Bassist Mary took lead vocals for their swingin' takes on "Nitty Gritty" and "Daddy Was a Preacher" (she has a terrific voice for this type of music) and otherwise guitarist Rick was front'n'certer with plenty of finger pickin' and stacatto guitar licks and white-trash-laced songs. Lots of audience interaction with a number a people joining them to dance on stage, including a couple of talented females who brought more than one outfit and obviously knew the band, but also obvious tourists who just ended up at the bar, apparently with no idea of what was going to happen. Fried chicken was shared during "Eight Piece Box", they got funky with "Soul City", went honky-tonkin' with some C&W tunes and pulled off some excellent reverb-drenched surf numbers.

The show was a blast, everyone had a good time and joined in the mayhem and the band was excellent throughout, as well. I had heard the SCOTS had a bad experience in the past in Las Vegas, so I'm glad they gave us another chance. Hope to see them back here!