Mr Bojangles
From the song I would have thought that he died a forgotten man, but the truth is far from that!!!
This has to be one of the largest funerals of all time. Video is very short!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy30vnq0Pdc
This has to be one of the largest funerals of all time. Video is very short!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy30vnq0Pdc
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And the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is playing this weekend (or is it next?) at Silver Springs in Ocala 0 -
quote:Originally posted by iwannausername
And the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is playing this weekend (or is it next?) at Silver Springs in Ocala
They're playing the Logan County (Colorado) Fair in August. I'm psyched. We're a small, rural county whose fair isn't underwritten by the big moneybags in the area. When it was put to the board, we voted unanimously in favor of them. They are outstanding in concert.0 -
Bill Robinson's nickname was Bojangles, but Mr. Bojangles isn't about him.
It was written by Texas boy Jerry Jeff Walker. He says it stemmed from an old white man he spent a short time in jail with, but Bojangles wasn't actually his name. This was just a term for someone who danced for pennies on the street, which was how this old drunk made his living.0 -
And "After 20 years he still grieves." 0 -
Sammy Davis Jr. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-5bkCkQ3V0
Bob Dylanhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBlIfrPf8ck0 -
And "After 20 years he still grieves."
I understand this line all too well.0 -
Got to like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band back in the 70's.
Went looking for their two CD set of "Dirt, Silver and Gold" in the early 90's. No one had it at the time nor could get it.
I found it in the most unlikely of all places..
Japan
It cost me $75.00 but to me it was worth it. Funny thing half of the CD's box is written in Japanese as was the small booklet that came with it..0 -
There isn't much of NGDB I don't like.
There versions of Springstiens "Cadilac Ranch" was great.
Sharecroppers dream is also a good one.
Col. Plink, I wish I was there. Heard one live in Kansas City in '88 and would love to here them again.0 -
was beginin to think, he was you next 'pres' !! [;)] 0 -
Good ole Jerry Jeff, is he still playing? 0 -
quote:Originally posted by opieone
Good ole Jerry Jeff, is he still playing?
Yep, and still touring, too.
They still hold his annual birthday bash down around Austin. It's coming up in a couple of months.0 -
We used to go see him in concert a lot, here in KC, back in the 70's.
And Waylon and Willie.
Always a great time!0 -
Just sat down and learned Sammy Davis Jr.'s version. What a fun song to play! Never cared much for NGDB's version. 0 -
Love the NGDB! Have a couple of thir CDs and play them all the time. 0 -
My favorite has to be "Long Hard Road" No tin roof, but I identify with that song.
But momma kept the Bible read and daddy kept our family fed,
And somewhere in between I must have grown
Cause someday I was dreamin' that a song that I was singin'
Takes me down the road to where my name is known.
Know I know, it's a long hard road.0 -
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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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."[1]
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.
[edit] Recent works
John McEuen rejoined the band in 2001. In 2002, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band celebrated the 30th anniversary of their landmark Will the Circle Be Unbroken with a remastered CD reissue of the 1972 album and a new compilation, Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume III. An album of all-new material, Welcome to Woody Creek, was released in 2004. Jimmy Ibbotson again left the band in 2004.
Also in 2004, country group Rascal Flatts released a cover of "Bless the Broken Road," which the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had recorded on Acoustic, from 1994. Songwriters Jeff Hanna, Marcus Hummon and Bobby Boyd won a Grammy for Best Country Song for this work in 2005.
In 2005 the band donated use of the song "Soldier's Joy" for the benefit album, Too Many Years to benefit Clear Path International's work with landmine survivors. Also in 2005, the band was recognized by the International Entertainment Buyers Association for 40 years of contributions to the music industry.0 -
The promoter says he wants to cancel
Cause there aint enough tickets sold
The air conditioner on the bus just broke
And I cant shake this cold
The single lost the bullet,
The singers losin his wife;
Well I might be crazy but I wouldnt change
A single thing about this life.
Sometimes we feel like champions,
Sometimes we just cant win,
Sometimes our records hit the top of the charts
Or the discount bargain bins.
Through 40 years of touring
Weve remained partners, brothers, and friends
We keep it together cause we love it and were sure
Well be big time before it all ends.
Well you know youve got the nitty gritty
And jimmys got his drums along
Then jeffrey and me and bobby will be
Singing all our favorite songs
Catch the fire from the folks in the front row
Fan the flames as the beat gets strong
Its great to be a part of something
So good thats lasted so long
Well I saw a story in the paper
Suddenly the bands big news
The critics all like our records just fine
But they seem a bit confused
Is it folk or rock or country
Seems like everybody cares but us
So just leave us an early wakeup call
So we dont miss the bus
The band says it cant stand my latest song, its too personal
But my first wifes second marriage blew up
She had to get the dang thing annulled
Well if that aint something to sing about
Well you tell me what is
And well give it a beat and put it on the street
And we just might have another hit0 -
quote:Originally posted by Colonel Plink
quote:Originally posted by iwannausername
And the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is playing this weekend (or is it next?) at Silver Springs in Ocala
They're playing the Logan County (Colorado) Fair in August. I'm psyched. We're a small, rural county whose fair isn't underwritten by the big moneybags in the area. When it was put to the board, we voted unanimously in favor of them. They are outstanding in concert.
Hey Plinky...is this an invite to have all us come crash?0
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