Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band
What's the Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band? Country and folk music in America are still very popular. They've been around for a long time. Many big time groups went on long tours. Many lesser known groups still do quite well. Here's information on one of them.
The Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band had its start in California in 1966. The band has gone through a lot of musicians. Two have always remained. Their names are Jeff Hanna and Jimmy Fadden. They originally created the band in an effort to not have to work for a living.
The Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band began as a jug band. Early jug bands were jazz bands who added the jug into which someone would blow as a novelty. In Memphis jug bands were more about the blues. They used washboards for percussion. One famous jug band often appeared in the TV series The Andy Griffith Show. They were portrayed as hillbillies who first had a run in with Ernest T. Bass. Andy would generally perform with them playing his guitar.
The first single for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was Buy for Me the Rain. It was a top 40 hit. It was even performed at concerts with people such as Jack Benny and the Doors. There couldn't be any more different performers.
In 1968 the Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band had appeared in movies and as an extra act at concerts. They appeared in one of the worst musicals ever made – Paint Your Wagon. They even opened for Bill Cosby at Carnegie Hall. They joined a jam session with the great Dizzy Gillespie.
In the 1970s they went country. They went to Nashville, Tennessee where they had some success including two Grammy nominations. They had a tour in Japan. They headlined in front of 350,000 people at the Ozark Music Festival.
The Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band kind of disappeared, but popped up now and then. They performed on Saturday Night Live and returned to Nashville to record other songs and albums. They won two Grammy awards and one of their works was named album of the year.
The Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band has been heard all over the world.