Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (NGDB) is an American country rock band. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California, in 1966. The band's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period when the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band. The band is often cited as instrumental to the progression of contemporary country and roots music.
The band's successes include a cover version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles". Albums include 1972's Will the Circle Be Unbroken, featuring such traditional country artists as Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, and Jimmy Martin. A follow-up album based on the same concept, Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two was released in 1989, was certified gold, won two Grammys, and was named Album of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.
Studio albums 1960s Title Details Peak positions US The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Release date: March 1967 Label: Liberty Records 151 Ricochet Release date: September 1967 Label: Liberty Records — Rare Junk Release date: February 1968 Label: Liberty Records — "—" denotes releases that did not chart
1970s Title Details Peak chart positions US Country US AUS CAN Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy Release date: September 1970 Label: Liberty Records — 66 31 56 All the Good Times Release date: January 1972 Label: United Artists Records — 162 47 — Stars & Stripes Forever Release date: June 1974 Label: United Artists Records 32 28 93 25 Symphonion Dream Release date: August 1975 Label: United Artists Records — 66 — — The Dirt Band Release date: June 1978 Label: United Artists Records — 163 — — An American Dream Release date: July 1979 Label: United Artists Records — 76 82 63 "—" denotes releases that did not chart
1980s Title Details Peak chart positions US Country US CAN Country CAN Make a Little Magic Release date: June 1980 Label: United Artists Records — 62 12 64 Jealousy Release date: July 1981 Label: Liberty Records — 102 — — Let's Go Release date: June 1983 Label: Liberty Records 26 — — — Plain Dirt Fashion Release date: June 1984 Label: Warner Bros. Records 8 — 5 — Partners, Brothers and Friends Release date: July 1985 Label: Warner Bros. Records 9 — — — Hold On Release date: July 1987 Label: Warner Bros. Records 14 — — — Workin' Band Release date: August 1988 Label: Warner Bros. Records 33 — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart
1990s onward Title Details Peak positions US Country The Rest of the Dream Release date: June 26, 1990 Label: MCA Records 53 Not Fade Away Release date: 1992 Label: Liberty Records — Acoustic Release date: May 31, 1994 Label: Liberty Records — The Christmas Album Release date: October 21, 1997 Label: Rising Tide Records — Bang, Bang, Bang Release date: May 5, 1999 Label: DreamWorks Records — Welcome to Woody Creek Release date: September 21, 2004 Label: Dualtone Records — Speed of Life Release date: September 22, 2009 Label: NGDB Records 59 Dirt Does Dylan Release date: March 8, 2022 Label: NGDB Records — "Night After Night"Release Date : October 24, 2025 Label: Vector "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Collaborations Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications(sales thresholds) US Country US CAN Country CAN Will the Circle Be Unbroken Release date: October 1972 Label: United Artists Records 4 68 — 21 US: Platinum Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two Release date: May 1, 1989 Label: Universal Records 5 95 3 57 CAN: Gold Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Volume III Release date: February 1, 2002 Label: Capitol Nashville 18 134 — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Live albums Title DetailsPeak positions US Country USFolk USBluegrass Alive Release date: March 1969 Label: Liberty Records — — — Live Two Five Release date: July 16, 1991 Label: Capitol Nashville 50 — — Circlin’ Back: Celebrating 50 Years (CD/DVD) Release date: September 30, 2016 Label: Warner Nashville 11 11 1 "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Compilation albums Title Details Peak chartpositions Certifications(sales thresholds) US Country US Dirt, Silver and Gold Release date: October 1976 Label: United Artists Records 28 77 Twenty Years of Dirt Release date: May 1986 Label: Warner Bros. Records 10 — US: Platinum The Best Of Release date: September 1987 Label: EMI America Records — — More Great Dirt Release date: January 10, 1989 Label: Warner Bros. Records 38 — US: Gold Greatest Hits Release date: October 1990 Label: Curb Records — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Singles 1960s and 1970s Year Single Peak chart positions Album US Country US AUS CAN 1967 "Buy for Me the Rain" — 45 — 37 The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Truly Right" — — — — Ricochet 1968 "Collegiana" — — — — Rare Junk 1969 "Some of Shelly's Blues" — — — — Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy 1970 "Mr. Bojangles" — 9 15 2 "Rave On" — — — — 1971 "House at Pooh Corner" — 53 — 30 "Some of Shelly's Blues" [A] — 64 — 56 "I Saw the Light" (with Roy Acuff) 56 — — — Will the Circle Be Unbroken 1972 "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" — 84 — — All the Good Times "Baltimore" — — — — "Jamaica (Say You Will)" — — — — "Honky Tonkin'" — — — — Will the Circle Be Unbroken 1973 "Cosmic Cowboy – Part 1" — 123 — — Stars & Stripes Forever "Grand Ole Opry Song" (with Jimmy Martin) 97 — — — Will the Circle Be Unbroken "Tennessee Stud" (with Doc Watson) — — — — 1974 "The Battle of New Orleans" — 72 — — Stars & Stripes Forever 1975 "(All I Have to Do Is) Dream" — 66 — — Symphonium Dream "Mother of Love" — — — — 1976 "Cosmic Cowboy" (re-recording) (as The Dirt Band) — — — — Dirt, Silver and Gold "Jamaica Lady" (as The Dirt Band) — — — — "Mother Earth (Provides For Me)" (as The Dirt Band) — — — — 1978 "In for the Night" (as The Dirt Band) — 86 — — The Dirt Band "For A Little While" (as The Dirt Band) — — — — 1979 "In Her Eyes" (as The Dirt Band) — — — — An American Dream "—" denotes releases that did not chart
1980s Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications(sales thresholds) Album US Country US AUS CAN Country CAN 1980 "An American Dream" (as The Dirt Band) 58 13 45 — 3 An American Dream "Make a Little Magic" (as The Dirt Band)[B] 77 25 — — 52 Make a Little Magic "Badlands" (as The Dirt Band) — 107 — — — "High School Yearbook" (as The Dirt Band) — — — — — 1981 "Fire in the Sky" (as The Dirt Band) — 76 — — — Jealousy "Jealousy" (as The Dirt Band) — — — — — "Too Close For Comfort" (as The Dirt Band) — — — — — 1983 "Shot Full of Love" 19 — — — — Let's Go "Dance Little Jean" 9 — — 39 — 1984 "Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)" 1 — — 2 — Plain Dirt Fashion "I Love Only You" 3 — — 3 — 1985 "High Horse" 2 — — 2 — "Modern Day Romance" 1 — — 2 — Partners, Brothers and Friends "Home Again in My Heart" 3 — — 1 — 1986 "Partners, Brothers and Friends" 6 — — 3 — "Stand a Little Rain" 5 — — 3 — Twenty Years of Dirt "Fire in the Sky" [C] 7 — — 5 — 1987 "Baby's Got a Hold on Me" 2 — — 2 — Hold On "Fishin' in the Dark" 1 — — 1 — US: Platinum NZ: Gold "Oh What a Love" 5 — — — — 1988 "Workin' Man (Nowhere to Go)" 4 — — 6 — Workin' Band "I've Been Lookin'" 2 — — 1 — "Down That Road Tonight" 6 — — — — 1989 "Turn of the Century" 27 — — 24 — Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two "And So It Goes" (with John Denver) 14 — — 29 — "When It's Gone" 10 — — 11 — "—" denotes releases that did not chart
1990s onward Year Single Peak chartpositions Album US Country CAN Country 1990 "One Step Over the Line"(with Rosanne Cash and John Hiatt) 63 47 Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" 65 66 The Rest of the Dream "You Made Life Good Again" 60 33 "The Rest of the Dream" — — 1991 "Cadillac Ranch" — — Live Two Five "Mr. Bojangles" (re-recording) — 68 1992 "I Fought the Law" 66 — Not Fade Away "One Good Love" 74 85 1993 "Little Angel" — — 1994 "Cupid's Got a Gun" — — Acoustic 1996 "Maybe Baby" — — Not Fade Away (Remembering Buddy Holly) 1998 "Bang, Bang, Bang"[D] 52 44 Bang, Bang, Bang 1999 "Bang, Bang, Bang" (re-release) 63 67 2021 "The Times They Are a-Changin'" — —Dirt Does Dylan "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Other singles Christmas singles Year Single Peak positions Album US Country 1983 "Colorado Christmas" 93 A Christmas Tradition 1988 "Colorado Christmas" (re-release) —Sessions Presents: Christmas Wishes
Notes A^ "Some of Shelly's Blues" did not chart when first issued on Liberty. United Artists reissued the title in 1971, at which time it charted. B^ "Make a Little Magic" also peaked at number 26 on the Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. C^ The recording of "Fire In The Sky" that charted in 1986 and appeared on the Twenty Years of Dirt album is the same recording that had previously been issued on the Liberty label in 1981. Both the reissued single and aforementioned album ascribe phonographic copyright to Liberty Records. D^ "Bang, Bang, Bang" was originally released by Rising Tide Records before that label closed; the re-release of the song in 1999 was under DreamWorks Records.
Music videos
Year Title Director 1981 "Fire in the Sky" 1985 "Modern Day Romance" Gary Amelon 1986 "Partners, Brothers and Friends" Gary Gutierrez 1988 "I've Been Lookin'"1989 "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" Bill Pope "When It's Gone"Joanne Gardner1990 "You Made Life Good Again" "The Rest of the Dream"1991 "Mr. Bojangles" (live) Gerry Wenner "Cadillac Ranch" (live) 1992 "One Good Love" 1993 "Little Angel" 1994 "Cupid's Got a Gun" Roger Pistole 1996 "You Believed in Me" (with Karla Bonoff) "Maybe Baby" 1997 "Silent Night" 1998 "Bang, Bang, Bang" Michael McNamara 2002 "The Lowlands" Wes Edwards2022 "I Shall Be Released" "Forever Young" "Country Pie"
DVD & VHS Year Title 1982 "The Dirt Band Tonight""The DIrt Band Tonight", The Dirt Band, Thorn EMI VideoTVD 1812 (1982) VHS 1991 "Twenty Years of Dirt""Twenty Years of Dirt", The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Warner Reprise Video 38264-3 (1991) VHS 1993 "Northern Circle The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Plays Alaska""Northern Circle The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Plays Alaska", The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Teton Productions (1993) DVD 2003 Will The Circle Be Unbroken: Farther AlongWill The Circle Be Unbroken: Farther Along, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Special Guest, Capital 7243-4-90416-9-1 (2003) DVD 2007 "Country Legends Live Mini Concert""Country Legends Live Mini Concert", Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Timeless Media Group TMG 63494 (2007) DVD 2016 "Circlin’ Back: Celebrating 50 Years" (CD/DVD)
NGDB as contributing artists NGDB as contributing artists information from album liner notes Year Album title by Artist Contribution 1969 Paint Your Wagon soundtrack, by various artists "Hand Me Down That Can O' Beans" 1975 Banjoman soundtrack, by various artists Live version of "Battle Of New Orleans" and "Diggy Liggy Lo" 1978 Wild And Crazy Guy, by Steve Martin "King Tut", as the Toot Uncommons 1986 Tribute to Steve Goodman, by various artists "Face On The Cutting Room Floor", live 2003 Tennessee Stud, by Doc Watson "Tennessee Stud" 2004 This Is Americana, by various artists "Gold Watch & Chain", with Kris Kristofferson 2004 The Unbroken Circle - The Musical Heritage Of The Carter Family, by various artists "Gold Watch & Chain", with Kris Kristofferson 2004 Merlefest Live! The Best of 2003, by various artists "American Dream" 2005 Telluride Bluegrass Festival: 30 Years, by various artists "Fishin' In The Dark", live
References
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