Cheap 20 Years Of Dirt: The Best Of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (Music) (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) Price

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Customer Reviews of 20 Years Of Dirt: The Best Of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Great collection of NGDB's hits
I have the tape of this album. Twenty Years Of Dirt was released in 1986, the twentieth anniversary of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It has my three favorite Dirt Band songs on it: "Mr. Bojangles", "Ripplin' Waters" and "Partners, Brothers and Friends". The latter two songs were written by Jimmy Ibbotson, who in my opinion is the Dirt Band's best songwriter. The record also includes a number of other Dirt Band classics, as well as one previously unreleased song, "Stand A Little Rain". Bob Carpenter, NGDB's keyboard player, hardly ever sings lead on a Dirt Band song, but on "Stand A Little Rain", he does a fine job of singing. The reason I give this record only four stars instead of five is because one song, "Fire In The Sky", doesn't sound "country" enough, at least in my opinion. True, the Dirt Band was influenced by pop music as well as folk and country music. Also, Ibbotson, who besides the since-departed John McEuen was probably the band member with the most "country" musical background, was not in the band when "Fire In The Sky" was recorded(he left NGDB in 1976 and rejoined the band in 1983). However, I think "Fire In The Sky", on which Jeff Hanna shares the lead vocals with Kenny Loggins, veers a little too far in the pop direction with its saxophone, although the song itself is well-done. Nevertheless, that's a small shortcoming on a solid album. Overall, Twenty Years Of Dirt is a great collection. NGDB fans should have this one.

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10 Years of Dirt + "Mr. Bojangles"
I've been a huge fan of the Dirt Band since I purchased their Uncle Charlie album in 1970--and I've bought every album since. Unfortunately, now that I'm looking to replace my old vinyl with CDs, I find that much of their catalog is out of print. In the case of their Eighties output, however, it's not a major tragedy. Much of what you'd want to hear from those albums is on this disc (and the companion disc, More Great Dirt).

Once you get past the fact that the first ten years of dirt are covered by only two songs (1970's "Mr. Bojangles" and 1975's "Ripplin' Waters"), this collection adequately covers the country radio-friendly tunes the Dirt Band recorded during their peak commercial years. [In fact, why didn't Warner Brothers simply focus on the Eighties? It would have made more sense than trying to promote this as a 20-year retrospective.]

Both "American Dream" and "Make a Little Magic" returned the Dirt Band to the pop charts for the first time in nearly a decade. They also shed any resemblance to being a bluegrass/country-rock band with the 1979 and 1980 albums those hits came from. With their follow-up album, Jealousy, in 1981 they continued to pursue a pop music course. "Fire in the Sky" from that album was about as far as you could stylistcally get from "Mr. Bonjangles." It wasn't until the return of long-time member Jimmy Ibbotson (who left after the classic Dream album) that the Dirt Band hit their stride again.

It was Ibbotson who wrote the joyous "Dance Little Jean," the energetic "High Horse" and the band biography "Partners Brothers & Friends," the latter with Jeff Hanna.

In 1984, Bob Carpenter joined the band on keyboards and vocals. His presence also added another songwriter. It's Carpenter's lovely ballad "Stand a Little Rain," released as a single and recorded specifically for this collection, that closes the set.

Unfortunately, this five-man lineup would record only two albums: Plain Dirt Fashion (1984) and Partners, Brothers and Friends (1985). After that album, founding member John McEuen would leave the band in 1986. [McEuen is a gifted banjo and fiddle player--as well as other stringed instruments--and his solo albums are worth seeking out.]

The Dirt Band would record two more albums in the Eighties: Workin' Band and Hold On. Songs from those albums along with tracks left off this collection can be found on the equally excellent More Great Dirt. These two "best ofs" offer an excellent overview of the Dirt Band's Eighties output. RECOMMENDED

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Good News/Bad News
This CD is so much less than it could have been. 1986 marked the twentieth anniversary of the band and this is what we get? Eleven songs? Twenty years? What kind of career retrospective is that? I don't mind that there are no songs from their four albums prior to Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy (although the inclusion of "Buy for Me the Rain" would have seemed appropriate), but this collection contains only two songs ("Mr. Bojangles" and "Ripplin' Waters") from their first ten years--how skimpy is that?!!!

Essentially what this CD actually is, is a collection of their 1979-1985 country radio hits. And that's not altogether bad. I'm a huge NGDB fan and I own all the vinyl albums these songs came from. And except for the Uncle Charlie and the Dream albums, these songs represent most of what you'd want to own from this period of the Dirt Band's career. [An excellent overview of the Dirt Band's first ten years is the two-disc, 37-song Dirt, Silver & Gold reissued on One Way Records.]

My only complaint is the brevity and lack of scope of the song selection. There's nothing from their classic Will the Circle Be Unbroken album, and at only 45 minutes another six to eight songs could have easily been added. [The same could be said for the sequel: More Great Dirt, vol. II. It has only ten songs and 34 minutes. Again, great songs, but not much bang for your buck. In fact, these two discs would practically fit on a single disc.]

Bottom line? Five stars for the music, three stars for the skimpy song selection, minimal band history and photos. Maybe they'll get the job done right for the Dirt Band's Forty Years of Dirt Collection. RECOMMENDED