Posts Tagged ‘Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’

Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 64

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First of all, I must give some props to the King of Grief, who decided to turn Bottom Feeders into a radio broadcast for a few hours last Tuesday. You can check him out every Tuesday over at KPFT. Great set list, even if he did play Meco’s “Ewok Celebration.”

Secondly, it’s really bugging me that in Garry Sharpe-Young’s A-Z of ’80s Rock book there are hundreds of groups that never released an album in the ’80s. Seems that to get in this book all you had to be was the ass wiper for Pretty Boy Floyd for a week and that was enough to make you an ’80s artist, despite the fact that you only released one demo in 2003; I had to weed out the non-’80s to get to the stuff the book is really supposed to be about. On the same note, I also purchased A-Z of Doom & Gothic Metal and there was a little box in the corner of the front cover that said “CD of 14 power metal tracks included.” I love me some power metal, but I can’t possibly understand why I’d buy a book on doom metal and get a power-metal CD with it. How about 14 tracks of doom and goth? Do I have to buy the power-metal book to get the doom CD?

And finally, I can now say I have something in common with Jermaine Jackson: Back in 1996 I caught a foul ball at a Philadelphia Phillies game. On Sunday night, Jermaine Jackson caught a ball at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. I guess “Blanket” is going to get a new toy from Uncle Jermaine.

And now, get ready for a little Wango Tango. Wango Wango. Tango Tango. Here’s the second and final week of the letter N, as we check out more songs from the bottom three-fifths of the Billboard Hot 100 during the 1980s.

Juice Newton
“Dirty Looks” — 1983, #90 (download)
“A Little Love” — 1984, #44 (download)
“Can’t Wait All Night” — 1984, #66 (download)

Juice_NewtonAfter talking about Anne Murray two weeks ago it was mentioned that I either liked blondes or MILFs growing up. We have three ladies in a row here to figure this out, because, frankly, I’m not sure myself.

I don’t recall ever being hot for a sip of the Juice. One place she looked like a hippie and the next some 24-year-old vixen (like on her 1984 Greatest Hits album). I do recall, however, listening to a ton of her music. Or I guess I should say listening to a few songs quite often, because really, after she hit #7 in 1982 with “Love’s Been a Little Bit Hard on Me,” I couldn’t remotely give you even one bar of any other song. But geez, “Queen of Hearts” was a staple of many of my childhood days. Listening to it again right now, I kind of dig “Can’t Wait All Night” though it’s certainly different than her normal country-pop tunes — maybe too different, as it became her last hit on the Hot 100. She still had seven more Top 10 hits on the country charts, though, right through the end of the decade.

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CHART ATTACK!: 2/27/71

Howdy, everybody! I tend to stick to the ’80s when writing CHART ATTACK!, as they’re the years I remember best. But this week, I decided to pull up something from the early ’70s and see what I could find. I came across a pretty solid chart with some great rock, pop, country and R&B … and Gordon Lightfoot. Enjoy as we take a look back the charts exactly 38 years ago today: February 27, 1971!

10. Me and Bobby McGee — Janis Joplin Amazon iTunes
9. Mr. Bojangles — Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Amazon iTunes
8. Amos Moses — Jerry Reed Amazon iTunes
7. Sweet Mary — Wadsworth Mansion Amazon iTunes
6. I Hear You Knocking — Dave Edmunds Amazon Amazon mp3
5. If You Could Read My Mind — Gordon Lightfoot Amazon iTunes
4. Rose Garden — Lynn Anderson Amazon iTunes
3. Knock Three Times — Dawn Amazon iTunes
2. Mama’s Pearl — The Jackson 5 Amazon iTunes
1. One Bad Apple — The Osmonds Amazon iTunes

10. Me and Bobby McGee — Janis Joplin

The first of four covers on this week’s Top 10, “Me and Bobby McGee” was written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, and found success by two other artists before Joplin: Roger Miller, whose version reached #12 on the country charts, and Gordon Lightfoot (also on this week’s Attack), who hit #1 on the Canadian country charts. At least five other artists recorded their own versions before Joplin, including Kenny Rogers & The First Edition and Bill Haley & His Comets, but clearly hers is the version most remember best. It was recorded only shortly before her death, and when it topped the charts, it became only the second posthumous #1 on the Hot 100 — the first being Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.”

So who is Bobby McGee, anyway? According to Kristofferson, the title came from Foster, who knew a secretary named Bobby McKee. Kristofferson just misheard him.

9. Mr. Bojangles — Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The problem with me not being around in 1971 is that I can’t always be like, “I remember when this song was a hit.” All I can do is occasionally add some personal thoughts, like “Bojangles” is the thing we’d say to each other in college as we tried to hit each other in the nuts. And that really has nothing to do with the song. Except I suppose if we had a teacher showing us how to do it, he’d be Mr. Bojangles. (By the way, this is what happens when you’re Managing Editor at Popdose. Nobody else reads your stuff before you publish it. Otherwise this last paragraph would be long gone.)

But what I can tell you is that contrary to popular belief, “Mr. Bojangles” isn’t about Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Rather, it’s about an old homeless man that singer and songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker met while in jail in New Orleans. The man told Walker about the various trials and tribulations in his life, and when someone called him “Bojangles,” and hit him in the nuts asked him to do a dance for the other inmates in the cell, he obliged. Walker claims that Mr. Bojangles is “a composite. He’s a little bit of several people I met for only moments of a passing life. He’s all those I met once and will never see again and will never forget.”

None of this explains, of course, how the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band managed to reach #9 — their only top ten hit — with the song, higher than any other performer who’s covered it.

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CD Review: Steve Martin, “The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo”

Steve Martin - The CrowIf, upon hearing the news that Steve Martin has a banjo album, you have an image of Martin in overalls and a straw hat displaying a novice’s banjo-picking skills while singing about shit and Shinola, you’re not alone. (Conversely, if you have an image of Martin in a suit with an arrow through his head, playing the banjo and singing about grandma, you’re not alone either.)

The joke’s on us, however, because Martin’s appreciation for and mastery of the banjo is deeper than anyone but the most devoted fan might anticipate. Martin originally picked up the banjo to add another talent to his one-man show, and over time added satirical banjo songs. His comedic career took off, but he never set the banjo down. In 2001, he played with Earl Scruggs on the tune “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” for the album Earl Scruggs and Friends, which won him a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance the following year. In 2007 he played his own tune, “The Crow,” with Tony Trischka on Trischka’s album Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular.

Steve Martin, “The Crow” (download)

Writing “The Crow” served as the jump-off point for Martin’s new bluegrass album, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo. 14 of the 15 songs are originals, written by Martin and arranged John McEuen, Martin’s childhood friend and member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Most of the tunes are instrumental and traditional sounding. Martin’s compositions show an aptitude for tempo, able to switch time signatures on a dime, and melody, with more than a few refrains lingering past the album’s end. He’s also an impressively emotional player, able to convey sentiment and subject, as projected in his titles, like “Words Unspoken” and “Freddie’s Lilt.”

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