Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy [Remaster]

Performer: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Producer: William E. McEuen
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Jimmie Fadden (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, washtub bass); Jim Ibbotson (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, accordion, electric piano, drums, congas); Jeff Hanna (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, drums, washboard, percussion); John McEuen (acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, accordion). Additional personnel: Bill Cunningham, Maurice Manseau II, Jim Gordon, Mike Rubini, John London, Byron Berline, Russ Kunkel. All tracks have been digitally remastered. The first album issued by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band after they had temporarily disbanded in 1969, this greatly expanded their pop audience, due primarily to the Top 10 hit cover of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles" (which actually wasn't a hit until early 1971). The group moved into a more accessible rock-oriented fusion of country, bluegrass, pop, and rock & roll, relying primarily on smartly chosen covers of tunes by the likes of Walker, Mike Nesmith, Randy Newman, and Kenny Loggins. Few bands had incorporated instruments more commonly associated with country and bluegrass, particularly mandolin and banjo, as comfortably into a rock setting prior to this release, and their well-crafted harmonies help put the songs over for those not-steeped-in backwoods sounds. It was an extremely diverse program for a country-rock album, too, moving from rustic instrumentals and snippets of tapes of elderly musicians performing rural Americana to the Buddy Holly cover "Rave On." The group were actually at their best, though, when doing softer, melodic pop tunes. "Mr. Bojangles" was a deserved huge success in that regard, but Nesmith's "Some of Shelley's Blues" and Loggins' "House at Pooh Corner" were almost as catchy and appealing. ~ Richie Unterberger

Rolling Stone (10/29/70, p.48) - "...a varied and vital album with both a sense of history and a smiling face....It's an enjoyable record. It might even remind you that Americans could be really enjoyable if they weren't so dangerous..."

Their earliest incarnation was as a large, fun-loving jug-band/trad folk group in mid-1960s California. Eventually the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band evolved into a tight, critically lauded country-rock ensemble, and had a Top Ten hit in 1970 with the poignant "Mr. Bojangles." The band was also legendary for assembling informal recording sessions with Nashville veterans such as Merle Travis and Roy Acuff, the results of which, 1972's MAY THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN, inspired two more volumes, a 30th anniversary reissue, and a box set. Through many lineup changes and a brief name change (the Dirt Band), their career has extended through the millennium and shows no signs of letting up.

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