Dirt Silver & Gold

 (21 customer reviews)

After years of being unavailable in any form, England's BGO Records has just re-issued this outstanding compilation album from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Originally released in 1976 as a 3-LP set, it contains a wide selection of some of the band's very best work from their "golden era"-- roughly their first ten years. All of the better known material is here, including eight cuts from the classic "Uncle Charlie" album. Also included are many great songs from other equally fine but lesser known albums. Several of the cuts appear to have been recorded specifically for this collection and are not available anywhere else. All are excellent. As is typical of releases on BGO, the entire album has been remastered and the sound is great. The packaging and liner notes are superb, as well, preserving as much as possible of the elaborate sleeve design of the original vinyl LP. Then the entire package is wrapped in a protective cardboard outer sleeve. Great job, all the way around. If...Read more

This compilation is a must-have purchase for neophyte and die-hard NGDB fans alike. For the casual fan, this covers most of the highlights from their first decade. While their pre-UNCLE CHARLIE releases had them often performing jug band, sometimes goofy material (like Cab Colloway's "Willie the Weeper"); they had a minor hit with "Buy for Me the Rain," which is a minor classic. Starting with 1970's UNCLE CHARLIE & HIS DOG TEDDY through 1975's SYMPHONIUM DREAM, every song is top notch. They even throw in a few tracks from their landmark WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN album.

What makes this essential for the serious fan is that several of the tracks on disc two did not appear on previous studio albums and were released for the first time on this compilation back in 1976. Among the then new songs are "Mother Earth (Provides for Me)" and the Jeff Hanna original "Bowlegs."

While they didn't write all their own material, they utilized some of best songwriters avalable...Read more

Some day this band will be honored in the Smithsonian for their vast body of work, which includes preserved traditional bluegrass music, and new material in the bluegrass genre. This set contains almost 40 tracks, some from each of the above categories. I still don't know how they manage to play in a very authentic Appalachian style and yet sound completely updated. It certainly has something to do with the fact that the band is loaded with virtuoso talent on banjo, mandolin, guitar, etc. The presentation of the songs is very well done, with exquisitely beautiful tunes interleaved with songs that are good old, toe-tapping fun. The Dirt Band style makes classics like "Rocky Top" and "The Battle of New Orleans" sound better than old versions that you thought could not be improved upon. I believe there is a lot of pent up demand for this CD, which has been out of production for many years. Strongly recommended while it's available.