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The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's second album is a masterpiece.
From the opening bars of Jackson Browne's "Shadow Dream Song," andthe high
spirits overflow the grooves (or ones and zeros, on the CD) of the record. The singing and
playing are more confident, and some of the songs, including the bluesy "Ooh Po Pe Do
Girl" and the hook-laden "I'll Search The Sky" byJeff Hanna, and Copeland
and Noonan's (the "Buy For Me The Rain" team) "Tide Of Love," andis as
solid as anything coming out of California. Even the kazoo-dominated "Coney Island
Washboard" and "Happy Fat Annie," and the nostalgic 20's styled Jackson
Browne-written "It's Raining Here In Long Beach" (which sounds a lot like
Michael Nesmith's "Magnolia Sims," andexcept the NGDB cut this months before
Nesmith's song was out), fit well into the mix, reflecting the full range of the band's
influences. As to why this record never caught on, it could be the timing--released late
in 1967, in the wake of Sergeant Pepper (which had its own music hall influences, albeit
of the English variety, and covered with lots of psychedelic overdubbing) and the Summer
of Love, it just wasn't what college kids starting their search for the Lost Chord were
looking for. Maybe a kazoo or two less would've helped, and a real drug song or two
wouldn't have hurt, but these guys would play a jug-band number ahead of a drug anthem
anytime. Their cover of Brewer and Shipley's "Truly Right" is pretty spacy in
its production, though, but "The Teddy Bear's Picnic"--an adaptation of an old
children's song--was probably beyond the pale of most listeners. Beyond NGDB completists,
anyone looking for a companion to Notorious Byrd Bros. or the Monkees' Aquarius, Capricorn
Pisces & Jones Ltd., or a precursor to Crazy Horse's At Crooked Lake need look no
further. (British import) --Bruce Eder, All-Music Guide |
