Customer Reviews

Welcome To Woody Creek

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a welcome return to form after the relative disappointment of NGDB's last studio effort, the lackluster BANG BANG BANG, in 1999.

Several factors contribute to the overall success of this album. First, there is the full-time return of multi-instrumentalist John McEuen. His banjo playing keeps the band from slipping into the country "cookie cutter" mode that the band too often slipped into over the past two decades. In addition, they wrote most of their own material this time. All five band members wrote or co-wrote all but three tracks. Standouts are "Walkin' In the Sunshine," "Jealous Moon" and "It's Morning." [Covers include the Gram Parsons-Chris Ethridge "She" and a bluegrass remake of the Lennon-McCartney "Get Back."] Finally, the band was revitalized by "CIRCLE III." In fact, three of the songs on this album ("Any Love But Our Love," "Party on the Mountain" and "Old Time's Sake") come from the same 1996 sessions as "I Find Jesus" (which appeared on CIRCLE III).

For long time fans who treasured such releases as UNCLE CHARLIE & HIS DOG TEDDY and DREAM, this is a welcome addition to your NGDB collection. This is their best effort since 1994's ACOUSTIC and ranks up there with their classic 70s albums. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

It's great to see The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band back on form. Not that their records over the last decade haven't been good...they have, and I enjoy them very, very much. But they always seemed a bit too "mainstream" to be ranked amongst the band's best work. I suspect it was due to major label interference preventing the genre hopping that made their music so amazing (something I strongly suspect also marred the recent "Circle 3 " record).

Not so "Welcome to Woody Creek!" The NGDB is back big time. I just hope their new label is able to give this CD the promotion and distribution it so richly deserves. Not a weak cut on the record! It's wonderful to hear the group doing their own songs again, too; not to mention, Bob Carpenter finally being allowed to sing a couple again! This is a GREAT CD by a legendary band; you won't be sorry you bought it.

Yeah, unfortunately, this is just another Nitty Gritty Dirt Band cd, nothing earthshaking. But that's not a bad thing, the Dirt Band are one of the most consistant groups in Country Music History.

The thing that really differs on this cd is the fact that Bob Carpenter gets to sing lead on more than one song. His version of "She" is very well done. And also, their version of "Get Back" is one of the few Beatles covers that stands on it's own. It does't make you forget the Beatles version, but it doesn't sound like a copied version either.

In all, I wouldn't say the music here is similar to their cd, "Acoustic" but more like "Plain Dirt Fashion" or "Dream."

There is nothing bad about this album, you won't be upset if you get it. Personally, I am a huge fan of Jeff Hanna and would prefer that he took the lead on all of the songs, but I can live with this.

Prime Cuts: Walking in the Sunshine, Any Love But Our Love, Forever Don't Last

Before current stalwarts like Emerson Drive and Rushlow jumped onto the 70s-style country pop bandwagon, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is sui genesis. Again, rousing guitars, tight knitted harmonies and West coast breezy tunes earmarked the Dirt Band's latest CD and their debut for Dualtone Records. However, recorded at Woody Creek, Colorado, where the "long horizons (are) lit by eerie dawns and dusks of pastel alpine glows," a sense of serenity and rustiness also pervades throughout the album. Sonically similar to the Dirt Band's 1994 "Acoustic," there is an acoustic underpinning to these songs. Nevertheless, still sounding utterly contemporary, the Dirt Band is the lodestar as to how country music should be done.

Opening the disc with the perky and sunny Kostas/Jeff Hanna penned "Walking in the Sunshine," Hanna with a delightful tilt in his voice sings about basking in the euphoria of falling in love. "Forever Don't Last," though a regrettable lament on the transient nature of love, careens a rousing Eagles-like sounding melody boasting some excellent guitar riffs. Even better is the superbly catchy "Any Love But Our Love," one of just two co-writes from the Dirt Band's Bob Carpenter. Carpenter's other co-write with fellow band mates Hanna and Ibbotson, is the jovial "Party on the Mountain"-a bluegrassy square dance number that wouldn't be out of place on a Patty Loveless or Dolly Parton album.

With some tender vocals up front, Gram Parsons' "She" is a stately, poised and pensive ballad in tribute to the lady of the protagonist's dreams. Also in the ballads department, "Old Time's Sake," a plangent "can-I-have-the-last-dance" number is another stand out. Exquisitely delivered with a nuance that reaches to the recesses of heartbreak, it's another testament that only a seasoned band like the Dirt Band could be capable of accomplishing.

The Berg/Kregel penned popish "It's a New Day" is the vanguard single. Marked by a poignant message of buoyant optimism in the face of the deuces of life, "It's a New Day" is lyrically acerbic. Though Matraca Berg (who also happens to be Mrs. Jeff Hanna) is a top notched writer, melodically "It's a New Day" is not strong enough to contend for the much needed (and coveted) radio air plays to be a hit. Similarly forgettable is the bluegrass cover of the Beatles' "Get Back." "Get Back," in my opinion, is too contrived and too repetitious for my liking. The album closes with an instrumental "Midnight at Woody Creek," a jamming session where it's more for the delight of the players than the listener.

The Dirt Band has had its ups and downs in their lengthy odyssey in the music business. Their numerous albums have had reflected such a ride. I must say "Welcome to Woody Creek" with its high caliber of songs marks another high point in the Band's musical journey. Though not perfect, it's a fine return to form.

I first got interested in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's music after listening to their landmark Will The Circle Be Unbroken album. After seeing the guys in concert while attending college, I became a real fan of NGDB and haven't looked back since. Welcome To Woody Creek is the Dirt Band's first record of original music since Bang Bang Bang came out five years ago. Although I don't agree with a fellow reviewer's comment that Bang Bang Bang was a lackluster effort--I myself consider it a well-done record--I think this album is much better.

For one thing, as other reviewers have commented, the band members wrote most of the songs on this record. This is in contrast to Bang Bang Bang, where only one song, Jimmy Ibbotson's "The Monkey Song", came from a band member. Also, much of Welcome To Woody Creek was recorded at Ibbotson's own studio at his home in Aspen, Colorado. The record in this fan's opinion isn't a mere recording session, but it's five guys getting together to have a good time. Third, practically all the singing and playing on this record is done by the band members themselves--Ibbotson, Jeff Hanna, Bob Carpenter, Jimmie Fadden and John McEuen. Carpenter even sings lead on a couple of songs, something he hasn't done very much in recent years. The only guest artist is veteran pedal steel guitarist Dan Dugmore, who plays on the tender ballad "Any Love But Our Love". Finally, McEuen came back to NGDB in '02 after being out of the band for 15 years. I think John's return has definitely energized the Dirt Band; his banjo picking has a prominent place on this record and keeps NGDB's music from being mere fodder for radio stations.

There are a number of standout songs here. The band goes bluegrass on "It's Morning", "Safe Back Home", "Party On The Mountain", and the Beatles' classic tune "Get Back". To skeptics who criticize NGDB's bluegrassy arrangement of "Get Back", I say that the band made the Everly Brothers' "All I Have To Do Is Dream" and Bruce Hornsby's "The Valley Road" into bluegrass tunes, and I think both songs came out well. "Walkin' In The Sunshine", "She", and "Old Time's Sake" are great love songs. "It's A New Day" and the aforementioned "It's Morning" are songs that make you want to get out of bed and shout. "Forever Don't Last", "Jealous Moon", and the aforementioned "Any Love But Our Love" deal with relationships gone bad for one reason or another. The closing instrumental "Midnight At Woody Creek", with McEuen on guitar and Fadden on harmonica, features some awesome musicianship from both NGDB members.

Welcome To Woody Creek, in short, is a solid performance by the Dirt Band. This record might not have a major hit single, but it's a well-done record whose music is reminiscent of NGDB's classic '70s music. The guys definitely "get back" to their roots(quoting the title of the Beatles song that was redone here) on this album.

Out of a Politically Divided Country with a hangover from negative ads I came across the NGDB's latest offering and found a breath of fresh air. The Woody Creek Sessions take us to another place, far from the polarized climate of 2004. Thank God!The music is uplifting, gentle and heartwarming. Just what America needs. With John back in the fold the band hits the mark with songs that make you feel like walking in the Sunshine again. Thanks boys for bringing back to me the happiness that had started to become hard to find. Next Time I pass through Woody Creek I'll stop by the Tavern and Raise a glass to your gift. See if you can get out to the Bluegrass Fest. in Westcliffe sometime. Everything is Good, knock on Wood!

First of all, it's great to have the "full" NGDB back playing together. I always thought that a Dirt Band without John McEuen was rather pointless. Not that it didn't stop them from getting their hits and their country airplay and all that. But JM is as much a part of the sound that I consider in my mind to be the NGDB as is Ibby, Jeff, Jimmy or Bob (and all those who came before him).

That said, I liked this album, but not as much as I wanted to.

First of all, with McEuen back I was expecting one or two major bluegrass, balls-to-the-wall breakdown type thingies that made their classic albums like "Dream" and "Uncle Charlie" so much fun. Not here. True, they turn on the pickin' for a fun, fast cover of "Get Back," but it sounds almost overly rehearsed. (God forbid that these guys have been around each other so long that playing excellently together has become taken for granted!) Aside from the Beatles song, the album is remarkably easygoing. Even a song called "Party on the Mountain" sounds like the guys are too tired to go.

From a songwriting side, Jim Ibbotson, who I always thought was the band's best songwriter anyway, doesn't disappoint. The Ibbotson/Hanna tune "Safe Back Home" is quite effecting and nice.

Maybe what this album is missing is John McEuen's brother, Bill. He was the production genius behind the band's best albums, and knew how to instill a bit of fun in the festivities that just seems to be missing here.

Or maybe that was just the drugs everyone was taking back in the 70s.

Regardless, this is a Dirt Band album to play when you want to relax and I recommend it for that. But did you ever think that "relax" and "Dirt Band" would be associated with each other?

I hope this is the first of many new CDs from the rejuvenated NGDB. And I hope the next one makes me want to get up and dance. Because I'll be plenty ready to do so after this one.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have come a very long way since a couple of Long Beach California teenage folk-rock and bluegrass enthusiasts - Jeff Hanna, John McEuen, and Jimmie Fadden - who were inspired by the Byrds and other bands formed the group around 1966. Following in the footsteps of their contemporaries, the aforementioned Byrds, the Burrito Brothers, and Poco, NGDB broke some new ground with the release of the first "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" album in 1971, blending their folk and country-rock sounds with those of the old masters like Merle Travis and Doc Watson. With the return of Jimmy Ibbotson in the early 1980s, the band went back to a very successful Country Rock formula that has been a staple of their sound ever since.

"Welcome to Woody Creek" is no exception to this Country Rock rule, and while this reviewer is much more partial to the voices and harmonies of Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen, Hanna, with his sunshine California voice and Ibbotson and his Pennsyl-Colorado twang are simply among the best of the Country Rock singers. Hanna's "Walking in the Sunshine" and "Any Love But Our Love", Ibbotson's rocking "Forever Don't Last", featuring some fine fiddling by (return of the prodigal son) John McEuen, "Good Morning" and "Party on the Mountain", and a very southern soulful rendition of Gram Parson's "She" sung by Bob Carpenter, invoking scenes from a Faulkner or Shelby Foote novel are the choice cuts here. The boys also do a nice version of the Beatles "Get Back" Bluegrass style; the verdict is still out on this one.

John McEuen is in fine form on banjo and fiddle - a welcome return!

If you've always enjoyed the Dirt Band, or appreciate those classic California Country Rock sounds, then this album is an excellent prime slice of good old Americana music.

I remember first hearing the NGDB as a kid, listening on my dad's eight-track to the soundtrack of the musical "Paint Your Wagon." Obviously, their contribution to that soundtrack, "Hand Me Down My Can Of Beans," stood out on an album that featured the fine vocal stylings of Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin - but I digress.

"Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy" (with the wonderful Kenny Loggins hit "House At Pooh Corner"), "Symphonion Dream," and so many other albums came after. The band has always been at the forefront, stylistically at least, of the "Americana" genre, but for some reason have never gotten the recognition that their contemporaries and followers such as The Band, The Grateful Dead, The Byrds, CSN&Y, The Eagles and others have.

This album is as solid as anything they (or any of their colleagues) have ever done and I highly recommend it.

I've been a fan of the NGDB for over 40 years and have had the distinct pleasure of seeing them in concert many times. This particular album reminds me of a summer night we spent in Aspen where Jimmy and Jeff were performing at the Aspen Inn in a small club. The music was as real as ever...genuine American by genuine artists.

They (NGDB) have always exuded warmth, happiness, sincerity, and simple peace of mind...all laced with lots of love. All of those qualities are well-represented and accounted for on this CD. John McEuen was there in the beginning and certainly enhances their sound now that he has returned to the flock.

I can't seem to find the words to explain the deep appreciation and love I have for these guys, especially Jimmy Ibbotson. But all I ask is that you give yourself a huge treat and buy this for yourself. You'll never regret it.

Go ahead and be a Cosmic Cowboy and sit around pickin' and grinnin' with old friends.