Through the many years of their existence, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has been part of some of music’s most famous summit meetings, playing with artists ranging from Roger McGuinn and Johnny Cash to Roy Acuff. This album, still with members Jeff Hanna/voc-g and Jimmie Fadden/voc-dr from those days, is a different kind of conglomeration, as the NGDB takes on the Bob Dylan Songbook en toto.
The idea is a perfect fit, as Dylan material has always worked best when interpreted by rocking folkies, such as The Byrds. The lead vocals are divided between Hanna, Fadden, guitarist/drummer Jaimie Fadden and keyboardist Bob Carpenter,with lots of background harmonies provided by Ross Holms/fi-mand and Jim Photoglo/b. The vocals are traded around on an urgent take of “The Times They Are A-Changin’” while there’s a three way exchange on a tender “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”. The team sounds rich and rural with Holmes’ fiddle on ‘She Belongs to Me” and Fadden blows a rich harmonica a la Zimmerman for the bluesy ‘It Takes A Lot To Laugh…” and “Forever Young”. There’s a fun jig to “Country Pie”, which even includes some whistling, while “Girl From The North Country” reflects a Nashville Skyline. The circle is not broken.