In 2017, JJ Shiplett opened for them. It was a tough crowd for the show openers both nights. Steve Martin hadn’t hit the big time yet, and the red-neck Edmonton crowd weren’t into his comedy yet. JJ Shiplett is a local aspiring country singer working his way up the ladder; I wish him all the best.

Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta  – Grease

Valerie and I had fun listening to this double album, a trip down memory lane, holding hands with the love of my life.

Harry Nilsson – The Point

I thought I had the album Nilsson Schmilsson, but I only have The Point on vinyl. I will have to make a trip to RCP to correct that problem. It’s not that The Point is a bad album, au contraire, The Point is an interesting album, an excellent example of a story album, and has some clever wordplay. OK for the occasional listen, The Point was fun to hear again.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Will The Circle Be Unbroken

I loved this album when it first came out, and I love it to this day. There is so much good music here, I may have to double down and listen to it again. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band brought together a collaboration of many famous bluegrass and country-and-western players, including Roy Acuff, “Mother” Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Merle Travis, Pete “Oswald” Kirby, Norman Blake, Jimmy Martin, and others.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Stars & Stripes Forever

This album is polarizing. I love some of the cuts on it and dislike others. Stars & Stripes Forever is a live/studio album, but it was recorded between March 13, 1972 and January 14, 1974. The live cuts were culled from five concerts, and the stretch of time and locations, including studio time, make this a very unsettled album. I don’t hear a cohesive musical glue holding it all together. If I were to reboot the material in Stars & Stripes Forever, I would cut it down to a single album by cutting a lot of the inconsistent tracks and all of the chatter. Just my opinion. The good parts are very good.

Dirt Band – An American Dream

An American Dream is the ying and yang of the Dirt Band (aka The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band). An American Dream is an album with a distinctly pop sound that feels straight out of the modern Nashville studios. I like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band when they stick to Americana, Bluegrass, and Country & Western music. The lead song on this album, An American Dream was written by Rodney Crowell and released on his debut album, Ain’t Living Long Like This, as Voilá, An American Dream. I liked to try playing this one on the guitar. My playing wasn’t high quality, but it was fun, making it good by default. I am listening to this album again as I write this, and apart from the title song, I don’t rate this album higher than a three out of five. The songs on this album are covers or collaborations, such as the aforementioned American Dream, with one exception: the song Do You Feel the Way I Do.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Plain Dirt Fashion

Plain Dirt Fashion takes The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band back to their musical roots, in a way. It is still Americana, but closer to Nashville Pop Country than Bluegrass. Plain Dirt Fashion is good music, polished pop, Nashville Country, and better than An American Dream by a country mile. Once again I am listening to the album in question as I listen to it and it is enjoyable. Face on the Cutting Room Floor is an excellent example of story songs: Astute and a stinging denunciation of the modern film industry. A song I would never have expected to see on a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album is their cover of the Meatloaf song Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two

Not quite on the same wavelength as its daddy, the triple album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken. Circle II features largely acoustic, bluegrass music instrumentation with a line-up of contemporary country music artists, including Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Michael Martin Murphey and Ricky Skaggs. Volume Two brings back some of the elderly statesmen of bluegrass and traditional C&W music: Jimmy Martin, banjoist Earl Scruggs, fiddler Vassar Clements and singer Roy Acuff. While different from Volume 1, there is considerable overlap. It is not Vol. 2.1. It stands comfortably on its own merit.

Whew! That was a lot of dirt spun around on the turntable this week. The two “Circle” albums’ opening and closing the listening sessions were a good combo. It opened with a flourish and closed with sentimental favourites. I have already sampled some of next week’s tunes, and I’m happy about what I’m hearing.