The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has e… Read Full Bio ↴The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since the original founding in California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen iterations over the years, including five years, between "Dirt, Silver & Gold" (1976) and "Let's Go" (1983), when the band performed and recorded as The Dirt Band.

The band's best-known song was a 1970 cover of Jerry Jeff Walker's folk song "Mr. Bojangles". Their greatest critical acclaim has been for a 1972 album of country and folk standards, recorded in Nashville in collaboration with more traditional country artists, entitled "Will the Circle Be Unbroken".

"Will the Circle be Unbroken" was a collaboration album recorded in 1972 by the Dirt band with traditional artists such as Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, Merle Watson, Jimmy Martin, Junior Huskey, Norman Blake, and Pete Oswald Kirby (known to Grand Ole Opry fans as Bashful Brother Oswald). Vassar Clements, not widely known then, was tapped for fiddle duties which led to greater notoriety and success for him.

"Will the Circle be Unbroken" featured classic bluegrass and folk standards written by A.P Carter, Doc Watson and others. The title comes from the song of the same name but indicates what the Dirt Band was trying to achieve. The long-haired boys from California were making an effort to reach out to the older veterans of American music and unite them in a divided America. Two other editions were released, one in the 1980s and another after September 11, 2001.

In July 1974 The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was one of the headline acts at The Ozark Music Festival, at the Missouri State Fairgrounds, in Sedalia, Missouri. Some estimates have put the crowd count at 350,000 people, which would make this one of the largest music events in history.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's peak in popularity – at least on the radio — came during the mid- to late-1980s, when they charted a string of successful songs. Among the lot were three No. 1 singles: "Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)" (1984); "Modern Day Romance" (1985); and "Fishin' in the Dark" (1987). Other successful songs were "Dance Little Jean" (1983); "I Love Only You" (1984); "High Horse" (1985); "Home Again in My Heart," "Partners, Brothers and Friends" and "Stand a Little Rain" (1986); "Fire in the Sky," "Baby's Got a Hold on Me" and "Oh What a Love" (1987); "Working Man (Nowhere to Go)" and "I've Been Lookin'" (1988); and "Down That Road Tonight" and "When it's Gone" (1989).

The current members are:

* Bob Carpenter - keyboard, accordion, bass, and vocals (1977-present)
* Jimmie Fadden - drums, harmonica,guitar, washtub bass, jug and vocals (1966-present)
* Jeff Hanna - guitar, mandolin, drums, harmonica, bass, washboard, jug and vocals (1966-present)
* John McEuen - banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, accordion washtub bass and vocals (1966-1986 & 2001-present)

Former members:

* Ralph Barr - guitar, clarinet and vocals (1966-1968)
* Merel Bregante - drums and percussion (1977-1979)
* Jackson Browne - guitar and vocals (1966)
* John Cable - guitar, bass and vocals (1976-1977)
* Jackie Clark - guitar, bass and vocals (1976-1977)
* Chris Darrow - fiddle, guitar, mandolin and vocals (1967-1968)
* Michael Gardner - drums (1980-1981)
* Al Garth - saxophone, fiddle, keyboard, percussion and vocals (1977-1981)
* Richard Hathaway - bass and vocals (1977-1981)
* Jimmy Ibbotson - guitar, bass, mandolin, piano, accordion, drums, flute and vocals (1968-1975 & 1982-2004)
* Bruce Kunkel - guitar, kazoo, vocals (1966-1967)
* Bernie Leadon - guitar, banjo, mandolin and vocals (1987-1989)
* Vic Mastrianni - drums (1980-1981)
* Les Thompson - guitar, bass, mandolin and vocals (1966-1973)

Tennessee Stud
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Along about eighteen twenty-five
I left Tennessee very much alive
And I never would have gotten through the Arkansas mud
If I hadn't been a-ridin that Tennessee stud

I had some trouble with my sweetheart's pa
And one of her brothers was a bad outlaw
I sent her a letter by my Uncle Fud

And I rode away on the Tennessee stud

CHORUS:
The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The color of the sun and his eyes were green
A-He had the nerve and he had the blood
And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud

We drifted on down into no man's land
We crossed that river called the Rio Grande
I raced my hoss with the Spaniard's foal
Till I got me a skin full of silver and gold

Me and the gambler we couldn't agree
We got in a fight over Tennessee
We jerked our guns, and he fell with a thud
And I got away on the Tennessee stud

The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The color of the sun and his eyes were green
A-He had the nerve and he had the blood
And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud

Well I got just as lonesome as a man can be
A-Dreaming of my girl in Tennessee
The Tennessee stud's green eyes turned blue
Cause he was a-dreamin' of his sweetheart, too

We loped right back across Arkansas
I whoop her brother and I whoop her pa
When I found that girl with the golden hair
And she was A-ridin' that Tennessee mare (whoa, boy)

The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The color of the sun and his eyes were green
He had the nerve and he had the blood
And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud

Stirrup to stirrup and side by side
We crossed them mountains and the valleys wide
We came into Big Muddy then we forded a flood
On the Tennessee mare and the Tennessee stud

There's a pretty little baby on the cabin floor
A little hoss colt playin' 'round the door
I love the girl with golden hair
And the Tennessee stud loves the Tennessee mare (They'se good hosses)

The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The color of the sun and his eyes were green

And he had the nerve and he had the blood
And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud

Overall Meaning

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's song "Tennessee Stud" tells the story of a man who leaves Tennessee in 1825 and travels across the United States on his trusty horse, the Tennessee stud. The song describes his encounters with various people, including trouble with his sweetheart's family members, a race with a Spaniard's foal, and a fight with a gambler over the Tennessee stud. The chorus repeats the description of the horse as "long and lean, the color of the sun and his eyes were green, he had the nerve and he had the blood, and there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud."

Tennessee StudThe Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Lyrics

Tennessee Stud
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Lyrics