Ricky Scaggs "Bluegrass rules!" (1997)

Ricky Scaggs

By the time he was in his mid-thirties, Kentuckian Ricky Skaggs had already produced a career's worth of music. At age seven he appeared on TV with Flatt & Scruggs; at 15 he was a member of legendary Ralph Stanley's bluegrass band (with fellow teenager Keith Whitley). None of his '80s peers, male or female, had better musical credentials than Skaggs. The term "multi-talented" lacks the power to characterize this extraordinary singer and instrumentalist. Not only can he sing and pick with the best in progressive country, his broad and deep experience in traditional music separates him from the crowd. In the estimation of many, he is without peer as a combination vocalist and instrumentalist (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo). After playing with Ralph Stanley for three years, Skaggs moved on to progressive bluegrass bands the Country Gentlemen and J.D. Crowe & the New South. With his own band, Boone Creek, he mixed the old and the new, even referencing the swinging Gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt. Skaggs took Rodney Crowell's place in Emmylou Harris' Hot Band in 1977, and the band's excellent Roses in the Snow album showcased Skaggs' versatility. Two number one hits came out of his 1981 album Waitin' for the Sun to Shine, and the awards started arriving. Skaggs is largely responsible for a back-to-basics movement in country music. He showed many that a bluegrass tenor with impeccable taste and enormous talent could sell traditional country in the '80s, a time when pop music had invaded the land of rural rhythm.
Skaggs began playing music at a very early age, being given a mandolin from his father at the age of five. Before his father had the time to teach Ricky how to play, the child had learned the instrument himself, and by the end of 1959 he had performed on-stage during a Bill Monroe concert, playing "Ruby Are You Mad at Your Man" to great acclaim. Two years later, when Skaggs was seven, he appeared on Flatt & Scruggs' television show, again to a positive response. Shortly afterward, he learned how to play both fiddle and guitar and began playing with his parents in a group called the Skaggs Family. In addition to traditional bluegrass, Skaggs began absorbing the honky tonk of George Jones and Ray Price and the British Invasion rock & roll of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. In his adolescence, he briefly played in rock & roll bands, but he never truly abandoned traditional and roots music.
During a talent concert in his midteens, he met Keith Whitley, a fellow fiddler. The two adolescents became friends and began playing together, with Whitley's brother Dwight on banjo, at various radio shows. By 1970, they earned a spot opening for Ralph Stanley. Following their performance, Stanley invited the duo to join his supporting band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, and they accepted. Over the next two years they played many concerts with the bluegrass legend and appeared on his record Cry from the Cross. Skaggs also appeared on Whitley's solo album Second Generation Bluegrass in 1972.
Though he had made his way into the bluegrass circuit and was actively recording, Skaggs had grown tired of the hard work and low pay in the Clinch Mountain Boys and left the group at the end of 1972. For a short while, he abandoned music and worked in a boiler room for the Virginia Electric Power Company in Washington, D.C., but he returned to performing when the Country Gentlemen invited him to join in 1973. Skaggs spent the next two years with the group, primarily playing fiddle, before joining the progressive bluegrass band J.D. Crowe & the New South in 1974. The following year, he recorded another duet album with Whitley, That's It, and then formed his own newgrass band, Boone Creek, in 1976. In addition to bluegrass, the outfit played honky tonk and Western swing. Boone Creek earned the attention of Emmylou Harris, who invited Skaggs to join her supporting band. After declining her several times, he finally became a member of her Hot Band once Rodney Crowell left in 1977.
Between 1977 and 1980, Skaggs helped push Harris toward traditional country and bluegrass, often to great acclaim. Skaggs also pursued a number of other musical avenues while he was with Harris, recording a final album with Boone Creek (1978's One Way Track), two duet albums with Tony Rice (1978's Take Me Home Tonight in a Song, 1980's Skaggs & Rice), and finally, his first solo album, Sweet Temptation, which was released on Sugar Hill. Sweet Temptation was a major bluegrass hit, earning the attention of the major label Epic Records. The label offered him a contract in 1981, releasing Waitin' for the Sun to Shine later that year. The album was a big hit, earning acclaim not only in country circles, but also in rock & roll publications. By the end of the year Skaggs had become a star and, in the process, brought rootsy traditional country back into the consciousness of the country audience.
During 1982 and early 1983 he had five straight number one singles -- "Crying My Heart Out Over You," "I Don't Care," "Heartbroke," "I Wouldn't Change You If I Could," "Highway 40 Blues" -- as well as earning numerous awards. Later in 1982 he was made the youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry. For the next four years, he was a major artistic and commercial force within country music, raking up a string of Top Ten hits and Grammy Award-winning albums. His success helped spark the entire new traditionalist movement, opening the doors for performers like George Strait and Randy Travis. Toward the end of the decade, Skaggs wasn't charting as frequently as he had in the past, but he had established himself as an icon. Each of his records sold well, and he collaborated with a number of musicians, including Rodney Crowell, the Bellamy Brothers, Johnny Cash, Jesse Winchester, and Dolly Parton.
During the early '90s, Skaggs and his traditional music were hit hard by the slick sounds of contemporary country, and consequently, his records ceased to sell as consistently as they had ten years earlier. Columbia Records dropped the musician in 1992 due to poor sales. However, Skaggs continued to perform concerts and festivals frequently, as well as host his own syndicated radio program, The Simple Life, which hit the airwaves in 1994. The following year, Skaggs returned to recording with Solid Ground, his first album for Atlantic Records. Life Is a Journey followed in 1997, and two years later he released Soldier of the Cross. Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe followed in 2000 and was re-released in 2002 on the Lyric Street label as Ricky Skaggs and Friends Sing the Songs of Bill Monroe. In 2003 Skaggs released Live at the Charleston Music Hall on his own Skaggs Family label, followed by Brand New Strings in 2004, A Skaggs Family Christmas in 2005 and Instrumentals in 2006. He joined forces with the Whites for 2007's Salt of the Earth.
Released in 2008, Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass paid homage to Bill Monroe's classic mid-'40s lineup of the Bluegrass Boys and featured the only surviving member of that band, Earl Scruggs, as a guest player. For 2009's Solo: Songs My Dad Loved, dedicated to his father, Hobert Skaggs, he played all the instruments and sang all the vocals himself, while 2010’s Mosaic, co-produced by Skaggs and Gordon Kennedy, found him singing gospel-inflected country songs with more of a pop and rock feel. Released in 2011, Country Hits: Bluegrass Style saw Skaggs returning to some of his country hits and reshaping them as bluegrass pieces. 2011 also saw the release of a second holiday album, A Skaggs Family Christmas, Vol. 2, a ten-song CD that featured both studio and live recordings and came packaged with a bonus DVD, A Skaggs Family Christmas Live, presenting the family’s holiday concert filmed at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

Source: All Music.com.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Will the circle be unbroken?" (1989)

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

MAY - AUGUST 1966
The band hangs out at McCabe' Guitar Shop in Long Beach, CA, trying to "figure out how not to have to work for a living." Perform in the LA/Orange County Folk-rock scene in 1920's pinstripe suits & cowboy boots. Early line up includes future Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Jackson Browne.

1966 - 1967
The band records Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Ricochet LPs; "Buy For Me the Rain" hits the Top 40 on the Pop charts. The band appears on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, living in the "Dirt House" with Duane & Gregg Allman. Appeared in concert with Jack Benny and The Doors in the same week.

1967 - 1968
The band records Rare Junk and Alive, stay in the Wallowa Whitman National Forest, Oregon, for 4 months filming "Paint Your Wagon" with Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin. Play Carnegie Hall as Bill Cosby's opening act, and jam with Dizzy Gillespie.

1969 - 1973
The band relocates to Colorado, and records Uncle Charlie and All the Good Times, "Mr. Bojangles" makes the Top 10 Pop charts. In August 1971 the band ventured to the uncharted wilds of Nashville to record Will the Circle Be Unbroken, the platinum selling 3 record set. Guest stars include Roy Acuff, Maybelle Carter, Junior Huskey, Doc. Watson, and many more. The Roy Acuff duet of "I Saw the Light" hits the country charts, and the album gets two Grammy nominations. The band tours Japan.

1974 - 1975
The band records Stars and Stripes Forever and Dream LPs, and play at an amazing variety of shows, including bluegrass festival one day before opening for Aerosmith. Play to a crowd of 190,000 at a Sedalia MO "Rock Festival" in 103 degree heat, performing as a 4-piece band. At the end of 1975 Ibbotson departs.

1976 - 1977
The Dirt Band becomes the first American group selected by the Soviet government to tour the USSR, spending a month in Russia playing to live audiences and a massive TV audience of 145,000,000. Tour incessantly, and release Dirt, Silver and Gold, a 3-record LP.

1977 - 1979
The band releases The Dirt Band and An American Dream LPs, and the single "American Dream" with Linda Ronstadt goes to #13 on the Pop chats. The band also appears on Saturday Night Live and provides arrangement and backing for Steve Martin's million selling recording of "King Tut."

1980 - 1981
The band releases Make a Little Magic and Jealousy, and the single "Make a Little Magic" with Nicolette Larson makes the Top 20 pop charts.

1982 - 1986
Ibbotson rejoins the band and they return to Nashville to record Let's Go, and "Dance Little Jean" goes Top 10 Country. The band also records Plain Dirt Fashion and Partners, Brothers, and Friends. "Long Hard Road" becomes the Dirt Band's first Number One record, and the band eventually has 17 consecutive Top 10 country songs. They receive nominations from both the CMA and ACM, and perform at the 1984 Olympics in LA and at the first Farm-Aid concert. The Twenty Years of Dirt collection is released, coinciding with the band's 20th anniversary of their first performance at the Paradox Club in Orange County on May 13, 1966. The Anniversary concert in McNichols Arena in Denver is a sell-out, with guests such as Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson, John Prine, and others. At the end of 1986 John McEuen departs band.

1987 - 1988
In early 1987 former Eagle Bernie Leadon joins the lineup. The band releases Hold On, it's 19th LP, with the Number One singles "Fishin' in the Dark" and "Baby's Got a Hold on Me." They appear on both the Today Show and the Tonight Show in the same week, and tour Europe. Plain Dirt Fashion and 20 Years of Dirt are certified gold in Canada, and the band releases Workin' Band, scoring three more Top 10 singles.

1989 - 2000
The band releases More Great Dirt, the second authorized greatest hits LP. Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol. II is hailed internationally for uniting old and new singers, such as Roy Acuff, Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Bruce Hornsby, John Hiatt, Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn, and others. Circle II goes gold in the US and Canada, and wins 3 Grammy's and the CMA Album of the Year. A long-form video documentary The Making of Will the Circle be Unbroken II is released on Cabin Fever Entertainment. The band returns to the Soviet Union for 3 sold out performances, and national Soviet TV appearances. The Rest of the Dream is released in June 1990, produced by the band and Randy Scruggs, who produced Circle II. In late 1990, the band goes on a major tour including Canada, Europe, and Japan. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band commemorates their 25th anniversary by recording Live Two Five in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada produced by T-Bone Burnett. In 1992 the band collaborates with Irish folk legends The Cheiftans on their Grammy award winning project Another Country. The prestigious Aspen School of Music creates their first scholarship honoring a pop group in the band's name. 20 Years of Dirt is certified gold at the end of 1993. In early 1994, the band returns to the studio and their origins, recording Acoustic, a self-penned, self-produced project that spotlights the "wooden" sound they have championed for years. In 1996, the band records a duet with Karla Bonoff, "You Believed in Me", which appears on the MCA Olympic album One Voice. They also record, "Maybe Baby" for the Buddy Holly tribute album Not Fade Away on Decca Records, and in 1996 celebrate 30 years on the road. In 1997 they release The Christmas Album, followed by Bang! Bang! Bang! in 1999.

2001 - 2004
In 2001 founding member John McEuen returns to the band after a 14 year absence. In Spring 2002, Capitol Records releases the 30th Anniversary Edition of the landmark Will the Circle Be Unbroken followed several months later by Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol. III. That collection garners multiple Grammy nominations and a CMA nomination for Vocal Event with Johnny Cash for "Tears In The Holston River." In early 2003 the band produces a PBS Television special highlighting performances by guests from all three Circle projects. Capitol releases the box set Trilogy containing all three projects and a DVD of the TV special. NGDB records a duet with the legendary Kris Kristofferson for the Grammy nominated Carter Family tribute The Unbroken Circle. In 2004 the band releases Welcome To Woody Creek their first all new studio project in five years. At the end of 2004 Ibbotson departs the band.

2005 - 2008
The band begins the year by winning a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental for "Earl's Breakdown." The song features Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Jerry Douglas and the late Vassar Clements. The band tours throughout North America in support of the critically acclaimed CD Welcome To Woody Creek.

2009
The band starts the year with an extensive swing through Canada…And prepares for the launch of their 1st studio album in five years; Speed of Life.

Source: Nitty Gritty.com.