John McEuen

This book celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of one of my favorite recordings.

Structurally this is a photo book, with essays accompanying each photograph. The image section is preceded by necessary background material--mostly about the Dirt Band's then-recent success with their Uncle Charlie album, which 1) gave the band some clout with their record company and 2) made it possible for John McEuen to recruit Earl Scruggs for a Nashville-based album featuring older country musicians. Scruggs' participation, either directly or indirectly, made it possible to convince the other artists that the project was both worthwhile and realistic.

Bill McEuen photographed the six-day recording session as part of his band-manager/album-producer task set. The writeups are occasionally directly about the photographs but far more often the pix just trigger related stories about the folks in the photograph. This works surprisingly well, though the method lends itself to a bit of disorder and some repetition. Both are minor concerns; the plan really was a photo essay and the book reads more like it was assembled than like a long essay. He seems to cover all the important points, and tells some interesting tales in the process. Here and there I learned odd tidbits about the musicians and the music.

The photo section's preceded by short essays by all the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band members who participated; their takes mostly reinforce McEuen's. After the photo section there are similar notes from others who participated, and a few who just had something to say about the album and/or its influence (Marty Stuart fits this category).

At the very end is a brief summary of the subsequent Circle efforts the band's put out. I found that valuable.

It's a good book.… (mehr)

This is a fun read. It's basically a collection of stories about McEuen's life and (especially) his career. Despite considerable friction with his bandmates in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and some regrets about other matters, McEuen's clearly satisfied with the way things have worked out.

There's quite a bit about the early history of the NGDB--the abbreviation he mostly uses--but there's virtually none (excepting quarrels) after the first Circle album. Folks looking for evidence about the band's difficulties can find material to blame most any member. There's lots of evidence, though, to support an argument that McEuen's a pushy guy and they just got tired of him. (Mostly I don't care. Bands break up all the time; a better question would be how these folks managed to work together for half a century.)

That's a bad reason to read a book, anyway. This one tells good stories; it's worth reading for those.… (mehr)