In 1967 I gladly parted with 95 cents to buy a copy of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s first hit single, Buy For Me The Rain. I guess not very many other listeners bought the record as it got up to #45 on the charts.
The group was lucky enough to cover Jerry Jeff Walker’s 1968 single of Mr. Bojangles and carry it up to the top ten in 1970.
Their next success on the charts didn’t even have their name on it! In 1979 the group backed up Steve Martin on his million-selling single recording of King Tut, although they were credited as the Toot Uncommons.
The group had some personnel changes and shortened their name to the Dirt Band and switched their sound from country rock to a more pop sound.
In early 1980 they recorded An American Dream. The song featured backup vocals by Linda Ronstadt and climbed up to #13. Later that year the group teamed up with Nicolette Larson and reached #25 with Make a Little Magic. The group struggled after that, failing to reach the top forty again.
The album and the single version of Make a Little Magic were nearly four minutes long, but a live version could often run closer to three minutes.
