Stars And Stripes Forever

This is one of the best, overlooked, albums by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Well recorded live songs, interview with Vassar Clements & band members, and more.

A "must have" for NGDB fans, and anyone who liked their pre "American Dream" music.

I loved the NGDB back in their "jug band/bluegrass/eclectic rock" days (before they went mainstream and began sucking with a vengeance), and this is an album I've always mostly enjoyed a lot.
The music is great... kickin' versions of classics like "Mr. Bojangles", "Buy for me the Rain", "Diggy Liggy Lo", "Battle of New Orleans", "Jambalaya". Funny songs like "GloCoat Blues", "The Fish Song", "Cosmic Cowboy". Fabulous fiddling from Mr. Vassar Clements throughout, and excellent bluegrass instrumentals.
The "interviews" are less successful, but are still interesting, for the most part.
Now we come to the two cuts that both make and break this album...
"The Mountain Whippoorwill"... Oh man, the rest of this album could even have been "(c)rap" and I'd have given it 5 stars just for this cut! A brilliant interpretation by John McEuen. With his muted delivery and old-timey banjo accompaniment, he makes this wonderful poem by Stephen Vincent Benet (one of my top 5 all-time favorite poems) really come to life. An amazing, spellbinding piece of live music. Unfortunately, it's more than counterbalanced by:
"It Came from the 50's (Blast from the Past)". One of the most misbegotten attempts at "humour" I've ever heard. So adolescent and unfunny that it transcends stupidity and just becomes pathetic and sad. Sure, 14-year olds might have sniggered at this during the early '70's (I didn't- I thought it was embarassing even back then... when I WAS 14!), but that doesn't make it funny. Almost unlistenable, I hate this cut so much that the album overall loses 1 star.
Other than that, I highly recommend this one, along with "Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy" as THE two quintessential NGDB recordings.

When I was a young 'un, I'd go to the cut-out bins at the local discount and record stores and blow most of what spending money I had trying out interesting looking albums. In this way, I was introduced to a lot of great music that I otherwise might have missed.

This was one of those albums. I was not a big country fan in 1976 when I ran across this LP in the bargain bin. I had "Mr. Bojangles" on 45. I'd heard "House On Pooh Corner" For a buck or so, I took a flyer on "Stars and Stripes Forever." If bang for the buck was my only criteria for defining the success of a purchase, this is like buying Microsoft as a startup. Through this album, I was introduced to bluegrass and a whole musical spectrum of country artists that I'd never heard and that give me so much pleasure today.

This is not "country" as you'd define it today. The Dirt Band, along with The Outlaws and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils were just the bridge a young rocker like me needed to expand my horizons. These guys were long haired, hippie types like me! And the music was beyond cool...

"Stars and Stripes Forever" is not the perfect NGDB album, but it is my personal favorite. I'll always be grateful I found this album in that bargain bin at Zayre's department store 30-odd years ago. I still have the LP with the clipped corner; it is one of the few pieces of vinyl I haven't disposed of over the years as I've replaced them with digital recordings.

By all means, buy "Uncle Charlie;" that IS the perfect NGDB album. For $6 bucks, you shouldn't miss this.

This isn't your normal studio/live compilation which is one of the primary reasons some folks may have a difficult time fully appreciating the outstanding performances contained herein and the context in which they are presented. Had I not experienced "Stars And Stripes Forever" when I did I might have similar misgivings. In 1974 there was no internet, no MTV, and concert footage on television was a rare treat. If you wanted to find out about an artist or group not in the mainstream and not covered by the limited music magazines in circulation at the time then you had to take a calculated gamble, purchase one of their albums, and then hope for the best. That was certainly the case for me with NGDB and "Stars And Stripes Forever". The gamble paid off and, looking back, "Stars And Stripes Forever" was the perfect answer to my NGDB questions. It introduced me to these fabulous musicians and gave me insight into who these guys were that a normal studio or live disc could only partially provide.

As for content, "Stars And Stripes Forever" contains a variety of musical styles that are all firmly anchored in Americana. You will find pop, bluegrass, country, blues, and rock performed to perfection alongside a sampling of folk comedy and spoken word (i.e. a poem, interviews, and concert dialogue). The documentation provided with this disc is very helpful. It not only tells you who plays what on each song like the LP version did back in '74 but now lets you know when and where each tune was recorded:

Kansas State University March 13, 1972
Cowtown - Kansas City, Mo. June 17-18 1973
Woodland Sound Studios - Nashville, TN January 14, 1974
Original Release Date: June 3, 1974

Please don't misunderstand me and think that I am stating that this is the perfect introduction to NGDB for everyone as times have changed. The elaborate lengths that the band went to to showcase their musical talent while at the same time offering a glimpse into their individual and collective personalities is no longer necessary. The information not readily available in 1974 is now only a mouse-click away. Still, the interviews and concert dialogue add a nice touch if you are willing to accept an occasional interruption of the musical flow. For me, it is like a visit with old friends.

I'm not sure what I expected when I ordered this. I think the interviews kind of take away from the music, but they do provide some interesting insight. Also, the sound quality was a bit spotty to my ears.

All in all, I liked the songs and it was worth the $5.98 I spent for it. I guess that's all you can really ask for.