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The Wit And Wisdom Of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Nick Tosches, Creem, January 1975

JUST WHAT THE hell is "good time music" supposed to mean? Is it John Sebastian lilting those fruity dry-hump ditties like 'You Didn't Have To Be So Nice' and 'Daydream' while Zal Yanovsky frolics like some fraternity dork in the background? Is it Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee leading a mob of bleached out androids in a rousing refrain of 'Take This Hammer'? Is it Jim Kweskin and an entire commune of New England hicks warbling 'Beedle Um Bum'? Is it a bunch of yokels from, say, Calgary playing washboards and singing junk like 'Down by the Riverside'?

Total word count of piece: 1239

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