Artist:Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Song:Fishin' in the Dark
Album:Anthology
Most fans should be familiar with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 70s hits like Mr. Bojangles and the classic album Will the Circle Be Unbroken. But they had a string of country hits in the 80s including Fishin' in the Dark. After going through an identity crisis in the late 70s, they changed their name to The Dirt Band in an effort to be more commercial. they changed their name back to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and signed with Warner Bros. in 1984. They topped the country charts with Long Hard Road in 1984 and Modern Day Romance in 1985. So now they are a mainstream country band. This was mostly driven by lead singer Jeff Hanna. I guess founding member John McEuen didn't like the band's direction as he left in 1986 and was replaced by Bernie Leadon of Eagles. The 1987 album Hold On was his first album with the band. He's in the video but not listed on the album credits. He may have left before the album release. Fishin' in the Dark was written by veteran singer songwriters Wendy Waldman and Jim Photoglo who is a current member of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They continued to have success on the country charts for the next couple of years. They left Warner Bros. in 1990. This 2CD comp has songs from Liberty and Warner Bros. Hanna still leads the band today. They last recorded in 2009 but they still tour. Here's the video for Fishin' in the Dark by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
I used to hear their song Mr.Bojangles all the time on the radio. I loved it. I did not know much about them. Thank-you very much for the bio Frank. David.
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