The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have been a staple of the live scene since the 1960s. They have dabbled in a number of genres, including country, folk, rock and even prog rock. They are a cult band, but the fan adoration has not kept the individual members of the band from having disagreements.
There have been several Nitty Gritty Dirt Band members who have come and gone over the years, including singer/songwriter Jackson Browne, but the member who has had the most dramatic split from the band is Jimmy Ibbotson.
Jimmy Ibbotson left the band in 2009
Ibbotson was the bassist in Nitty Gritty Dirt Band from 1970 to 1976, which coincided with some of the band's most beloved releases. He rejoined the band after a brief hiatus, in 1983, and stuck with them until 2009. It seemed as though Ibbotson would be around for the long run.
Unfortunately, things went south in 2010. The bassist evidently grew tired of touring with the band, and made his frustrations with the rest of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band known. Ibbotson took a letter from a fan following his exit from the band, and responded to them via the Aspen Daily News.
Believe us when we say a band member has rarely been as ruthless with their description of their time with ex members than Jimmy Ibbotson. He made it clear that he loathed his last decade or so, and did not plan to tour with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in the future.
Ibbotson grew tired of the touring endlessly
"I took the band's crap and bought two houses, each with recording studios attached," he told readers. "All I had to do was to keep the drummer from knowing I was getting high and I could have cashed bigger checks this year."
Ibbotson urged the fan who wrote them to emphasize their self respect and not spend years doing something they did not enjoy. There was a clear parallel between the advice and Ibbotson's own regrets working in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. "Do it now," the veteran bassist asserted. "There is no money in the world that's worth your self respect."
Ibbotson is not the only band member to leave Nitty Gritty in recent years. John McEuen also decided to walk away in 2017. McEuen was a founding member of the band who went back to 1966, and he published a memoir detailing his time with the band in 2018.