From: Wikipedia: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was founded in Long Beach, California, in 1966. Founding guitarist Jeff Hanna was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, but his family had moved to Long Beach four years prior.[1] While in high school, he befriended guitarist Bruce Kunkel, and the two played in a local duo called the New Coast Two.[2] As they wanted to form a larger group, the two began playing impromptu jam sessions at a Santa Monica music store called McCabe's Guitar Shop.[3] Through these performances, they recruited four other musicians. These were Jimmie Fadden, who at the time played washtub bass, harmonica, and guitar, along with Ralph Barr (guitar, clarinet), Les Thompson (guitar, mandolin), and Jackson Browne (guitar). All six members also served as vocalists. Browne quit the group after only a few months,[4] and was replaced by John McEuen, who contributed on guitar, mandolin, banjo, and washtub bass.[2] They briefly called themselves the Illegitimate Jug Band, due to their playing jug band music without actually having a member who played the jug. Soon afterward, they selected Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as a name,[1] inspired by their observation that many bands at the time had names that they considered long and unusual, such as Strawberry Alarm Clock.[5]
