Song / Video Review – Earl Dibbles Jr.’s “City Boy Stuck”
As hilarious as the Earl Dibbles Jr. debut video “Country Boy Song” was, and it was pretty damn hilarious, you had the sense this could be a bit that could get worn out quickly if it was overexposed. That’s may be why Earl’s real life alter ego Granger Smith has resisted putting out a full Earl Dibbles Jr. album or doing an Earl Dibbles-only tour. A few songs will leave you in stitches. Four or five might get to feeling tired pretty quickly.
One of the funniest moments of the “Country Boy Song” video was when Earl Dibbles comes up on a couple of pastel-wearing “city boys” stuck on the side of the road in an imported compact sedan, and as he drives by in his truck missing the driver’s side door, he just shakes his head “no” at their requests to render aid.
It was so funny the first time and was mentioned in the lyrics of “Country Boy Song,” why not elaborate on it? That’s what Earl Dibbles Jr. does on “City Boy Stuck”—one of four songs featured on the recently-released Granger Smith 4X4 EP.
The problem with developing a simple country boy character whose life revolves around only a few simple activities (crackin’ cold ones, puttin’ a good dip in, huntin’ bucks, and fixin’ trees) is there’s only so much material to work with. As “City Boy Stuck” starts off, it feels like it’s going to be an uphill battle to keep you engaged with a lot of the repetitiveness from previous Dibbles offerings, and the similar approach to “Country Boy Song” in the musical structure. Becoming disillusioned with some of Granger Smith’s music as recycled Bro-Country also may not help matters.
But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that after about the first 30 seconds, Earl Dibbles Jr. had me rolling, and though I question if it’s fair to call it parody, Earl Dibbles does do a great job aping the city-hating, Democrat-hating, mud loving redneck like the one portrayed in this awful video and others. The miser in me couldn’t believe they trashed a perfectly good Prius as part of this video, but it’s the commitment to the video medium that has made Earl Dibbles Jr. an underground superstar.
Try to measure Earl Dibbles Jr.’s intentions (or Granger Smith’s) and you’re missing the point. Sit back and laugh and you’ll get exactly what you’re supposed to from this music.
1 1/2 of 2 Guns Up.
May 7, 2015 @ 6:43 pm
Don’t feel too bad… that Prius looked like a first gen model c. 1997-2003. I’m sure it saw plenty of good miles before it went boom.
May 7, 2015 @ 7:18 pm
Nope. I’ll pass on that one.
May 7, 2015 @ 7:36 pm
I really want to like this guy. I really do. I loved his song “We Bleed Maroon.” But he is wasting his talents on this whole cliche comedy schtick.
May 7, 2015 @ 8:05 pm
Yeah I agree, he could definitely be ONE OF the faces to the Texas Red Dirt scene if he applied himself to it. Instead his persona has more fans than he does.
May 7, 2015 @ 8:40 pm
Firstly, I could have sworn this was billed as a Granger Smith song on his new “4X4” EP featuring Earl Dibbles Jr.
Huh!
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I have to say, if this is indeed a Earl Dibbles Jr. record featuring Granger Smith, that’s a relief…………because that leads right into my second point.
I’m admittedly concerned that many who aren’t familiar with the tongue-in-cheek intent behind the Earl Dibbles Jr. persona will watch this video and react: “Hahahahaha, yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh! TAKE THAT, O-BUMMER LOVER! And take your ISIS-loving, America hating, gun-stealing, sushi-eating effeminate ass with you!” They may not even realize it’s a parody and thus this will only contribute to the cold culture war and further encourage such polemics and tirades. =/
I generally don’t pay mind to YouTube comments unless I’m specifically reviewing music and taking the temperature of listener callout………….but I decided to do so here……………and though many seemed to respond mostly to the “Yee Yee!” catchphrase, there were still a notable number of users who didn’t seem to get that this was a joke (though they thankfully didn’t escalate into full-blown ugly comments like in the comment sections for Justin Moore’s “Bait a Hook” and “Guns”, Aaron Lewis’s “Country Boy”, Brantley Gilbert’s “Kick It In The Sticks” and Darryl Worley’s “Have You Forgotten?” most notably.
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Anyway, I thought the video was well-done, even if it won’t have the same sort of staying power as “Country Boy Song”.
May 7, 2015 @ 10:16 pm
I agree there is some curious misunderstanding going on with this song, and I have to say I’m a little bit surprised since I would expect most anyone who would come in contact with Earl Dibbles Jr. at this point would at least have a little bit of a clue about the back story. It’s sort of like someone rolling up on Weird Al and not understanding he’s not for real.
I’m also really surprised how quickly the sentiment has changed for Earl Dibbles. I myself took exception to Granger Smith’s latest single in a pretty vehement manner, but when I watched this video with an open heart, I genuinely found it entertaining. I didn’t think it was great, and that’s why it was graded as it was. But if you can’t laugh at this, I guess I just find that a little bit sad.
May 7, 2015 @ 10:21 pm
And I personally thought this was funny, and this is coming straight from someone who has lived in a highly urbanized Portland, Oregon for nearly eleven years and whose social views are considerably at odds with the traditional country listening (economically, I find more to agree with).
The way I see it, if you can’t laugh at yourself here and there, there’s something terribly wrong with you.
May 8, 2015 @ 9:04 pm
I could definitely see how the untuned public would think that was a legit song. If I turned on the radio and this came on, I wouldn’t have thought it was a parody. Without the video, its iffy.
I don’t know anything about Granger, but I grew up in the country. I can say without question he has the finest set of teeth any country boy ever had. Kudos on the orthodontist and the excellent hygiene, sir.
May 8, 2015 @ 8:33 pm
I really don’t have a problem with anti-city songs. The city has thrown plenty of hateful stereotypes on country people and since the major media outlets reside there, I doubt the sentiment will change. I agree that there are better ways to take pride in being country without sounding ignorant, but I always thought “Bait a Hook” was a funny song about an ex trying to figure his rejection and blaming the other party instead of himself.
I don’t recall “Have You Forgotten” being anti-city, it is against anti-war people, which come in all communities.
That being said, the music video for “Kick in the Sticks” was plain stupid. As long as a city boy doesn’t insult my way of living, he is welcome to be my friend.
May 7, 2015 @ 9:36 pm
Yee Yee! Indeed! Damn – I getta kick out of that dude. Anyone who prefers people who take themselves too seriously have a whole list of people to listen to. I love this shit. Yee Yee!
May 7, 2015 @ 11:16 pm
http://www.popvortex.com/music/charts/top-country-songs.php
Piggybacking off what I mentioned a little earlier, regarding my confusion seeing “City Boy Stuck” surface on Granger Smith’s newly-released “4X4” as its final track and stating “Featuring Earl Dibbles Jr.”, yet surfacing on YouTube under the Earl Dibbles Jr. moniker…………the confusion deepens ever further in eyeing the iTunes Country Top 100 chart.
As of 11:15 PM PST, “City Boy Stuck” is at #38 on the chart. And it’s listed under Granger Smith’s name, with his alter-ego Earl Dibbles Jr. as the featured artist.
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I honestly don’t get what is up with us.
Is Smith’s team of publicists intentionally trying to yank our chains, or were those managing his YouTube channels under both the Granger Smith and Earl Dibbles Jr. identities simply asleep at the wheel and uploaded the video to the wrong account?
May 12, 2015 @ 9:25 am
All of his EDJr songs on Spotify are billed as Granger Smith feat. Earl Dibbles, Jr.
May 8, 2015 @ 6:33 am
I have to agree here that this guys persona is more popular that the actual artist. The video is funny. I kind sit on both ends of the spectrum. I am a city boy, but we have several hundred acres in a rural county. I have lived both styles of life. I like city life, but I sure like burning up the back roads to get to the country. BTW, if I got stuck in my wife’s hybrid Camry. I could get it out myself.
May 8, 2015 @ 7:48 am
I really want to like Granger Smith, I love the Earl Dibbles Jr. character and even though the joke is starting to run a little bit long now (I’m waiting for someone to come along and do a mock character of the Sam Hunt/Thomas Rhett metrosexual guys), it’s still pretty funny.
I just wish I could get more engaged with Smith’s other music, but I find it to just be uninspiring for the most part. He’s a very likable guy, but too often the rest of his music just feels like songs and production scrapped from Music Row with a little Texas Country mixed in. Too often it feels like he wants to play both sides of the fence and his music ends up feeling watered down because of it.
May 8, 2015 @ 10:36 am
Oh man! This is gold! I like it even better than “Country Boy Song”.
May 8, 2015 @ 10:43 am
I gotta get me a “Yee Yee” t-shirt.
May 8, 2015 @ 12:17 pm
The problem I see with Earl Dibbles Jr. is that most people I have noticed aren’t taking this as a parody but the real thing. Most young people I see think this is how you have to act and look to be so called country. I think it’s hilarious but sad that his Earl Dibbles Jr. act gets more attention than his real music (which I don’t care for much either)
May 8, 2015 @ 12:47 pm
Well, your opinion about his music is probably shared by many others. It seems like he is better at comedy than at music.
May 8, 2015 @ 12:38 pm
Both of this douche’s personalities are the same,,terrible music,and not even close to comedy..maybe it’s funny if you’re kind of person who thinks duck dynasty is a good show….
May 8, 2015 @ 12:54 pm
The best part of the comedy is how it makes fun of the urban-rural cultural divide. It’s a heck of a lot better than most of the uncreative junk on SNL, for sure.
May 8, 2015 @ 12:53 pm
Just looking at the video with the sound turned off makes me laugh!
I can imagine myself in that Prius driver’s position…
May 8, 2015 @ 1:15 pm
The funniest thing about this guy is the crazy stuff that is offered up on YouTube when you search him — the stuff that isn’t parody, but being presented as real music. In this context, it’s easy to understand why Earl exists. From a parody standpoint, it’s a target-rich environment…
May 8, 2015 @ 2:18 pm
I generally like parody even if it hits close to home.
The last Granger CD was awful, but I will try to pick this CD up.
To me, country is a state of heart.
I am no more country on our cattle farm than I am when I am in court or my office.
That is why quality, heartfelt lyrics are critical to a song.
Labels and categorization don’t mean much to me.
My being country reflects the location of my soul.
The music to which I gravitate speaks to my soul.
The 21st century poseurs remind me of the nightclub cowboys who came to life following the success of “Urba Cowboy”.
Deep down, we hope people don’t confuse us with them.
Thanks for the review – I had already taken a pass on this one .
Lastly, I would add that it was Larry Flynt who caused the US Supreme Court to hold that the 1st Amendment protects parody, even if it’s offensive.
May 15, 2016 @ 4:30 pm
Thanks for saying how I feel.
May 8, 2015 @ 2:51 pm
The sad thing about these series of parodies (If that’s what they truly even are, who knows) is the vast amount of people who see these songs as their anthems. Just read the YouTube comments.
May 8, 2015 @ 3:25 pm
“The problem with developing a simple country boy character whose life revolves around only a few simple activities (crackin”™ cold ones, puttin”™ a good dip in, huntin”™ bucks, and fixin”™ trees) is there”™s only so much material to work with.”
Precisely the problem with Bro-Country, too 😉
May 9, 2015 @ 5:11 pm
When the Earl Dibbles act first came out, I enjoyed it, The Country Boy Song was funny, and just a silly little song to listen to from time to time but now all of Grangers music has kind of very similar in sounding to it. I enjoy listening to his early stuff, wish he could still have decent stuff under his name, now all he is know for is the so called country stuff. Granted I don’t live in the country, not yet anyway! =) But, it is a way you see things, not what you wear or do. Earl was funny first time around, now it is just repetitive and boring. Granger is a nice and talented guy, wish he would put more effort in some deeper sounding stuff bc I know he can do it!
May 9, 2015 @ 9:57 pm
How many fans of Dibbles Jr think that him and Granger are two different people?
May 25, 2015 @ 7:56 pm
fun song
June 7, 2015 @ 12:55 am
Wow. Yall sound like assholes with nothin better to do than cut down famous people. I bet half of ya live in your mama’s basements. Anyways, Granger Smith is a very talented singer/songwriter, musician, and performer. He is also a great person and a huge family man. I don’t know him personally, but a huge fan and he presents himself respectfully and he is a huge supporter of US troops. He only created his alter-ego to get noticed, which worked, even though many have never heard of him still. I have seen him live and he puts on an amazing show in which he was completely invovled and got the crowd going. Yall must not have listened to the same music I did. Poets & Prisoners and Dirt Road Driveway have great songs. And this new EP is another great example of his talents.