Will the Circle Be Unbroken (30th Anniversary Edition) [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 26, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1972
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000063686
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,843 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #8 in Music > Country > Bluegrass > Contemporary
  • #15 in Music > Country > Bluegrass > General
  • #20 in Music > Pop > By Decade > 1970s

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In an age when the old-timey soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? sells 5 million copies, it's hard to imagine how revolutionary Will the Circle Be Unbroken seemed upon its release 30 years ago. The triple album (now rereleased as a two-CD set) paired many of Nashville's venerable country and bluegrass performers (Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements) with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, or as Acuff called them, "a bunch of long-haired West Coast boys." The idea seemed nearly as foreign as Martians setting down in Tennessee, but the Dirt Band were Colorado hippies steeped in the genre, so there was no disputing the authenticity of the music, or its earthy appeal. Aside from the sheer joy of the performances (listen to Jimmy Martin's "whoop" on "Sunny Side of the Mountain"), there's great fun in hearing Roy Acuff give the boys a lesson in doing a song right the first time (and using the word hell before launching into a religious number). And Mother Maybelle wafts through like a benevolent ghost, or at least a patron saint. One caveat: The boast of four previously unreleased tracks is balderdash, since three are really between-track conversations and rehearsals, and only "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" qualifies as a real song. But that's nitpicking. Buy it. Love it. Wallow in it. O brother, that's country music! --Alanna Nash

Product Description

This 2 CD set is the 2002 Capitol 30th Anniversary digitally remastered release. Catalog 7243-5-35148-2-2. There is a saw cut on the spine of the case.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

442 of 448 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars you are there...., April 1, 2002

By 

John McEuen (Hollywood Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Will the Circle Be Unbroken (30th Anniversary Edition) (Audio CD)

As Will the Circle Be Unbroken came together I was living the dream of a young picker: getting to play with the people who created the form of music I had grown to love and yearned to emulate. The story on how this came about is available, but the result is what counts here. It was one of the best experiences in my life, and captured a young band at its best, shining our spotlight at the time on our heroes. And boy, did they shine back.
Vassar set the benchmark for fiddlers to aspire to with his hot inspired approach.. Earl as always defined the 5 string banjo ... Roy sang great and his performances stand as some of his best work. Travis and his songs bring you in to a different branch of the country folk world with his genius guitar style matched by his wise words written from his Kentucky background. Doc shares with everyone his joy of hot music, and makes everyone feel at home. (The first time meeting between Doc and Merle helped us out, as when we saw it happening we realized we were in a group of great people who were all truly fans of each other as much as we were of them.) Jimmy Martin demonstrated to us between cuts that he knew what his music should sound like, and cordially let us in on the secrets. He is one of the best bluegrass/country singers, and here shows why that is said. Maybelle was like an angel and, never realizing her impact on music in general, just wanted to do her songs in a way that would 'please everyone... the more the merrier.. ' She would laid down the spirit of the whole project . This was not something she could teach, but from her we learned.

This is a great album, and I say this not because I am a part of it. I do not listen to a lot of albums. I rarely listen to other Dirt Band music, although I like it. And, I play it live. But, after I remastered this from the original masters, and having heard it over the years, it seems like I would have had enough. I have listened to this probably 50 times since remastering, and look forward to the next flight where I can take a trip back to a time that was in a space where we all are frozen in the moment.

Circle represents much of the best of American music, songs, picking, singing, writing... and still draws me to it. I am sure anyone who likes acoustic music of the Americana type will find themselves drawn to it also. Circle becomes a welcome part of your life.
Thanks to the 96/24 mastering, it sounds better than ever, too.

The new pieces I put in are all equally important to me. I am proud that the Washington Post's great review mistakenly said Earl played Foggy Mt. Breakdown. The talking cuts showcase Jimmy Martin and his way of getting to the point, and gives us further insight to the true bluegrass great: funny, natural, strange.. and a definite opinion of exactly where he wants his music. And he is right.

The piece around Sunny Side is there to show all who have asked over the years "what was it like?" It captures the true spontaneity of the sessions; the constant chatter of all the players, uncertain of who was going to play where, how it starts, if one should wear picks or not... and it all of a sudden blends in to the start of such a touching piece of great music that now obviously comes from real people who are creating it from the heart.

The perfect closing song for this remastered work I found in the hours of the constant running tape, the bit of song where Doc asks us to "Remember Me when the twilight begins to fall.." and seems to speak for everyone. As I sat in the control room on the third day of running the tapes I said to the engineer "I hope today we come across the perfect closer for this" and it was the next piece of music.

So here it is - this journey back in time we were so very fortunate to make and be a part of - Will the Circle Be Unbroken in time I believe we will find to be as well known in American culture as has Wizard of Oz, Dark Side of the Moon, The Music Man, Citizen Kane, The Tonight Show, The Grand Ole Opry, and ...

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bluegrass work of art!, November 10, 2003

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Will the Circle Be Unbroken (30th Anniversary Edition) (Audio CD)

In 1971, the boys of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band got together with some of the all-time greats of Country music (including Earl Scruggs, Mother Maybelle Carter, Merle Travis, Roy Acuff and others), and produced a three record album that was one of the greatest Bluegrass Country music albums ever made. Some thirty years later, this album has been re-released on two CDs, with four bonus tracks (three are dialogue and the other is the Bluegrass classic, Foggy Mountain Breakdown).

This is a great CD collection. The music is absolutely wonderful to listen to, a real work of art, sure to be enjoyed by any Bluegrass fan. Though the title might suggest that this is a collection of religious songs, in fact only a few are overtly religious, while most are simply Bluegrass tunes played by real experts. I loved listening to this album, and highly recommend it to you!

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Join the Circle, April 10, 2002

By 

"sedonatunes" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Will the Circle Be Unbroken (30th Anniversary Edition) (Audio CD)

I discovered this album nearly 20 years ago. I had left my North Carolina mountain home for the first time, and moved to a place where I was alone and a stranger. In taking my leave, I thought I had also shed my hick past (my definition then, not now) along with my accent. I had isolated myself from my family, my friends, and in a way, myself.

Will the Circle be Unbroken, along with Emmylou Harris' Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town, helped me survive. They reminded me, in the most glorious way, where I had come from, who I was.

There are pieces of music that, on the very first listen, occupy a place in you soul that you didn't know was empty. Circle can do that. It provides a musical home for all who yearn for connection to a simpler place and time. It's a connection to the places in our hearts where we store the stories and lore of our ancestors.

The passions in the music are as they should be...raw and real. The lyrics are powerful in their simple straightforwardness. The performances are not flawless, but better. They have the character of masterpieces made on the fly.

Buy this album. Make it yours...or it might make you its own. And look to vol.2, produced in the '80's. It's slicker, yes, and casts a wider net, but it is also the natural extension of Will the Circle be Unbroken. These albums deserve to be viewed as national treasures. When you listen to them, you will certainly want to include them among your own personal treasures.