Customer Reviews

Will the Circle Be Unbroken (30th Anniversary Edition)

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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 ...

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!

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.

The original Will The Circle Be Unbroken album, which came out as a triple LP in '72 and was re-released in a newer version on CD a couple of years ago, is the one that got me hooked on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. After hearing my dad and one of my sisters play it, I bought Circle for myself. It soon became my favorite Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album and the one I played most often. Recently, I bought the remastered double-CD version of Will The Circle Be Unbroken. It has everything that was on the original triple LP, plus several new tracks.

When the Dirt Band's producer, Bill McEuen(brother of NGDB member John McEuen), brought the Dirt Band into the studio to record Circle in '72, they were five long-haired guys playing progressive country-rock. A lot of the veteran country artists the Dirt Band recorded with on Circle were conservative classic-country performers, so there was an obvious musical and cultural gap. However, the Dirt Band eventually won their veteran artist counterparts over by showing that they could play classic country and bluegrass with anybody. The result is a timeless album that's full of tradition.

Along with the Dirt Band members at the time--John McEuen, Jimmy Ibbotson, Les Thompson, Jimmie Fadden, and Jeff Hanna--Circle's roster of artists includes people who, in my mind, constitute a virtual Hall of Fame of country and bluegrass music: Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, and Mother Maybelle Carter. There are also some great session players on here: Norman Blake and Oswald Kirby on dobro; Roy "Junior" Huskey on acoustic bass; Vassar Clements on fiddle; and Randy Scruggs, son of Earl, on lead guitar. And there are a lot of great musical moments. Doc Watson, with the Dirt Band backing him up, sings "Tennessee Stud" and "Way Downtown" and also does some clever guitar picking on "Black Mountain Rag" and "Down Yonder". Earl Scruggs provides excellent banjo work on a lot of the numbers, especially his own compositions: "Flint Hill Special", "Nashville Blues", and "Earl's Breakdown". Jimmy Martin, like Earl a prominent bluegrass performer, sings "Grand Ole Opry Song", "Sunny Side Of The Mountain", "You Don't Know My Mind", "Losin' You Might Be The Best Thing Yet" and "My Walkin' Shoes". Merle Travis contributes "Nine Pound Hammer", "Dark As A Dungeon", and "I Am A Pilgrim". Roy Acuff does a rousing rendition of Hank Williams' "I Saw The Light" and a memorable version of his own classic song "Precious Jewel". Maybelle's vocals are powerful on "Keep On The Sunny Side", "Wildwood Flower", and "I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes". Vassar Clements' fiddle work stands out on "Orange Blossom Special". The highlight, though, is "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", the title song, with the entire cast of musicians and singers and great singing by Mother Maybelle, Jimmy Martin, and Roy Acuff. Two of the bonus tracks are instrumentals: the bluegrass classic "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and the gospel number "Remember Me". The thing that really makes this record special is the between-song conversation among the performers, including a memorable dialogue between Doc Watson and Merle Travis, who first met in the studio while recording Circle with the Dirt Band.

I bought the second volume of Circle on CD before I bought the CD of volume one. Though Circle, Volume 2 has a lot to recommend it--for instance, more vocals and original songs by Dirt Band members--that album at times sounds like a slick studio product. This record, by contrast, sounds "live" even though it was recorded in a studio. Every song was recorded on the first or second try--"Do it right the first time," said Roy Acuff just before launching into "Precious Jewel"--and, as I've already stated, many of the interactions among the various performers made it onto the album. Also, I don't think it's any coincidence that John McEuen returned to the Dirt Band in '02 after a 15-year absence, about the time this remastered version of Circle came out. There are a lot of talented musicians on Volume 2 of Circle, but John was one of the guys who made the original Circle--and the Dirt Band--go. NGDB put out solid music after John left, but not too much of it had the bluegrass-country feel he provided. John's return to the band makes me appreciate this classic Circle album even more.

Remastered! Bonus tracks! Yea, whatever... You can read the other reviews to find out how important or spiritual or how much fun to make this album is, I suppose. But DO NOT BE FOOLED into thinking that this is some musical Mt. Everest that cannot be approached and appreciated by us puny mortals! Nonsense! Buy this album because it is jam-packed with incredible music and wonderful performances that you won't hear anywhere else. To me, the musical highlights are Earl Scrugg's beautifully understated guitar work on many of the tracks (yes, I said guitar) and John McEuen's banjo work (the man is a monster of old-time pickin'). I don't know that I have a favorite cut but the title track will do. This re-mastered version is nice; I don't know that the bonus tracks add all that much, however. The original 3 disk vinyl and the older CD were already worth a 5 star review, ya know? Pickers should get it to learn from the Masters. Young persons should listen to it so that they understand their civics lessons. This is American Music, Son. Be proud!

The vitality with which these 30-year-old tracks leap from the speakers attests both to the innate qualities of the original live-in-the-studio performances (recorded direct to a two-track master, no overdubs, no sweetening), and the stultifying effects that multitracking and overdubbing has had on many modern records. Conceived by the Dirt Band as a chance to record a song with Earl Scruggs, this 1972 session snowballed into a watershed meeting of country and bluegrass legends, and a passing of the torch from one generation to another.

In addition to Scruggs' singing and banjo picking, the Dirt Band was joined by Doc Watson, Roy Acuff (apparently goaded into living up to his declaration "I'll play real country music anytime, anywhere, with anyone"), Merle Travis, Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin and Vassar Clements. The six days of recording showed both camps something new -- the young 'uns schooled themselves at the feet of the masters, and the elders realized that the long-hairs from the West were heartfelt, knowledgeable and exceptionally good players.

This 30th anniversary double-CD adds a quartet of tracks to the original release (two studio dialogues, and two songs: the Dirt Band's John McEuen sprint through "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," and Doc Watson's short run-through of "Remember Me"). Even with the bonus tracks added to the original triple-LP, it still seems too short. Every performance is a stand-out, with the legends in fine form (Doc Watson, Merle Travis and Earl Scruggs show off some incredible picking) and the new generation showing themselves worthy of the company. The musical bond between the players, grown from common roots, is evident in their impeccable instrumental interplay. Any tentativeness evidenced chatting between songs gives way as soon as these consummate professionals start their picking. Titles from the Carter Family and Hank Williams songbooks intertwine effortlessly with bluegrass and country classics.

At a time when pop acts were recording in Nashville, attempting to borrow a bit of Music City's luster, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did just the opposite. Rather than aggrandizing themselves, they spent their capital as a chart act illuminating the heroes from whom they'd learned so much. The resulting album introduced country's first-generation to a broader audience, and validated the Dirt Band's talent and intentions among country and bluegrass fans.

With the public's interest in bluegrass and early country stirred by the "O, Brother" soundtrack, this 30th anniversary release couldn't have been better timed. This summit meeting of two generations of country and bluegrass musicians retains every last drop of the vitality poured into it thirty years ago.

This album is as good as it gets for more reasons than I care to iterate. If you care at all for classic blue grass performed at an unsurpassed level of perfection, get it.

When the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band embarked on this project, they invited Bill Monroe to take part but he declined. He regretted that decision once he heard the album, which took him and everybody else by surprise. While Bill was absent, other top country and bluegrass singers and musicians participated. These included Mother Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Merle Travis and Jimmy Martin. Nobody intended that a triple LP would be released but all the participants had so much fun recording together that they recorded a lot more material than they originally intended. It did not please the record label management, who were doubtful that an album of bluegrass and old-time country music could sell at all. Nevertheless, they agreed to release the album as a triple LP and it eventually sold over three million copies in America, possibly because it was so different from anything else around at the time.

Many of the songs and instrumentals are covers, especially of songs already associated with one or other of the participants. The Carter Family songbook is represented by Keep on the sunny side, You are my flower, Wabash Cannonball, I'm thinking tonight of my blue eyes, Wildwood flower and the title track. Merle Travis contributed Dark as a dungeon, Nine pound hammer, Cannonball rag, and I am a pilgrim. Earl Scruggs contributed Nashville blues, Flint Hill special and Earl's breakdown. Roy Acuff revived some of his own hits including The precious jewel, Pins and needles and Wreck on the highway. Fans of Hank Williams will recognize I saw the light, Honky tonking, I saw the light and Honky tonk blues. Another famous song is Orange blossom special, but my favorites here are Grand Old Opry song (which may be an original song) and Tennessee stud, a cover of a Jimmy Driftwood song.

It is clear that everybody had a lot of fun making this album, which remains the greatest triumph in the long career of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. If you enjoy this album, remember that the group recorded two further Circle albums, each with their own distinctive character.

Wow! What can one add to John McEuen's review? This is a landmark album and the 30th anniversary edition only got better with the digitally remastering job and the addition of the bonus material. This marks my fourth purchase of this seminal recording. First on vinyl in 1972, then on cassette and CD, and now this. The NGDB said it best in their liner notes: "The Circle stands as a record of an event of unusual proportions, a presentation of music that 'did' change the world." Time has not diminished how special this recording is. For me personally it was an introduction to some of country and bluegrass music's most influential artists.[It's worth noting that it's this album's version of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" that was recently listed by CMT as one of the 100 greatest country songs of all time!] ESSENTIAL

This album is one of my top ten desert island albums and I do not own any other bluegrass. It is essential to any basic collection.