Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle Be Unbroken (30th Anniversary Edition)
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Free Music Notes for Will the Circle Be Unbroken (30th Anniversary Edition)
Free Music Review: you are there....
Hit: 5 Stars
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 ...
Free Music Review: Oh yes, this is fantastic
Hit: 5 Stars
Before factory-produced pop stars, before a glut of beautiful girl guitar-players, before boy-bands and the British Invasion, before Woodstock and rap and Techno, there was music, pure and simple. Will the Circle Be Unbroken is a celebration of that music, a return to the carefree times when it wasn't about money or artistic messages or anything but the melody, the harmony, and the freedom of jubilant expression. Recorded in a six-day period in 1972, consisting of The Nitty Gritty Dirt band (best known to modern listeners for their folksy rendition of Mr. Bojangles) and every major Nashville picker and grinner of the time, Will the Circle Be Unbroken stands as one of the penultimate must-own albums of all time. Now, to coincide with the album's 30th anniversary (and the recent success of the Grammy-winning soundtrack to O Brother! Where Art Thou?), the entire album has been digitally restored and re-released as a two-CD set. And what a set! Finding a decent recording of this album used to mean spending long hours scouring garage sales for serviceable copies of the record (that's the big, black discs for you youngin's out there), but no more: Capitol Nashville has done a service for music lovers and the human race in general by gracing CD players with the 30th Anniversary edition of Will the Circle.
It sounds as if the listener is in the recording studio, as the album is speckled with dialogue tracks between these artists, and there's often a down-home introduction to each song. Tunes range from the traditional to the more modern, but these songs are the real American "roots music" - what one author described as the result of Blues and Jazz creating a love child behind the woodpile on a lazy summer afternoon. There isn't a musician in the world who doesn't owe at least some debt to these performers, and it's refreshing that they are finally given their due.
It's fiddling, banjo-picking, mandolin-strumming, and harmonic singing at its finest. There's an excellent version of the perennial Charlie Daniels favorite "The Orange Blossom Special," fiddled by legend Vassar Clements, and fans of O Brother! will no doubt recognize Mother Maybelle Carter's rendition of "Keep It On The Sunny Side." Merle Travis chimes in with a knockout version of "New Pound Hammer," and there's even some Hank Williams songs ("Honky Tonkin'") as a reminder of music's progression.
There are very few albums that should be in any collection. Will the Circle Be Unbroken is one of those albums. While not as influential as Sgt. Pepper and not as commercially successful as Bad, Circle gives listeners a taste of what music was, and what it was supposed to be. The songs speak for themselves, the music is timeless, and the listener couldn't ask for anything more.
Free Music Review: Confluence of two generations of roots musicians
Hit: 5 Stars
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.
Free Music Review: An unexpected but well-deserved success
Hit: 5 Stars
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.
Free Music Review: Join the Circle
Hit: 5 Stars
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.