"Will the Circle Remain Unbroken?" / Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - C/D

Some of the riffs would sound great over some killah beats. (Has anyone heard that Real Slow Radio CDR that is all noise/beats/country riffs?)

Possibly not even as good as "An American Dream" (I forget.)

Oddly, I don't give a shit what any other Nitty Gritty Dirt Band albums sound like.

How a bunch a low-life California hippies snafooed the likes of Roy Acuff has to be one of the best musical "your chocolate’s in my peanut butter" of the last century.

But they also got Banjo-pioneer Earl Scruggs, flat-picker's extraordinaire Doc Watson AND Merle Travis, matriarch Ma Carter, and the best damn fiddle player ever, Vassar Clements. The playlist was derived, basically, as each musician brought forth a collection of tunes from the way-back -- and they recorded it just as soon as they figured how they work through each piece. While it does have a fair bit of filler a 90-minute tape will bust at the seams when trying to pack every worthy track.

Volumes II and III of Will the Circle Be Unbroken, however, are pale shadows of the original and i'd recommend you avoid them entirely. I've heard a few other Dirt Band albums and maybe they're better at representing their true light; gutter trash, the original Will The Circle… is their only musical sortie of consequence – and damn fine (if not lucky) one at that.

Actually I went back and listened to the album this morning, and the dobro part I was thinking of here is actually in "I Didn't Hear Nobody Pray", the drunk driving accident song ("There was whiskey and blood mixed together...")

For Roy Acuff get "The Essential Roy Acuff."

For Flatt and Scruggs get "The Complete Mercury Recordings" which are way more intense than any of their later work.

For the Original carter Family...and you definitely want the original with A.P. and Sara as well as Mother Maybelle get "Can the Circle be Unbroken? Country's First Family." Slightly later than their earliest recordings, but still great. (There was a Rounder complete carter Family series, but that seems to be out off print, too.)

See also, Bill Monroe (duh) and Doc Watson who has released a whole bunch of fine sides on Vanguard

I've got a couple volumes of some weird collection of early Carter Family recordings that came out in the mid-80s. It's black, with the classic photo of the three of them and song listings for all four volumes on the back of each sleeve. I do quite like these records in their way - they remind me more of the stuff Jack Bussard collects, or old folk comps - but I gotta say that for sound quality they definitely pale in comparison to later versions of the same song. But they've definitely got that spooky "old weird America" feel to them, and the vocals are fantastic, really what drives the songs and holds them together. Oddly, a lot of their more famous tuns ("Keep on the Sunny Side", "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", etc.) are not on these volumes. I think the most famous track is that song that Elvis covered...

Never been much of a Doc watson guy. myself, the the Vanguards are definitely where to go.

Also, not related to the "Circle" album, but of course Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers (good comp on RCA), Lefty Frizzell, George Jones, etc.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd900/d908/d90825dvssa.jpg

Ow-right, 'm gonna order me this Circle Unbroken mutha first thing tomorrow morning.

Why did I give these records to my ex girlfriend? UGH

Mm, ya gave the records you liked to the person ya liked?

E2E4 also :(

Wot's that?

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errr: this -- http://www.discogs.com/release/303333

Ho-hoo...

My head is exploding a little that the lifeline of this thread is JW.

John McEuen is a banjo God, btw.

I wish I could find online the picture of him and Steve Martin that's inside the triple gatefold of "Dirt Silver and Gold." You gotta love a dude who taught Steve Martin to play banjo.

Coincidinkly, Steve Martin has a new banjo record out today ... http://www.amazon.com/Crow-Songs-5-String-Amazon-Exclusive/dp/B001OC6PDE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1231524175&sr=8-1

I gave my copy of this to an ex -- STUPID

silly rabbit

http://greatest-hits-albums.blogspot.com/2007/05/nitty-gritty-dirt-band-will-circle-be.html

the earlier, goofier NGDB records are pretty good. as they're playing i'm often thinking "this is kind of ridiculous," but then when the record's over i want to play it again.

what does an IAN think of the early NGDB records?

btw y'all knew that jackson browne was a founding member of this band, right?

NGDB were my absolute favorite band in high school (distancing myself from the Zep and Sabbath crowd!) I started at Uncle Charlie, All The Good Times, and Circle and then worked back to collecting those older jugband-influenced records. Yeah, they're a little silly ("Teddybear's Picnic" etc.) but fun. NGDB were my gateway to Dan Hicks, Holy Modal Rounders, and lots of older country swing like Bob Wills. My band covers "Losin' You Might Be The Best Thing Yet" from Circle.