Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol. 3
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Alison Krauss, Taj Mahal, Randy Scruggs, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Del McCoury, Rob McCoury, Ronnie McCoury, Doc Watson, Josh Graves, Richard Watson, Jimmy Martin, Iris DeMent, Earl Scruggs, June Carter Cash, Sa
Liberty (USA), 2002
2 CD
Catalogue #: 40177
EAN: 0724354017704
UPC: 724354017704
You save: 20%
Disc 2 is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Jimmy Ibbotson (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, snare, drum box, percussion box); Jeff Hanna (vocals, guitar, National guitar); Bob Carpenter (vocals, accordion); John McEuen (banjo, mandolin); Jimmie Fadden (harmonica).
Additional personnel includes: Del McCoury, Doc Watson, Jimmy Martin, Iris Dement, Dwight Yoakam, Jaime Hanna, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Martin, Matraca Berg, Vince Gill (vocals, guitar); Taj Mahal (vocals, Archtop guitar); Sam Bush, Ricky Scaggs (vocals, mandolin); June Carter Cash (vocals, autoharp); Alison Krauss (vocals, fiddle); Richard Watson, Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs; Tony Rice (guitar); Josh Graves, Jerry Douglas (dobro); Vassar Clements (fiddle); Dan Dugmore (dobro); Ray Martin (mandolin, background vocals); Ronnie McCoury (mandolin); Glen Duncan (fiddle); Mickey Raphael (harmonica); Byron House, David Jackson, Glen Worf (upright bass); The Nashville Bluegrass Band.
Producers: Randy Scruggs, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Recorded at Scruggs Sound Studio, Nashville, Tennessee. Includes liner notes by Jack Hurst.
"Roll The Stone Away" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. "Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Glory, Glory)" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals.
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
In 1972, California folk-rockers the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded what today might be regarded as the precursor to the jillion-selling pop-bluegrass crossover phenomenon that was the 2000 soundtrack to O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU. They gathered together with some of America's finest (and oldest) bluegrass, folk, and country musicians for a generational summit/musical history lesson that reached both the country and pop audiences. In 1989, the Dirt band released a well-regarded, similarly constructed second volume, and on the 30th anniversary of Volume One, they have an entirely successful third go at it.
The fare on offer is stictly old-timey, as one would expect/hope; even if only a handful of the tunes are strictly traditional, most go back to the glory days of American roots music. Seasoned bluegrass veterans like Doc Watson and Jimmy Martin are on hand to mix up with the Dirt Band as well as more contemporary (but equally tradition-minded) country artists such as Dwight Yoakam, Alison Krauss, and Jerry Douglas. As with the previous volumes, the spontaneous, rough-and-ready production gives an appropriately authentic, back-porch feel to the impressive and generous (28 songs) compendium of great American roots music on offer here.
Tracklist
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Their earliest incarnation was as a large, fun-loving jug-band/trad folk group in mid-1960s California. Eventually the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band evolved into a tight, critically lauded country-rock ensemble, and had a Top Ten hit in 1970 with the poignant "Mr. Bojangles." The band was also legendary for assembling informal recording sessions with Nashville veterans such as Merle Travis and Roy Acuff, the results of which, 1972's MAY THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN, inspired two more volumes, a 30th anniversary reissue, and a box set. Through many lineup changes and a brief name change (the Dirt Band), their career has extended through the millennium and shows no signs of letting up.
Alison Krauss
In the '90s, no contemporary artist loomed larger in the world of bluegrass than Alison Krauss. With her group Union Station, the young singer/fiddler (who began as a child prodigy) spent the decade bringing traditional bluegrass roots into the mainstream of country music, garnering numerous Grammys in the process. She was the youngest artist ever to become a member of the Grand Old Opry, and she inspired scads of young musicians to help carry on the bluegrass torch. When the genre really hit the mainstream at the turn of the century with the O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU soundtrack, Krauss was right at the heart of it, contributing memorable cuts to the album, while her guitarist Dan Tyminski entered into legend as the singer on the breakthrough hit "Man of Constant Sorrow."
Taj Mahal
From the beginning, singer/guitarist Taj Mahal had an interest in/gift for rural blues, and has since embraced everything from electric and psychedelic-tinged blues to reggae and calypso. A tireless performer, he's recorded in many settings, with his honest and impassioned singing providing the common thread through it all. He was a member of '60s band the Rising Sons (which also included Ry Cooder) before embarking on a successful solo career that spanned several decades.
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson began working in a conventional Nashville style and had great success as the songwriter of Faron Young's hit "Hello Walls" and others, but he was initially unable to make it as a performer. In the 1970s, he and Waylon Jennings made history with their outlaw country sound and image, growing their hair long and utilizing a raw, rock-influenced sound that endeared them to millions of country fans and rockers alike. Subsequently, Nelson ventured into Sinatra territory with STARDUST, an album of standards that became a huge success and established him as a singer who transcended genre boundaries. Throughout the '80s, '90s, and into the 21st century, he crossed over into pop and back again continually, even releasing an album of reggae covers, working with artists as diverse as Julio Iglesias and Ryan Adams.
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris first came to public attention as Gram Parsons's singing partner, but her solo career took off after his passing. Throughout the 1970s and '80s, she was a major force in progressive country, championing the works of great songwriters like Townes Van Zandt and Paul Siebel. By the '90s, the eclecticism that she'd always practiced came to full bloom in the hands of producer Daniel Lanois, especially on her milestone 1995 album, WRECKING BALL.
Dwight Yoakam
In the mid-'80s the Nashville scene was at a low point until Dwight Yoakam helped usher in a new wave of country that was both traditionalist and progressive. Yoakam's allegiance to the classic Bakersfield sound of the '60s (Buck Owens, Merle Haggard) as well as his use of rockabilly and soul won him a wide audience. His good looks and dramatic persona also earned him an acting career, and he had major roles in numerous high-profile films, including PANIC ROOM and SLING BLADE.
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash was part rockabilly rebel, part campfire storyteller, part outlaw in black. Cash made country and rockabilly history on the Sun label in the 1950s. During the '60s, the ruggedly charismatic Cash rose to superstardom, ending the decade with both his marriage to June Carter and his own television show. In the '90s, Cash began his highly successful and acclaimed AMERICAN RECORDINGS series, reaching a new audience with an amazingly diverse set of songs, ranging from traditional tunes to alternative rock covers. With his lean, angular sound and hearty, passionate baritone, Cash forged one of the most unique styles in all of popular music, one that delved into gospel, folk, and rock, but also remained the essence of country music. Four months after his wife died, Johnny Cash passed away on September 12, 2003. And in 2005, the Oscar-nominated biopic WALK THE LINE brought Cash's music and legend to his largest audience yet.
Vince Gill
With his unbeatable combination of vocal talent, songwriting ability, guitar prowess, and golf skills, Vince Gill defined the '90s country star. The former lead singer of Pure Prairie League and a backup vocalist on literally hundreds of country records, Gill came into his own as a star in 1990, and his high, distinctive voice has been a fixture on the charts ever since.
Del McCoury
Singer/mandolinist Del McCoury's career had the most auspicious beginning a bluegrass musician can hope for; in the mid-1960s he was a member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. He kicked off his solo career a couple of years later, and by the '70s he had found a middle ground between bluegrass traditionalism and the open-minded "newgrass" approach, becoming a highly influential artist in the process. In the '80s, McCoury truly codified his style, forming a tight band that included his sons Ronnie and Rob. THE MOUNTAIN, their 1999 collaboration with Steve Earle, raised the band's profile even further, endearing them to non-country audiences and neatly dovetailing with the early-2000s O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?-inspired bluegrass resurgence.
Doc Watson
Blind North Carolina guitarist Arthel "Doc" Watson did more than anyone other than Earl Scruggs to popularize the guitar as a lead instrument in bluegrass. Watson's trademark two-fingered flatpicking style is one of the most influential in the genre, and has proven influential to all who followed in his wake. He became a professional musician in the 1950s, and was in the right place at the time for the folk boom of the '60s, which made him a star in roots music circles. For many years, Watson worked in a duo with his son Merle, but the latter was killed in a 1985 farm accident. Doc eventually soldiered on, becoming one of the most respected elder statesmen of bluegrass, earning Grammys and plaudits along the way.
Jimmy Martin
After four years with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, bluegrass singer and guitarist Jimmy Martin struck out on his own and soon became a legend in his own right. His string of late-1950s and early-'60s hits include "You Don't Know My Mind," "Hit Parade of Love," and "Rock Hearts." Martin's career experienced a major revival in the early '70s due to his prominent role on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN album.
Iris DeMent
A late bloomer, Iris DeMent released her first album in 1992 at the age of 31, but quickly established herself as a respected songwriter in the Americana mode. Her music is a patchwork of country, folk, and gospel influences, sung in a breathtaking soprano twang that evokes mountain streams, county fairs, and midnight train whistles. Fans have embraced her as torch-bearer for a lineage that has been frustratingly compromised by the more commercial strains of contemporary country music. DeMent has won a Grammy for her work with John Prine, and in 2003 married fellow roots-music aficionado Greg Brown.
Related links:
Nitty Gritty Dirt BandAlison Krauss
Taj Mahal
Randy Scruggs
Willie Nelson
Emmylou Harris
Dwight Yoakam
Johnny Cash
Vince Gill
Del McCoury
Rob McCoury
Ronnie McCoury
Doc Watson
Josh Graves
Richard Watson
Jimmy Martin
Iris DeMent
Earl Scruggs
June Carter Cash
Sa
Country Rock
Rock & Pop
Liberty (USA)
