Will the Circle Be Unbroken: The Trilogy
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Taj Mahal, The Carter Family, Bela Fleck, John Hiatt, Dwight Yoakam
Capitol/EMI Records, 2003
5 CD
Catalogue #: CAPI91400
EAN: 0724359140001
UPC: 724359140001
You save: 20%
Full Title: Will The Circle Be Unbroken: The Trilogy.
WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN: THE TRILOGY contains WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN
(1972)/WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN VOLUME II (1989)/WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN VOLUME III (2002). This release also includes a bonus DVD.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band includes: Jimmy Ibbotson, Jeff Hanna, Bob Carpenter, John McEuen, Jimmie Fadden, Les Thompson.
Additional personnel includes: Maybelle Carter (vocals, guitar, autoharp); Merle Travis, Del McCoury, Doc Watson, Jimmy Martin, Iris Dement, Dwight Yoakam, Jaime Hanna, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Matraca Berg, Vince Gill, John Prine, Michael Martin Murphey, John Hiatt, Taj Mahal (vocals, guitar); Roger McGuinn (vocals, 12-string guitar); Levon Helm, Sam Bush, Ricky Scaggs (vocals, mandolin); June Carter Cash (vocals, autoharp); Alison Krauss (vocals, fiddle); Bruce Hornsby (vocals, piano); Rosanne Cash, The Carter Family, Roy Acuff, John Denver, Paulette Carlson (vocals); Chet Atkins, Richard Watson, Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Tony Rice (guitar); Bela Fleck (banjo); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Mark O'Connor (mandolin, mandola, fiddle); Vassar Clements (fiddle).
Producers: William E. McEuen, Randy Scruggs, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN (1972) ultimately had the same kind of effect that the O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? soundtrack album would have more than two-and-a-half decades later. That is to say, it crossed the sounds and artists of bluegrass and old-school country over to mainstream pop/rock audiences. This was due largely to the tenacity of country-rockers the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who masterminded the project, accompanying the artists whose music had inspired them. Thus, the work of Jimmy Martin, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, and others was introduced to the Dirt Band's young, rock-oriented audience.
The TRILOGY box set combines that album with its 1989 and 2002 sequels, over the course of five discs (the sixth is a DVD). Volume II introduces a couple of more contemporary performers (Bruce Hornsby, John Hiatt) but still features plenty of country vets (Jimmy Martin, Johnny Cash) and early-'70s-vintage artists (Levon Helm, John Prine). The third installment features less traditional material, but no less of an authentic roots feel, as Del McCoury and Willie Nelson rub elbows with Dwight Yoakam and Tom Petty. Crossing generations and genre lines, the CIRCLE series is a stunning summit meeting of American music, and as presented in this box set, it's both invigorating and gripping from start to finish.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bela Fleck
New York City-born banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck is known as a pioneer for expanding the role of banjo beyond bluegrass and folk traditions. Something of a child prodigy, he began his solo career in 1979, and in '81 joined up with the New Grass Revival for a bit. His greatest success came when he formed the Flecktones, with whom he was finally able to fully realize his vision of a bluegrass-jazz fusion. Since then, Fleck has dipped into some very eclectic musical waters--including everything from classical to world music--expanding the musical possibilities of his instrument every step of the way.
John Hiatt
Over the decades, and in various quests to land his audience, the presentation of Hiatt's resilient songs changed to fit the times. Beginning in the mid-'70s, he went from singer-songwriter to Elvis Costello-ish rocker to progressive-country/adult alternative icon. However, they all bear the craft of a superlative writer who finds his voice with both tender ballads and hotwired rockers.
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.
