Will The Circle Be Unbroken

Fucking love this. Makes me wanna get a horse

nice sound, and I catched some good moments but I'll be damned if I got to listen to 2 straight hours of country

3.3 - Music for a lazy sunny Saturday afternoon. You’ve just finished mowing the lawn and you’re lounging in your favorite patio chair. You crack the first beer of the day from your icy cooler, and you fire up the radio that’s set to NPR. This music is spinning - it’s not your first choice - but at the moment you’re feeling fine so you think “screw it” and let it play. You kick up your feet, close your eyes to the sun and think about that handjob the missus promised you later.

This album is a less a coherent musical statement and more of a document. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band reached across generational lines to unite some of the greatest bluegrass and country players and singers. This album is a celebration of an unbroken chain of American folk music and introduced a new generation to this music stewarded by the then contemporary Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. This album is joyous, and just by the sheer amount of legends included (Doc Watson, Mother Maybelle Carter, and Earl Scruggs to name a few) contains so many incredible moments that it is impossible gauge the significance of this album.

"Every time you do it again you lose something" - said of retakes in the studio Pure wisdom. Pure gold in music form.

Me: I am so sick of 70s rock music. 1001 Albums: let’s switch it up - here’s some 70s country music. Fuck this.

Over 2 hours of hurdy-durdy tweedle twangy country??? NO. After the first hour I got the point, thanks. These guys are so niche it hurts. They're fine enough musicians, and they're doing their own thing not hurting anybody, but I simply don't have the required personality or constitution to enjoy this music. Hard pass. Sidenote: did people just not know how to edit a track back then?? A huge musical pet peeve of mine is "skits" or "candid" behind-the-scenes chatter during the recording process becoming part of the song. It is so fucking stupid to do that. I don't need to hear how you're gunna make the record, or hear a lecture on how to record the tracks from some old hillbilly in the 70's. They think this is charming and listeners want it, but we DON'T. "Oh we'll have so much fun feeling like we're part of the recording process. Yayy!" NO. Nobody wants that, just sing your fucking song and get a usable recording of it.

This album is the musical definition of Stockholm Syndrome. I had a blast … or did I?

Just kill me

When I saw that I would be listening to a two hour long country bluegrass record today, admittedly I dreaded for the worst. However, to my surprise, I enjoyed this listen quite a bit, at least with an intermission break included midway. I had forgotten how fun bluegrass music can be, and this album proved that by a mile and a half. Not all of the tracks stick, but I enjoyed the vibe of this album enough to stick the whole way through. Favorites: "Nashville Blues", "Tenessee Stud", "Will The Circle Be Unbroken"

There was this conflict between the old and young generations, this break up, the young ones who were losing contact with the tradition and the old ones who refused with this young longhaired boys and girls and then the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had the idea of bringing this two generations together on a sort of "jam-record" and this is the result. Wonderful things you can hear on this record and you will discover great names: Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Merle Travis, Roy Acuff, Vassar Clements.

This is a classic, milestone album in bluegrass/country music. It features an all-star, legendary cast of characters that were legends in their own right, and that have now gone on to meet their reward. It is so great to be able to not only hear these musicians like Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, and Earl Scruggs sing and play, but also include is some of their conversations from the recording sessions.

Yeehaw

Normally I would say this was too long, clocking in at just under 2 hours, but the songs are so well done I was going to listen for that long on repeat, anyway. It’s finger-plucking good.

Two hours of absolute pinnacles of talent. Kind of a lot all at once, but what a treat.

I love Bluegrass/Old-school country, and this album is a treat. Lots of standards on here and some fun behind-the-scenes tracks. I would rate this a 5 except for its INSANE length. This is just too much music. Is there such a thing? Yes.

120 минут? нет, спасибо ))

Listening to this will make your neck red and your rocking chair squeak. It'll make your overalls faded and your shotgun loaded. It'll turn your cousin's attractive and your brandy into moonshine.

Maybe I’m in the wrong list

I mean if you call yourself the nitty gritty dirt band and make a 100 minute long country album you’re bound to not be that good… The album opens with Grand ole orpy song it’s a very American country song and I hate this kinda thing but I guess its nice how the lyrics are kinda introducing them as a band. Keep on the sunny side starts off strange with just lots of talking the main song is again just boring creepy old American country. Nashville blues is a short little instrumental it’s good in the sense that I liked the picking on the track but I still wasn’t a fan. You are my flower was very bland. The precious jewel has this really dreary sound to it the best bit about this song was the talking at the start. Dark as a dungeon is easily forgettable to be honest. Tennessee stud is dreadful but if I were to choose one that was passable than this may be the one. Black mountain rag is just a dumb little instrumental piece nothing special here. Wreck on the highway wasn’t brilliant I especially didn’t like the singing here. For a song called the end of the world I thought it would be cool but no it’s just an instrumental. I actually don’t tend to dislike music with religious themes but I saw the light wasn’t good. The sunny side of the mountain wasn’t all too special but I guess it wasn’t that despicable of a song. Nine pound hammer is just bland and non can’t say much here. Losing you ( might be the best thing yet) might be the best thing yet the lyrics aren’t that bad just get rid of the country instrumentals. Honky tonkin is dumb but inoffensive. You don’t mind wasn’t that good just forgettable country music same with my walking shoes. Disk 1 done I didn’t like this at all currently 1/5 and unless if disk 2 is like the best thing ever this will not change. Lonesome fiddle blues starts off disk 2 it’s a decent instrumental track the fiddle playing is perfectly fine and there’s no creepy wooden country singing so that’s a bonus. Cannonball rag is also not dreadful just a bunch of guitar picking. Avalanche is ANOTHER instrumental and still not horrible ( sounds like they’re desperately wanting me to boost their album rating) ( and you’re not gonna do that with instrumentals). Oh my god not again 🙄 ANOTHER FUCKING INSTRUMENTAL flint hill special wasn’t dreadful though. Okay so until there is some singing i’am just going to make a list of the numerous instrumentals that don’t help an already boring album: Togary mountain Earl’s breakdown Orange blossom special Wabash cannonball Oh okay lost highway has vocals well done you learned to sing again, but wait you can’t sing so please shut up and try to end this dam album! Nope seems to be the answer to that request and now we have doc watson and merle travis: first meeting which was a wired little interlude about a coal mines album or something? Way downtown was an alright country tune but I don’t like it. Down yonder has some nice enough clicking noises but still I don’t like it. Pins and needles ( in my heart), well I kinda wish I had pins and needles instead of enduring your song but here we are. Honky tonk blues was just dumb like the other honky tonky song earlier. Sailing on to Hawaii was a nice enough relaxed little instrumental that ( unlike the ones) earlier did serve a purpose. I’m thinking of my blue eyes wasn’t good I especially didn’t like the backing singing where they all sound bored with this album. I am a pilgrim was just dull ( I know I said that for another song but this really is). Wildwood flower wasn’t brilliant and honestly really forgettable. Soliders Joy was an instrumental that started with talking ( not like I’ve herd stuff like that 100 times in this album). We’re FINALLY at the penultimate track wll the circle be broken and that creepy “ mother” carter woman just sounds bored and the backing singers make it even more boring and creepy. Both sides now ends the album on a dull instrumental. Country music to me is the musical equivalent of biting into a large chunk of wood (horrible even after you’ve bitten into it) and I’ve always found oldie groups like the Carter family really creepy so to have the “ mother” woman as a frequent collaborator wasn’t my cup of tea. Also when your favourite track on an album is one of numerous short instrumental tracks you know that it’s not a good album . I guess it was fun to make fun of but I would still rather burn to death than hear this or anything by the nitty gritty dirt band again.

This was like hearing a 2 hour tracklist of unreleased songs for The Country Bear Jamboree. So obviously 5 stars

holy cow...this was another snapshot of its time, and it's honestly from an era i didn't love...but i do love this album. the music was great, of course, but also just hearing the friendship among these folks in between takes - that was fantastic.

What an incredible collection! Like walking through a history of bluegrass museum. 5/5. 10/5 really. My first 5 star rating-and of course it's bluegrass, surprise! But those guests??!!! What an incredible effort!!

It may be just stolkholm syndrome, but I loved it. If it weren't for the Confederate flag on the cover I could see myself putting it on! Loved the feel of being in the studio with them like a really intimate concert. Love the bass, love the banjo, love the fiddle. Top marks minus one for the hate symbol

If you watch Ken Burns' documentary series on country music (I highly recommend it), you know that the song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" is used as a trope for the bonds of tradition and musical heritage that get passed from generation to generation. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band gets featured notably in that documentary because of their efforts to keep that bond going, through their collaborations with other artists. This album is a document of that bond, the partnership between the living legends of country/bluegrass with the next generation. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band were viewed somewhat as a group of long-haired interlopers at a time when traditional country music was out of fashion. In playing this music, they were essentially what we might consider to be hipsters today. But the band's musical chops were for real, and their love of roots country and bluegrass was indisputable. Bringing together this group of musicians was an impressive feat and the resulting recordings are a delight to hear. I imagine it's not to everyone's taste, and 2 hours is a lot for any album. But it's as important an album as you will ever hear in roots music. It's also just a lot of fun. I suggest listening to disc 1 and disc 2 separately with a break in between. My goodness, musically this album is so tight. Across the board, everything is effortlessly perfect, from guitars to banjo to fiddle. Some of the best and most revered artists in early country music participated in this effort, including Roy Acuff, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs and Mother Maybelle Carter. Many of the songs are considered to be standards in the genre today. This music is earthy and joyful, equal parts plucky and heartfelt. The little bits of chatter between songs add a live vibe and sense of community that is foundational to country music. If there was ever an album that belonged on 1001 Albums, it's this one. Fave Songs: Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Nashville Blues, Sunny Side of the Mountain, Wabash Cannonball, Both Sides Now, You Are My Flower, I Saw the Light, Lonesome Fiddle Blues, The End of the World, Black Mountain Rag, Flint Hill Special, Soldier's Joy, Orange Blossom Special, Cannonball Rag, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Lost Highway

Great collection of classic country and blue grass with snip-bits of conversation between artists during production. Carried the feeling of a documentary of a old time jam session among some great musicians. Very long listen and took me a while to get though but interesting nonetheless.

42 punishingly mundane 'Murica audio experiences I want to forget sooner rather than later

When I finished, I found a yearning for country roads

Where has this been my entire life? I don't listen to bluegrass often, but now I know where to find (a lot of) it when I want it. I liked the mix of sung and instrumental songs and the included conversations. It's amazing how tight the takes are, considering the complexity of the music and the number of contributors, but these are talented people after all.

what can i say i fucking love country music, sue me

This album is quite the power house of folk and old-timey musicians. Some of my favorites who appear on this album are Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Vassar Clements, Norman Blake, and of course John McEuen from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (NGDB) itself. I have listened to this album once or twice before, shortly after seeing McEuen live in concert (great show) and close to the time of his return to the NGDB (~2001 or 2002). At the time, I had heard some of the music from NGDB from the 80s, but not their older work or their music that is more closely tied to old-timey music. In addition to classic musicians, this album is full of some classic standards as well. I favor the instrumental tracks in general, but it's not like I don't like the tracks with vocals. For example, I'm ready to hear Doc Watson sing any time he likes (I've seen him in concert too). "Tennessee Stud", "Cannonball Rag", "Earl's Breakdown", "Orange Blossom Special", "Flint Hill Special", "I am a Pilgrim", "Soldiers Joy" and several others are competing as favorites. (It doesn't help when there are so many tracks on the album.) With such a long album it can be harder to listen to the whole thing at once, but I imagine myself re-visiting this album to soak up some of this cultural experience again.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band somehow got a bunch of legends from the previous generation to sit down with them and make an album that bridges the gap. Incredible to listen to. I like the interludes, but they got to be a bit much toward the end. Volume 2 should absolutely be on this list. Best track: Foggy Mountain Breakdown

Classic bluegrass with legends of the time. A great adventure through classic bluegrass tunes. Enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.

Loved it. Loved the talking in between tracks, unreal musicians

In general, I am growing to enjoy bluegrass music more as I grow older. But the running time of this album pushes my tolerance for southern drawls to its limit. Plus there are only so many “chase-scene from Cannonball Run” types of tracks any man can take without going a bit mad.

I need a fire burnin, a homemade smoker cookin, and a jug with three X's on it to properly enjoy this album.

This gets off to a good start with the Grand Ole Opry Song. A lot of the tracks immediately following are well-worn standards and I'm not a fan of "covers" as I've said before. That said, I love the fiddle & harmonica laced version of Tennessee Stud. Letting Jimmy Martin sing lead on a bunch of songs was a good idea, he's got a twangy hurtin' country voice. Merle Travis is a bit light. It was certainly a historic occasion to revitalize the careers of these over-the-hill cowboy red-necks by throwing them in the same studio with a bunch of hippies from Long Beach. The jury’s out on the between-song banter. If it worked well everyone would be doing it.

Yeah sure but 2 hours??? Come on now

I didn't hate the music, which is why it gets 2 instead of 1 star. The music was good, actually. Liked what I heard more than I expected. But two hours? As an album, it fails for me. It is too much for what it is.

I’m either missing the part of my brain or the frame of reference that would allow me to appreciate country music or bluegrass or Americana. 99% of it doesn’t resonate with me in the slightest. Because of this, I can’t tell what makes a good bluegrass record or if this is one of them. I know I’ve seen the cover before and from what I’ve read it’s heralded as one of the of the all time greats, but fuck me if it doesn’t sound like every other piece of bluegrass music I’ve ever heard. Does that make this a bad record? No, I just don’t get the appeal of bluegrass or country music. All it means is that this is an uninteresting record to me and doubly so because there are almost 40 tracks to listen to.

Unnecessarily long but somewhat troll

Too many songs and please edit out the chat. GBH of the ears Fun songs though

Uptempo bluegrass is vaak wel lollig hoor, met een steelguitar en een banjo, een blik violen enzovoort. Vervolgens komt er een smartlap. En zo wisselt het een beetje af. Het is een soort verzamelalbum, met al die nummers van en door verschillende artiesten. Neem daarbij dat het een veel te lange dubbelaar is, halverwege "disc one" heb ik het wel weer een beetje gehad met al dat geknauw en die semizoete harmonische samenzang. Ik heb het gevoel dat ik gewoon naar de Amerikaanse sterren.nl aan het luisteren ben. Het is net een pastry stout: een paar slokken is het best lekker, maar een halve liter is gewoon veel en veel te veel. Het gaat ontzettend tegenstaan en op het einde spoel je een half blik door de gootsteen. Was dit een half uurtje vrolijke kampvuurmuziek geweest, dan had ik het misschien nog een 3 of een 4 kunnen geven, nu ben ik blij dat het koffiepauze is en even kan ontsnappen aan stars.murica. Ik word er gewoon helemaal krankjorum van, een album is al te veel, laat staan een dikke dubbelaar. Dit of Frans Bauer? Ik zie weinig verschil ben ik bang.

The whole thing, of the unwashed hippies playing with the legends of the Opry is a great story. Makes you hope, kind of. And I don't want to hear anything bad about Doc Watson, ever.

When I think of nitty gritty dirt band I think of Cadillac ranch, fishin’ in the dark, and line dancing in elementary school. I am a little bit ashamed that I didn’t know this album, chock full of genuine country music legends, existed. This is banjo pickin’, guitar strumming, fiddle playin’, harmonica blowin’ excellence on just about every level. Really exceptional stuff. I enjoyed every second of this two hours and ten minutes, and I’m really glad I got exposed to it from this list. I could drone on and on about each and every artist included on this record that I absolutely adore, but I think for the sake of time I’ll just say this: this record is an absolute treasure, and I’ll definitely be listening to it again. 5*

Among self-described fans of country music, there is often intense debate about what does or does not fall under its definition. By most measures, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band make music that is not quite country music. To me it is more americana, akin to Gram Parsons’ cosmic american sound and the California 60s-70s country-folk-rock all/none-of-the-above zeitgeist. But in bringing together so many titans of country music, specifically of old-time/bluegrass, to lead them on this album, NGDB makes it clear that regardless of what their record sales may be, they have a deep knowledge and love for true country music and do not want it to be lost to the sands of time. They know how to play it—very well—and they understand it as tradition and as culture. Favorite tracks include “Nashville Blues”, “Black Mountain Rag”, “Lonesome Fiddle Blues”, “Avalanche”, “Togary Mountain”, “Orange Blossom Special”, and of course, “Soldier’s Joy”. The best single part of this album for me is the fiddling from Vassar Clements on “Orange Blossom Special” — it gives me chills. Just peerless. My other favorite part of this album is the inclusion of several interludes of the musicians talking while tuning their instruments, etc. It truly gives you the feeling of being in the picking circle with them and it was such a smart decision on the part of the… producers? audio engineers? whoever it was, they did their job really well. This is not only an excellent record but is an important document of musical history. Any self-proclaimed country music fan should give this a listen and if they don’t like it… well, im not gonna say they can’t call themselves a country music fan, but… An excellent, obvious inclusion on a list of essential listening albums. I wish there were more albums like this similarly representing other genres or folk traditions from other countries. 10/10

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (and later Dirt Band) had only one or two hit songs, and none were on this album. Instead, they tracked down legends of country and bluegrass music from the 1920s-1950s who were still living and put together this long compilation. Certain singers (e.g., Roy Acuff) were obviously old and not as good as in their younger days, but still ok. Based on the historical significance of this album it gets the highest rating.

Absolutely iconic, makes me wanna fall in love with country music again!

Da jeg først hørte gjennom albumet en sen kveld skulle jeg opprinnelig bare høre en sang eller to før jeg la meg. Men jeg bare koste meg mer og mer for hver sang jeg hørte. Etter hvert så kom jeg bare i et så godt humør. Det sier mye om både sjarmen og evnene til de mange flinke musikerne som spiller gjennom albumet. Dette er en fenomenal feiring av dype bluegrass og køntri tradisjoner. Studiopraten som kommer innimellom utstråler sånn personlighet, og gjør mye for å plassere deg inn i det livlige studioet de koser seg i. Der er flere meget sympatiske øyeblikk, som for eksempel da Doc Watson gir et genuint kompliment til bassisten, eller da Roy Acuff forteller om at man alltid må gi alt fra første take siden litt av magien forsvinner for hvert nye forsøk. Varm og klar produksjon. Nydelig banjoklimpring og slidegitar og alt mulig annet. Albumet hadde så klart ikke trengt å være hele 130 minutter langt. Spesielt den andre halvdelen er kanskje litt for overdådig, men hele verkets råe ambisjon og gode vibber gjør absolutt opp for det. Alt i alt et mektig og koselig album.

A master class in old school country music - amazing musicianship that will bring a smile to your face

Excellent album. Listened to the 2h version twice, really fun, really varied, and some excellent musicianship. Wonderful mix of vocallists, and instrumental tracks/reworkings. Nashville Blues, Tennessee Stud, Both Sides Now, and The Precious Jewel were my favourite tracks, but I didn't hate any of it. By far my favourite bluegrass album on the list. I really enjoyed Red Dead Redemption 2, and the album strongly evoked memories of the game, and also wanting to go to Appalachian Country. Actually, this is my favourite album for a long time.

bluegrass standards

Loved it, it's not my style of music but it was a ton of fun to listen to.

Oh man...this one caught me off guard. I absolutely LOVED it. As a huge sucker for Banjo, this one really sunk its hooks into me. Will have to explore the others in this series. 5/5

So good I own it on vinyl! Best pluckin' around.

A surprising 5/5 as normally I'm a country music hater. But the instrumentation alone on this project is top notch. Songs like Black Mountain Rag and Lonesome Fiddle Blues are very impressive. There's some good story telling on this project too. Really the total length and the in-studio talking between tracks are the only aspects I didn't like.

Absolutely phenomenal Favourite songs: Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Wreck on the Highway, Dark as a Dungeon, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Way Downtown, My Walkin' Shoes, Nashville Blues, Tennessee Stud, I Saw the Light, Keep On the Sunny Side, Grand Ol Opry Song, You Don't Know My Mind, Black Mountain Rag, Sunny Side of the Mountain, Nine Pound Hammer, Losin' You (Might Be the Best Thing Yet), I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes, The Precious Jewel, Orange Blossom Special, Togary Mountain, Flint Hill Special, Earl's Breakdown, Lost Highway Least favourite songs: Warming Up For "The Opry", Sunny Side Talk 5/5

obsessed

November 8, 2024 Things that don’t get a five-star this week: Irish folk, R.E.M., P-Funk Things that do: 2 hrs of effing bluegrass, apparently. I don't know myself I understand the guest list for Will The Circle Be Unbroken is full of influential country talent, but I can say that the names, apart from the Carter family & Earl Scruggs, don't really ring a bell. The reverence for them from the Nitty Gritty is clear, but the music itself is often casual sounding*, like they've all been buds the whole time. If I had to justify my rating further, it's not an album I can really debate the quality of each track and how they fit with each other (my country/bluegrass experience is lacking). I rarely feel immersed in the circumstances of the recording like this one. For all I get ticked off about non-musical interludes, the light conversation, the creaking & shuffling between songs really adds to the magic. Both ancient & accessible. I feel less bad about dropping 12 Canadian dollars on this CD now *Casual sounding, until they start shredding 🎸 🪕

Love some old-school bluegrass

Listen to this on road trip to Nashville

Jokes on you Album Generator, I love bluegrass! Over two hours of pickin and I loved every bit of it. The album can be viewed as a history lesson in bluegrass music. It’s loaded with a lot of the essential songs, and it features many of the prominent artists that helped to form the country and bluegrass genres.

What an unbelievable piece of music history this album is. Masters of their craft and originators of a music genre coming together to place a marker for future generations to follow backward when they begin their own exploration of country music history. The between-song conversations are reminiscent of the Elvis Sun Studio Sessions and really add a lot to the depth of this record. I just can't say enough about how great and rare this confluence of history and performance mastery is.

I don't know how anyone doesn't like bluegrass, especially the instrumental stuff. It's just so dang pleasant!! I enjoyed the fuck out of this. I saved a bunch of songs to my phone.

I did not expect to enjoy listening to over 2 hours of 70s country music. However it has been the best album so far in this journey!

Cool

Always steered away from listening to this in my youth, hearing it now, wow, this is the real deal. Pure Americana. 5 stars

An incredible introduction to old time, country and bluegrass music. This is a gateway to the original recordings (which you should definitely check out if you like this) and the studio interactions between the musicians are priceless as well. Essential.

This one I’m rating out of straight nostalgia and legacy influence. I was raised on this record and their next even better ‘74 album “Stars and Stripes Forever.” It goes w/o saying that without this album, so many artists that followed would not exist. The fusion of folk/rock/grass was very much against the grain for the times. To most folks, on the surface, this music might seem basic, but in fact it’s quite high level. Especially on the instrumentals. What’s more interesting is this was the first time many of the collaborators/guests were meeting each other and the band for the first time. As a result, they just pushed play and recorded most of the songs in 1-2 takes. Only negative is it’s a bit too long (it was a triple LP upon release). Fun trivia side note: as an avid banjo player Steve Martin would routinely showcase with this band in the 70s because his manager was Bill McEuen (producer of this record) and brother of Dirt Band banjo player John McEuen.

Love it, Love it, Love it!!

Classic standards that sound fresh and vibrant.

My dad had this

This one was emotional & nostalgic. It reminds me of the music my grandparents would listen to and going to the Oklahoma Opry as a kid with my mom.

4.5/5 Some really special songs and performances on this massive collection of country music. Just a really enjoyable and relaxing listen, with so many talented musicians and songwriters featured. There are plenty of ok songs in the first half, but very few stinkers. Then the second half goes from strength to strength with amazingly consistent quality, finishing strongly. Grand Ole Opry Song 3.5/5 Keep On The Sunny Side 5/5 Nashville Blues 3.5/5 You Are My Flower 3/5 The Precious Jewel 2/5 (LEAST FAV) Dark As A Dungeon 5/5 (FAV) Tennessee Stud 4.5/5 Black Mountain Rag 3.5/5 Wreck On The Highway 2.5/5 The End Of The World 3/5 I Saw The Light 3/5 Sunny Side Of The Mountain 2.5/5 Nine Pound Hammer 3/5 Losin' You (Might Be The Best Thing Yet) 4.5/5 Honky Tonkin' 2.5/5 You Don't Know My Mind 4/5 My Walkin' Shoes 3/5 Lonesome Fiddle Blues 4/5 Cannonball Rag 4.5/5 Avalanche 4.5/5 Flint Hill Special 3/5 Togary Mountain 4.5/5 Earl's Breakdown 4.5/5 Orange Blossom Special 3.5/5 Wabash Cannonball 4.5/5 Lost Highway 5/5 Way Downtown 5/5 Down Yonder 4/5 Pins And Needles (In My Heart) 4.5/5 Honky Tonk Blues 4/5 Sailin' On To Hawaii 5/5 I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes 5/5 I Am A Pilgrim 4/5 Wildwood Flower 4/5 Soldier's Joy 3.5/5 Will The Circle Be Unbroken 4.5/5 Both Sides Now 5/5

Bluegrass classic with impeccable musicianship. Rich voices, playful outtakes while recording intros, and mad skills instrumentalists. Kudos to the audio engineers…sound textured and authentic.

This is an amazing album -- so many foundational artists, so many classic songs. I am giving this five stars even though it doesn't exactly meet my standard criterion, because giving it fewer would be wrong.

I bet you're thinking - "oh dear, Will's going absolutely hate all these banjos and fiddles." But no, the Ken Burns documentary has paid dividends here in terms of me being able to appreciate this one as both the album and all the musicians on it were featured heavily in the series. There is some serious Country music royalty all over this. Seriously considering naming Will the Circle Be Unbroken as my funeral song. All the pre and post track talking and context setting is also pretty beautiful and a very lovely touch.

Love this album! Great intro to Doc Watson, Carter family, Merle Travis, Earl Scruggs and other old school country luminaries.

For about 2 years this was the only album I listened to while driving. It was all I needed.

Outstanding

So great hearing the chatter between Doc Watson and Merle Travis.

Wow what a find - who knew a 2 hour album littered with conversations between country dogs, blue grass banjo picking, fiddle playing, country drawling and songs would resonate so well with me.

it’s 2 hours of absolute LEGENDS playing together. impossible to not give this a 5

There's something special about a large group of talented musicians playing (mostly) traditional songs, and this album really delivers on that front. The conversational inserts help give it that "family" feel, which is present at most small-town concerts in this genre. It's a very good encapsulation of a specific piece of America. Favorite song? Probably the title track.

Great music, and an interesting bridge between old and new. The fact it isn't touched up or really produced at all makes it that much more amazing.

That is a whole lot of fiddle and banjo, for sure, and such a discovery! I had a mistaken impression of the NGDB. There is No Brother Where Art Thou without this album. Hearing the intros and outros is such a treat. Mother Maybelle! And oh, Doc Watson.

LP

Brilliant

I had never heard of this or was aware of this album. It seems like maybe the first real bluegrass revival in the 70s that got the hippies in to bluegrass. It's sweet that Roy Acuff, Doc Watson, and Earl Scruggs are playing on this. Super enjoyable record, and it's obvious that there is a care and joy in these sessions and what came out of it. Loved this record.

Bluegrass that aims to harken back to the good old days of country. Never have I heard an album that is so fully-invested in displaying bluegrass in all it's greatness. The story goes that country music changed with the advent of rock and roll, with the rise of country rock and the Nashville sound becoming the more popular forms of the genre. In an attempt to recognize and appreciate the traditional country artists before the '70s, country rockers of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band connected with a plethora of guest musicians to play the old-time country classics: over 100 minutes worth. If you don't enjoy bluegrass then this album will be a tedious listen, but for me it was an absolute treat. A wide array of some of the finest traditional Appalachian folk music played by the best musicians of their field. Best of all, it's recorded and produced in such a crisp, wonderful way that gives every song the room it needs to breathe. I particularly enjoyed the occasional studio banter while the tape was still rolling; this makes the album feels more alive with the personality of musicians within it. It feels more like a historical document of culture than a simple musical album, but there is no shortage of music here. I love every song, I would praise them all. Does it need some trimming down? Perhaps, but I can easily forgive that for how rich and beautiful this record is. It has so much to offer, I feel lucky in this moment, grateful that music is meant to be shared, and it was shared with me over 50 years later.

Brilliant, glorious, wonderful. Roots, Americana, bluegrass, whatever you call it, it's so good. 12 stars.

Great bluegrass

Big picture clean soloist

Wow thank you for this wonderful trip.

Deserves 10 out of 5 the musical piece of history that it is. So glad this is preserved for us

Enjoyed revisiting a classic.

Amazing old-timey, bluegrass tunes.

This is classic Bluegrass at its Finest. For those folks who are music history buffs you need to understand that this music came from RURAL America, not big city….it moved slowly thru minstrel shows, religious revival la, family reunions and brought small communities together to create and celebrate what was happening in Their lives. Where it came from??it started out with roots in gospel, blues, folk, country music in the southern states and it moved to the Heartland of the Midwest where I grew up in Kansas. There is a National Bluegrass Festival in Winfield, KS every year and a Huge number of these individual musical artists also perform at the Yearly at the American Folk Alliance Festival in Kansas City which goes on for se real days…KC hosted the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as did Lawrence, KS and other college towns in the 70’s and 80’s. I know Bluegrass is not everyone’s cup of tea but it started a movement during the early 1900’s !!

A nice album with a lot of legendary musicians.

I used to live in Oakland. I would go to the Berkeley Public Library once a week, on their third floor they have nothing but records, CDs, sheet music, tapes. It’s lovely. I don’t know why I took this album out from the library but I did and I loved it and I forget about it until now, 11 years later. Still love it. Go check out the Berkeley Public Library if you’re ever in the area. And check out that third floor.