The original Will The Circle Be Unbroken album, which came out as a triple LP in '72 and was re-released in a newer version on CD a couple of years ago, is the one that got me hooked on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. After hearing my dad and one of my sisters play it, I bought Circle for myself. It soon became my favorite Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album and the one I played most often. Recently, I bought the remastered double-CD version of Will The Circle Be Unbroken. It has everything that was on the original triple LP, plus several new tracks.

When the Dirt Band's producer, Bill McEuen(brother of NGDB member John McEuen), brought the Dirt Band into the studio to record Circle in '72, they were five long-haired guys playing progressive country-rock. A lot of the veteran country artists the Dirt Band recorded with on Circle were conservative classic-country performers, so there was an obvious musical and cultural gap. However, the Dirt Band eventually won their veteran artist counterparts over by showing that they could play classic country and bluegrass with anybody. The result is a timeless album that's full of tradition.

Along with the Dirt Band members at the time--John McEuen, Jimmy Ibbotson, Les Thompson, Jimmie Fadden, and Jeff Hanna--Circle's roster of artists includes people who, in my mind, constitute a virtual Hall of Fame of country and bluegrass music: Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, and Mother Maybelle Carter. There are also some great session players on here: Norman Blake and Oswald Kirby on dobro; Roy "Junior" Huskey on acoustic bass; Vassar Clements on fiddle; and Randy Scruggs, son of Earl, on lead guitar. And there are a lot of great musical moments. Doc Watson, with the Dirt Band backing him up, sings "Tennessee Stud" and "Way Downtown" and also does some clever guitar picking on "Black Mountain Rag" and "Down Yonder". Earl Scruggs provides excellent banjo work on a lot of the numbers, especially his own compositions: "Flint Hill Special", "Nashville Blues", and "Earl's Breakdown". Jimmy Martin, like Earl a prominent bluegrass performer, sings "Grand Ole Opry Song", "Sunny Side Of The Mountain", "You Don't Know My Mind", "Losin' You Might Be The Best Thing Yet" and "My Walkin' Shoes". Merle Travis contributes "Nine Pound Hammer", "Dark As A Dungeon", and "I Am A Pilgrim". Roy Acuff does a rousing rendition of Hank Williams' "I Saw The Light" and a memorable version of his own classic song "Precious Jewel". Maybelle's vocals are powerful on "Keep On The Sunny Side", "Wildwood Flower", and "I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes". Vassar Clements' fiddle work stands out on "Orange Blossom Special". The highlight, though, is "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", the title song, with the entire cast of musicians and singers and great singing by Mother Maybelle, Jimmy Martin, and Roy Acuff. Two of the bonus tracks are instrumentals: the bluegrass classic "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and the gospel number "Remember Me". The thing that really makes this record special is the between-song conversation among the performers, including a memorable dialogue between Doc Watson and Merle Travis, who first met in the studio while recording Circle with the Dirt Band.

I bought the second volume of Circle on CD before I bought the CD of volume one. Though Circle, Volume 2 has a lot to recommend it--for instance, more vocals and original songs by Dirt Band members--that album at times sounds like a slick studio product. This record, by contrast, sounds "live" even though it was recorded in a studio. Every song was recorded on the first or second try--"Do it right the first time," said Roy Acuff just before launching into "Precious Jewel"--and, as I've already stated, many of the interactions among the various performers made it onto the album. Also, I don't think it's any coincidence that John McEuen returned to the Dirt Band in '02 after a 15-year absence, about the time this remastered version of Circle came out. There are a lot of talented musicians on Volume 2 of Circle, but John was one of the guys who made the original Circle--and the Dirt Band--go. NGDB put out solid music after John left, but not too much of it had the bluegrass-country feel he provided. John's return to the band makes me appreciate this classic Circle album even more.

I loved this album when it came out, and it's one of the few recordings from that period in my life that I still listen to as Good Music, not just an exercise in nostalgia. Growing up in San Jose, CA, 50-plus years ago, I cut my teeth on this music (my father moonlighted as a drummer in a country-western band), so the album made me feel right at home. But the quality of the performances is outstanding, the give-and-take between the musicians is fun to listen to, and the warmth and rapport in the studio comes through on every track. (I'm especially fond of "Soldier's Joy," which makes "Dueling Banjos" sound like a pallid imitation, but there literally isn't a single bad track on the whole album.) I wore out copies on 8-track tape and vinyl, so I'm delighted that a new, remastered version is now available on CD. (Note: Two versions are available, a CD/DVD combo including live studio action, and a 2-CD set with just music. The latter, which I bought, includes four previously unpublished bonus tracks, mostly conversations between the musicians, but John McEuen's breakneck rendition of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" is pretty impressive.)

In 1971, the boys of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band got together with some of the all-time greats of Country music (including Earl Scruggs, Mother Maybelle Carter, Merle Travis, Roy Acuff and others), and produced a three record album that was one of the greatest Bluegrass Country music albums ever made. Some thirty years later, this album has been re-released on two CDs, with four bonus tracks (three are dialogue and the other is the Bluegrass classic, Foggy Mountain Breakdown).

This is a great CD collection. The music is absolutely wonderful to listen to, a real work of art, sure to be enjoyed by any Bluegrass fan. Though the title might suggest that this is a collection of religious songs, in fact only a few are overtly religious, while most are simply Bluegrass tunes played by real experts. I loved listening to this album, and highly recommend it to you!

This album is as good as it gets for more reasons than I care to iterate. If you care at all for classic blue grass performed at an unsurpassed level of perfection, get it.

Fans of real country and bluegrass don't have to be told, but this is a recording that -everyone- should hear: Virtuosic, but never at the expense of its solid roots; and historic without ever being anything less than high-energy entertainment. Tell your 'heavy metal' and 'alternative'friends, they'll thank you for it. A great lesson in how musicians playing together can create a sound greater than the sum of the parts.