Will the Circle be Unbroken

Jeff Au Hoy · Post by **Jeff Au Hoy** » 27 Nov 2005 3:40 am

I picked up this 1972 album tonite. I can't believe I've only now discovered it. All I know about the artists is that they're founders and legends in Country and Bluegrass. I've got a few Flatt & Scruggs and Big Mon albums, but this recording is something else. I live out here in the middle of the Pacific, I wasn't born until about a decade after the recording, and my way of life is probably night and day compared to these people's. But when I first heard Mother Maybelle Carter come in with her vocal on "Keep on the Sunnyside", it just put a big ol' lump in my throat.

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 27 Nov 2005 6:07 am

IMHO that album did more for introducing people to Bluegrass and old-time music than any other.

It gave a shot-in-the-arm to the careers of Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements and Norman Blake and IMHO started the whole roots music festivals that flourished in the 1970's and 80's.

My one complaint on the album is that the harmonica is mixed a little too high.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 27 Nov 2005 7:11 am

Cool, Jeff. When a roommate got it, back when it first came out, I was aware of a few of the names involved with it and ignorant of the rest. A classic "gateway" album---a jumping off point to discover so many artists, so much style, so much history. Like a great Library of Congress archive except even better in a lot of ways because it got a lot of these people into the studio together who didn't ordinarily play with one another. The album exhudes warmth, doesn't it?

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 27 Nov 2005 8:34 am

Note he absence of Bill Monroe. He was invitied to participate in the project, but refused because the guys in the Nitty Gritty Dird Band had long hair.

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 27 Nov 2005 9:43 am

Acuff had some objections in the beginning, too, but he and the boys got along great after they got to know each other.

Kind Regards, Walter

www.lloydgreentribute.com
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf

Mike Winter · Post by **Mike Winter** » 27 Nov 2005 10:16 am

Sad, but I've read a lot of books and articles that said that Bill Monroe was a real jerk to a lot of people over the years, especially those who played with him, then went out on their own. I also read and heard that he tried to patch things up before he died. I hope so.

Dyke Corson · Post by **Dyke Corson** » 27 Nov 2005 11:10 am

I met Bill Monroe at one of the first NAMM shows in Nashville in the mid 90s. (if I remeber right, HIS hair was a little long) He had just played at a small NAMM sponsored pre-show party and there were not many bluegrass fans there, most did not even know who he was. He was real nice and we talked quite a while at the snack table there. He signed my NAMM badge and said "nice talking to you son, I gotta go play the "Midnight Jamboree" now...I think he died the next year, he was still going strong that night!

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 27 Nov 2005 1:35 pm

Circle is simply one of the greatest albums (actually a two LP set) of all time. The longhairs very tastefully did not get in the way of the greats of country, bluegrass and old time who participated; and they all laid down their classic sounds. This was the first LP I replaced with a CD.

Olli Haavisto · Post by **Olli Haavisto** » 28 Nov 2005 12:47 am

Actually a 3 LP set...

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Olli Haavisto,
Finland

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 28 Nov 2005 2:05 am

One has to remember that in 1972 the Vietnam war was still going on, and the country was polarized over the cultural devide that could best be descrbed as long hairs vs crew cuts.

There was a lot of suspicion and outright hostility on both sides. This recording was an attempt to help heal the breach through the common love of bluegrass music.

It was the first time many of the Nashville people had actually interacted with california hippies. According to news reports at the time, the Nashville people didn't know what to make of guys in the dirt band when they first them, but once the music began everything fell into place. Bridges were built and friendships between people on opposite sides of the cultural gap were formed.

Maybe it's time to do something like that again.

Rick McDuffie · Post by **Rick McDuffie** » 28 Nov 2005 11:13 am

Mike P. is right. One of the big hits of that period was "(I Love Those) Red Necks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer"... and then there was "The Fightin' Side of Me".

On the other hand you had Country Joe and the Fish singing "one, two, three, what're we fightin' for?" and the Airplane singing "Look what's happenin' out in the street..."

The chasm that exists today isn't as wide, but not nearly as many Americans have died in this war yet.

Coming together is never a bad idea.[This message was edited by Rick McDuffie on 28 November 2005 at 09:06 PM.]

Mike Winter · Post by **Mike Winter** » 28 Nov 2005 11:33 am

And the anti-war movement hasn't been as vocal...or as organized...as it was in those days. If it was, the gap would be bigger.

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Mike
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Blue Moon Highway
(Country Music...and then some.)
www.bluemoonhighway.com

Dave White · Post by **Dave White** » 28 Nov 2005 1:37 pm

I bought that album when it first came out--I was just a kid and didn't really know what to expect, but it hooked me on bluegrass for life. It was a three record set, I played it until it wore out, then bought it on CD about 14 years ago. It stands the test of time. I love that you can hear Mother Maybelle talking between songs about her autoharp and what key she'll be playing in, and Doc Watson talking to Merle Travis. It's a true classic. 1991's follow-up, "Circle II," isn't too shabby either, with Emmy Lou Harris, Jerry Douglas, Ricky Skaggs, Johnny Cash, Levon Helm, among others. Bruce Hornsby does a rollicking bluegrass version of "The Valley Road." Bruce burns up the keys on that one while Jerry just sets his dobro on fire. If you don't have that one, I highly recommend it.[This message was edited by Dave White on 28 November 2005 at 01:39 PM.][This message was edited by Dave White on 28 November 2005 at 01:40 PM.]

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 28 Nov 2005 2:10 pm

Same for Vol. III!

Kind Regards, Walter

www.lloydgreentribute.com
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf

Mark Lind-Hanson · Post by **Mark Lind-Hanson** » 7 Dec 2005 4:12 pm

I never bought this album though I had it lent me by friends several times over the years-
What folks are saying here about the divide in the nation at the time is exactly correct. I remember walking into a Bakersfield music store and having a fellow tell me (I was not quite 16 at the time, & full of p& v myself) "you want to make it in music son, you'd best git a HECCUT!")
Not being able to see past people's APPEARANCES was certainly something BOTH sides of the issues were guilty of of. But-
give this record (and what Gram Parsons, Cody, the Burritos et al, did)- the credit due for at least ATTEMPTING to get past those differences of appearance and build on what the MUSIC itself meant to everyone involved. I love a lot of this album (I can't say I can listen to ALL of it, even now) but the Dirt Band were highly talented players and they brought together a LOT of people that- the so called counterculture- probably never would have given a second look at. Given all those "differences of appearances" and the distrusts common to both sides. Not Quite a Civil War, but, pretty close!

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 7 Dec 2005 7:33 pm

In 1972 when this album came out I was a freshman in college and my roomate and myself wore this record out. This was also the album that really helped launch the late great Jimmy Martin.

Dave White · Post by **Dave White** » 9 Dec 2005 4:06 pm

Mark--Your post brought back some fond memories to me. Around 1970, I was a freshman in college and was a drummer in a moderately successful rock band. I remember walking into a music store in Azusa, CA, looking for some new drumheads and some sticks. My buddy Bill, the lead guitarist of the group, came with me to get some strings and maybe a new amp for his Telecaster. The owner of the store,a man in his late 40's or early 50's named Woody, eyed us with suspicion at first, telling us we both needed haircuts. After finding out we were musicians in a working band, he relaxed a bit and allowed as to how he had his own band as well, the "Captones." They were a local bar C&W band, and were actually pretty good. He had a little recording studio in the back of his store and he pressed his own records. He gave us a couple, and I had my first exposure to a local, non-commercial country band. Those guys were good. Woody became a friend in spite of our age and cultural differences, and although he didn't like or understand our kind of music, he tolerated it. One time Bill asked Woody if he had any fuzz tone generators for sale, and Woody answered derisively, with a southern drawl, "Y'all want fuzz tone? Stick yer bare foot in the commode while yer playin that fool thing, you'll get fuzz tone all right." Oddly enough, Bill got married a few years later and moved to Bakersfield, although he never really got into country like I did. Woody was a good, kind and talented man,and looked past our long hair and loud, raccous music and respected us as fellow muscicians. Unfortunately, after I moved away I never saw him again. About a year ago, my wife and I were driving through Azusa and I tried to find Woody's old place, but it was gone. I don't know what happened to him or his store, but I'll never forget him and the impact he had on me and my appreciation for country music.[This message was edited by Dave White on 09 December 2005 at 04:18 PM.]