The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Will the Circle Be Unbroken 180g 3LP

2015 Stereophile Magazine Record to Die For!

This album, originally released in 1972, contains three LPs chock full of collaborations by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with such country artists as Roy Acuff, Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Merle Travis, and more!

Every track on the album was recorded on the first or second take straight to two-track masters, so the takes are raw and unprocessed. In addition to that, another tape ran continuously throughout the entire week-long recording session capturing dialog between the musicians.

I've owned this on vinyl for many years, but only recently have come to appreciate its exceptional virtues - finding one's way around six sides is tough. But these three LPs are well worth extended exploration, and arguably comprise the definitive tribute to what many consider the classic era of Nashville country music. Besides featuring a guest list that includes a plethora of country standards and stars - Vassar Clements, Merle Travis, Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Doc Watson - the recordings themselves have a delightful freshness and immediacy that are all too rarely found in current recordings. The phrase 'live in the studio' springs to mind.

With all due respect to the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, it took the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with this album to come up with a merger of rock and country music that worked for both sides and everyone involved... this was the first real country album that a lot of rock listeners under the age of 30 ever heard. Thus, it opened up pathways and dialogue in all directions, across several generations and cultural barriers; the dialogue between Doc Watson and Merle Travis alone was almost worth the price of admission. This was also one of rock's very few multi-disc sets to be fully justified in its length and content; at a time when unnecessary double-LPs were all the rage, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and company gave a triple album that, if anything, left audiences asking for more.