Search - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band :: Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 3

NGDB Circle III, This years country music must.

bhisle | Shawnee, KS USA | 10/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like NGDB's first Circle album, you'll love this one. Yes, the current "in crowd" of country music muscle all makes an appearance from Allison Krause to Vince Gill, as well as the varied talents of Taj Mahal, Tom Petty, Iris DeMent and Dwight Yoakam. Circle I and III are also bridged by repeat performers Randy and Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, and Vassar Clements. Bluegrass titans Del McCoury, Tony Rice and Sam Bush also lend their talents to this project. But this album is so much more than great singers, pickers, and legends getting together to collaborate on a few songs. It is truly the best of Americana, roots and acoustic music. It is soul music. It is music from the front porch, and from your living room. This is without a doubt the best album to come out of Nashville this year. This is not the slick, polished, over produced dribble that permeates country radio and that makes one song almost indistinguishable from the next. This is music played and sung from the heart. Thanks to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for once again bringing music back to it's roots and heritage, for reminding us to take a look in the rearview mirror to see where we came from, and for single handedly making the musical past relevant to the musical future. This is the "must have" album for 2002...and beyond. (And there's a hidden track!)"

Another fine volume of roots and guests

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 12/01/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While this third volume couldn't possibly be the ground-breaking release that was 1972's initial "Circle," it wears the legacy well. Thirty years down-the-line, the Dirt Band are no longer the eager young turks of 1972, nor is this sort of inter-generational tribute to roots a new concept. In the decades since the first "Circle," what was once novel is now more commonplace, and though the familiarity doesn't lessen the quality or value of the music, it does lessen its impact.In addition to the Dirt Band, the first "Circle" is reprised in the playing and singing of Jimmy Martin, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Vassar Clements. Notably missing are Roy Acuff, Merle Travis and Mother Maybelle, though the latter two are celebrated in song -- Travis by Doc Watson's recitation of "I Am a Pilgrim," and Carter by Johnny Cash's newly-penned "Tears in the Holston River."The historical resonance that's been lost to the passing of legends is renewed by several family gatherings, including performances from Del, Robbie and Ronnie McCoury, Doc and Richard Watson, John and Jonathan McCuen (the former of whom only recently returned after an extended absence from the Dirt Band's lineup), Jeff and Jaime Hanna, and Jimmy and Ray Martin. The passing of the torch, first from Nashville's pioneers to a new generation, and now from that generation to it's children, shows the Circle to really be a link in a chain.The "new blood" on this volume features established stars like Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Vince Gill, Dwight Yoakam and Tom Petty. A few lesser-known (but no less talented) artists, Iris Dement and songwriter Matraca Berg, are joined by legends Taj Mahal, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. It's a fine lineup of talent, but their careers (often built directly in opposition to the Nashvillization of country music), not to mention their familiarity with the first two "Circle" volumes, lend this set a somewhat self-conscious air.Dwight Yoakam's tilled similar soil on his solo albums, consequently his contributions sound as much like Dwight Yoakam as they do back-to-the-roots "Circle" inventions (not that this is a bad thing, of course). Petty is mostly superfluous duetting with Willie Nelson on "Goodnight Irene," but Berg, who's best known for her songwriting (e.g., Deana Carter's "Strawberry Wine), gets a chance to show off a rootsy side that's only sporadically made it onto her solo efforts. Her duet with Emmylou Harris (on Berg's own "Oh Cumberland") is a highlight, as are Vince Gill's gospel "All Prayed Up" and Taj Mahal's "Fishin' Blues."In a year that's seen a deluxe reissue of the first "Circle" album, volume three can't help but pale slightly in comparison. But taken on its own, this is a fine album of singing and song, one that heeds (if not really expands upon) the first set's principles."

Amazon.com review misses the boat.....

bhisle | 08/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's easy to criticize WTCBU 3 as paling versus the original, but that's kind of like some old-fart neighbor telling a teenage grandson "You ain't the man your grandpa was...". It's pretentious to make that kind of comparison.....this album is more like a brand new BMW versus a 30-year-old classic. Can you look at it and see the purity of the bloodline? In this case, you bet your rear you can....
This album has in spades what both prior Circles were known for: an informal jam atmosphere, hot licks and tight harmonies, and super-clean recording acoustics. In the process, it also throws in countless subtle details to support the "bloodline" analogy. Johnny Cash singing his own ballad about Mother Maybelle...the matriarch and his mother-in-law. The late June Carter Cash dueting with Earl Scruggs. The sons of Jeff Hanna and John McEuen dueting with their fathers on supporting strings, Doc Watson digging deep into the folk archive with his grandson Richard, versus 30 years ago when he was playing with his son, the late Merle Watson. Taj Mahal, bringing a previously unrepresented view of The South into this history book. Sure you can dis it for following the same formula as the prior two Circles. But fact is, that's not a bad formula to follow. This is a great album of American Music, made by American musicians. Buy It."