Will The Circle Be Unbroken

Fucking love this. Makes me wanna get a horse

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Maybe I’m in the wrong list

Just kill me

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.

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.

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"

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

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

As a native of the American southeast I’m probably a little more likely to enjoy this kind of record that the average user on this project. I can imagine a lot of people aren’t exactly excited when they get this as the album of the day. I was elated. It helps that this one comes with a huge nostalgia factor for me. I grew up in a deeply religious and conservative household and it was rare for any sort of secular music to be allowed (pretty much The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel were the exceptions). My dad bought this record and it was a regular in circulation on car trips, as several of the songs border on religious enough to pass as acceptable I suppose. To me as a kid I assumed this songs were recorded in the 1800’s or something. They sounded ancient, but not in a bad way. They were enjoyable and fun, and some of the songs like Tennessee Stud were funny enough for a 7ish year old to enjoy (I mean it’s a song about a horse!). This was my first introduction to blue grass and traditional southern music, and I loved it and it helped inform some of my tastes today for musicians like Billy Strings, Sturgill Simpson, and Jason Isbell. Interestingly I always assumed the band was from the South, but I learned from this revisit that they formed in California, and the record was recorded in the early 1970s, not the 1800s like I thought as a kid lol. Anyway, this was a pleasant surprise on this list for me and a timeless classic in my humble book.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Holy shit this was two hours. My dad made me turn this off multiple times.

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

It’s a tribute. A love letter. Call it whatever but the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did an amazing work of music ethnography.

When I finished, I found a yearning for country roads

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!!

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.

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

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

This is like giving me two hours of Peruvian nose flute music.

#18 I heard the first few seconds and could not be arsed to listen to the rest.

confederate blues

Didn’t finish this… absolutely not my thing

One of my favourite anecdotes is from the making of this album. The band really wanted host of the Grand Ole Opry and country legend Roy Acuff to play on this album. His agent showed him their promos, but Acuff, being quite conservative in nature didn’t want to be associated with a bunch of hippies, as he saw them. The agent said, look let’s just go to the session, and you don’t even have to play. If you show up, they’ll pay you. And just see how you feel, Acuff turns up and is disappointed to see that the flannelette shirts, long hair and beards were not just promotion but how the band dressed. He kept his fiddle in the case and sat down, crankily. They nitty gritty dirt band start playing. Acuff's face turns redder with rage. Eventually he snaps. Goddamn it. This is country. Unpacks his violin and plays. And goddamn, he’s right.

Dimery's arbitrary rule of "no compilations" in the 1001 albums really hurts the inclusion of some of the most important influences on popular music. The long-playing album doesn't rise as an important format for artistic expression until the mid-1960s, with singles as the most important medium for many influential genres, including jazz, blues, R'n'B, and (pertinent to today's selection) country. I would argue that there continue to be some genres where singles continue to be more important than albums (such as pop, funk and hip hop) and that important artists/genres would be better represented by good compilations. Happily, in this case the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band have curated a pretty great survey of traditional country and bluegrass. Many of the great artists of trad country and bluegrass appear on this record (with the notable exception of Bill Munroe) performing a wide selection of classic songs from many of the great songwriters. It took me a long time to learn to appreciate country -- the penny finally dropped after some concentrated listening to Gram Parsons. But now that it has clicked, this type of trad and bluegrass is really to my taste. I really enjoyed spending a few hours with this record, which I had not been aware of before today. It's hard to argue with this cohort of legendary artists knocking out a collection of terrific classic songs. There are arguably some better compilations out there (e.g. the Anthology of American Folk Music or some of the excellent Smithsonian Folkways compilations) but, within the constraints of this list, this is hard to beat. I could live without the snippets of talk and I wish Bill Munroe had consented to participate, but these are minor quibbles. Five stars.

Wow, what a strings extravaganza. I cant believe I've never listened to this before. Such a brilliant compilation of old time, country, and bluegrass, with the first half leaning heavy country and second heavy bluegrass. An all-star lineup of musicians, especially Earl Scruggs on banjo, the incredible blind virtuoso Doc Watson on guitar, and Roy Acuff's magic country vocals - Wreck on the Highway is eerie as hell. Legends of their genres playing some all time classics, like some of Hank Williams's best. I also love the random interludes, like the clip of Watson meeting his hero Merle Travis. These guys were just remarkable, it's mind blowing to me that these were all recorded in one or two takes.

Another one I own on vinyl. Actually I own a couple of copies, because my grandfather played bass on this record. It’s a really incredible document of studio musicians at this pivotal time in the country music industry. Makes sense that it’s here because if I had to recommend a country album to any given normal person it would probably be this one, as it’s a cross section of generational talents that point to both the authenticity and showmanship of the genre, compared to what it is today.

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.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken This is a great little discovery. I’d not heard of The Nitty Gritty Band or this album before, but I really enjoyed it. Even though it feels more like a historical record of great music and musicians, so that songs and voices aren’t lost, rather than an actual LP _record_ [1]. Although the number of times Lost Highway has come up on albums on the list that song certainly isn't in any danger. It feels a little akin to Lomax’s field recordings, but perhaps less folk-blues and more country-folk, particularly with the Appalachian music, and there’s a great verve and atmosphere across the whole thing, the pre-song chatter feeling genuine and giving the whole thing a sense of very appealing intimacy. I don’t know if this was an inspiration or influence on the soundtrack for Brother Where Art Thou, but there are a few songs on here that are on that soundtrack. It is obviously pretty long, and I can see how two hours of rinky tinky banjo and fiddle might get a bit much, but for me the two hours passed extremely pleasantly - the quality of playing can’t be faulted, there are numerous excellent songs; Keep on the Sunny Side, Dark as a Dungeon, Tennessee Stud, Wreck on the Highway, I Saw the Light, Orange Blossom Special, Lost Highway, Honky Tonk Blues, Will the Circle Be Unbroken and the delicate instrumental cover of Both Sides Now. And overall it has an unpretentious, straightforward charm to it, easily passing into the 4s. ⭕⭕⭕⭕ Playlist submission: Keep on the Sunny Side [1] wordplay

Would I listen to this again? Probably not, but this feels like a good record of Americana that is worth having been exposed to at least once, I appreciate its inclusion. Some really cool bluegrass in this. 4* Fun fact: I only know will the circle be unbroken from the excellent adaptation in bioshock infinite Highlights: black mountain rag, flint hill special, orange blossom special, both sides now (basically all instrumentals)

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.

It’s OK and that’s about it

#131/1001 🇺🇸 This is a weighty slab of country and bluegrass (2 hours) and I struggled to do it all in one sitting so listened to it in 3 chunks. I'm glad of it being a Sunday morning for the time and this has felt quite appropriate. I feel that in the context of this project it is a bit too lengthy to fully appreciate and needs to be appraised over a longer period of time. For me this could easily have been split into 3 albums. For example the first 10 tracks finishing at The End of the World as one more conscise record. Best Tracks: Keep on the Sunny Side, Tenesee Stud, The End of the World, Will The Circle be Unbroken?

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.

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.

Good bluegrass music, but two hours of it explains the decline of introspection and rise of cognitive dissonance within specific geographical regions that fit the demograph of listening to this specific genre of music. Go back to fishing in the dark

Not for me

There is nostalgia but I’m a BMFS guy

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

Not for me, Clive. I’d rather listen to Sabres Of Paradise again for a week than stick on 3 LPs of this.

country das antigas né pelo histórico aqui a gente já sabe que é ruim

Nope. Nope. Nope. Absolutely one of the worst ways to spend my time. Would give zero stars if I could.

no

insuportável

Fuck you

I couldn't make it through this one. 2 hours of folk music and conversation in between the songs. 1/5

I'll be up front with my bias. I hate country and bluegrass music. With that out of the way, there was no way this album wasn't going to be my own personal hell for two hours. Also, this albums cover art is yet another reason to hate it.

1.0 - Awful

Pretty shitty crap band.

Didn't like it unfortunately

Pure unadulterated boring sh*te! Was going to say great-great grandpapy music, but thought some would take that as approval, and not a comment about when it went out of date!

# Album Name: Will The Circle Be Unbroken # Artist: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Hell no. Not two + hours of fucking country music like this. God damn. I couldnt get through it. I cant lie. The quality of some of the music is good. But its just too long. wtf makes you wanna do something like this?! Someone said at least it wasnt as bad as morrisey? Got to be kidding me. # Top Tunes: Who knows? i dont # Would I listen to it again? hell naw

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.

Music to line dance with alligators.

Country fucking sucks

Would have been one hour long without all the tedious chat between the tunes. Some of these albums really test my decision to listen to every record on the list. I mean, how do you even make a miserable version of Keep on the Sunny Side?

It's a fine collection of country opry music with some decent quick hitter honky-tonk jams mixed in. I didn't mind this nearly as much as I expected. The main issue I have is don't need anywhere near 2 hours of this. If you put a couple of these songs in a vacuum they would be above a lot of the earlier 50s/60s stuff from this list. I'd probably listen to some of the instrumentals again if I didn't have to comb through 40 songs to get there. Unfortunately I have to knock down the rating a touch as I would much rather listen to 30 mins of romance ballads than 2 hours of this again. 1.35 stars

too long not listening

F off mate

2 Stunden "Yeehaw!"...

Too much country for 1 album

Sorry, this is the type of "country" music i'm not into.

2 hours, come on. I found some of the instrumentals interesting. Ever time the vocals came in, i just wanted to skip to the next track.

42 songs is taking the piss.

Redneck music , not for me

Awesome from start to finish. Outstanding band that continues to thrive.

Old-timey country, bluegrass and Appalachian folk is just in my wheelhouse. 5 stars

I really dislike country, bluegrass, the banjo, fiddle and harmonica and overall redneckish music. Isually find it boring and without much substance. But.......this is am absolute gem of an album. Shows how a group of really talented musicians can make this sound amazing, you can hear the jams and how they have so much chemestry while playing. Its a bit too long and didnt really loved the talking before the songs althought the bit about giving it all on the first try is important because every next try loses something All in all and album everyone must listen to and accept as great in a contextual maner

Banjos!!!!

Kudos to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for ensuring old bluegrass, folk, and country music are remembered. This was obviously a labor of love, with respect paid to the true legends of the craft. Even the conversations before and between songs are worth your time. I can't recommend this record highly enough! It's the very definition of essential.

I feel like this is an album that's definitely made to be experienced than listened to. I say that about a lot of albums I feel really strongly about, but there's so much going on before, after, and even completely outside the music in a lot of these songs. The most immediately noticeable example is the feature list they tacked onto the left side of the album cover. Mother Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Jimmy Martin, and all of the others are massive names in Bluegrass, which leads me to my favorite part of this album: the little conversations before most of the songs. It adds some interesting context behind a lot of the songs, like Mother Maybelle Carter saying she never played Keep on the Sunny Side on her autoharp before. That and everyone coming together in the closer in a really bittersweet moment really makes this album memorable, and one of the best country albums I've ever heard.

Þetta er stórkostlegt! Kannski var vinnudagurinn í dag svona langur og ég extra til í þetta í einhverjum svefngalsa, en nei, þetta er bæði stórflott og -skemmtilegt. Búinn með þrjú rennsli, takk fyrir. Bluegrass með góðu banjó er æði, og þessi "kynslóðir mætast" stemning er frábær. Fullt hús.

It's almost perfect but overstuffed with outtakes and things of that nature. The music from my tierra, and it speaks to my soul. The band may not be Southern but they brought enough legends in to make this immaculate.

Bluegrass! Well they turn coal to gold on this album. Yes - deserves a spot on this list. I saw this kind of bizaaar landing of sounds performed live by shy people in torn hats at the very back of a bar in New York after midnight circa 2019. There was a fiddle. Maybe a banjo. The players looked related and more scruffy than I can say. I wasn't sure we were allowed to be in the bar. It was just them and me, looking uncertainly at each. Bluegrass is an excellent magic genre, it's serious strange funny wonky howling and doubtful yet happy sounding - I think it's at its core a tragicomic satire or some kind of tearful smiling testimony. Either way. Here is highly unusual collection and it appears somehow a collection of some masterful players. Something very listenable has survived for us to enjoy. You can dance like a chicken to this. Or cry and smile. And marvel at how it all works. And find out how it soothes. Also Reminds me of raw reedy voices and interesting quirky stuff they managed to get on for O'Brother Where Art Thou film soundtrack. I like how they say "faingers" instead of "fingers". Make me smile.

For some reason I've never come across this before. Whoa, what an incredible record. A brilliant idea, brilliantly conceived. It is like an update on Harry Smith. To re work these tunes is one thing, but to bring in all the relevant players is the genius behind the record. The Dirt band can play both kinds of music and they play it extremely well. In amongst all the dross thrown up by this list this is easily the best surprise I've had. One of the best listening experiences I've had, mashallah. To paraphrase the good Admiral Porter, damn the torpedoes I'm going to listen to volume 2!

Some great albums come to define and era. Others just capture a moment on time. And if you capture said moment with enough care and integrity - that moment can resonate. This album captures a very specific moment in time. A moment that can never be recreated or even approximated. Two worlds collide and expertly capture a past so divinely that it feels like it couldn't have actually been created - it just always was. And is. This album does not feature country hitmakers of the day. Instead they dig deep and go back to pioneers - Roy Acuff, Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Merle Travis and Norman Blake. I came to this album via a Steve Earle album from the mid 90s that featured Norman Blake - Train a Comin - arguably SEs high water mark. That album and so many others owe a debt to this album. The formula is simple - bring great players together with quality material and let em rip. And there is ripping here. Expertly captured - this is basically a live album. It all works so seamlessly you can't tell where the past ends and the present begins. It's just music - faithfully rendered and purely captured. The circle is truly unbroken.

Quintessential. A gauntlet for a single listening session, of course, but there are some absolute gems and gold-standard covers. Just wish I was listening on record so the sound fills the room like it should.

Liked this one I lot more than I ought to have

I'm a Georgia native, so the history of Appalachia fascinates me. I was not excited to listen to this album but as soon as I put it on, I was blown away. The sound of this is bluegrass and country staples played fairly straight but with plenty of skill from people who very obviously cared about these songs and their cultural significance. Some of these players had been playing these songs for nearly 40 years. This is real southern history to be proud of. Populist, beautiful, and full of human spirit. As Georgia becomes more suburbanized and tainted by the stink of capitalism and faceless corporations, as more and more of our resources and land is gobbled up for data centers, mining, and other industries, its sad to see that most of this history is forgotten in the wake. I tell everyone I know to listen to the Allman Brothers, or Blackfoot, or Atlanta Rhythm Section. I tell them to learn about Georgia's heroes before the big boom period of the 90s and now. I tell them to learn more about Jimmy Carter and his legacy outside the White House. This album will absolutely be added to that cultural canon. A little long for sure, but I wouldn't cut a single song or dialogue part.