Two Degrees of Wild, Crazy, Lonesome Separation
Jimmy Akin can be eclectic with the best of them. When he's not discussing obligations during Lent, or comic book heroes, or languages, he'll veer into music discussions, such as this one, from which I'm only quoting a every brief excerpt (read the whole thing):
But not all the [Nitty Gritty] Dirt Band's work is Country-Rock. A notable exception is its 1971 album Will The Circle Be Unbroken.
This album is much more traditional, with melodious melodies courtesy of Country-Folk-Bluegrass artists such as Doc Watkins, Earl Scruggs, and Mother Maybelle Carter....
The title song of of the album was sung by country-legend Mother Maybelle, together with the Dirt Band and all the other artists appearing on the album.
The song tells the story of a person who is forced to surrender one's mother to the reality of death and who wonders whether the whole of the family circle will or will not be reunited with God in heaven.
The central lyric and the chorus of the song is as follows:
Will the circle be unbroken?
By-and-by, Lord, by-and-by?
There's a better home a-waitin',
In the sky, Lord, in the sky!
As the chorus suggests, the song has notes of hope, caution, and loss.
It was fitting that Mother Maybelle take the lead in singing the song since she was a member of the original Carter Family. The Carter Family was centered on A. P. Carter, who originally wrote the song. The Carter Family also included his sister-in-law Mother Maybelle Carter and, eventually, her daughter June Carter.
June Carter married music-legend Johnny Cash, to become June Carter Cash.
Mother Maybelle died in 1978, leaving her daughter (June Carter Cash) and he son-in-law (Johnny Cash) behind her.
In the 1980s, the Dirt Band decided to do a sequel album titled Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Volume 2.
This time around, Johnny Cash was one of the main guest singers on the album, and he took the lead on the album's rendition of the song "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" (which, once again, was sung with the Dirt Band and all the artists participating on the album).
It was a nice touch....
In the comments section, I chose to note the following:
I had that album (Volume 1) years and years ago. Now I wish I had it again.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band can be linked to another celebrity - Steve Martin would sometimes play with them. (His banjo was not just a comedy prop.)
For sad songs, I do not believe that one can top the Carpenters. You'd swear the woman was bipolar, alternating between the occasional happy tune ("Top of the World") and the rest of her repertoire. Or perhaps they sound sad because we know how Karen's story ended.
After writing this, I decided to explore the links between Steve Martin and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - and the links were stronger than I had known. From classicbands.com:
While still in highschool in Long Beach, California, two guitarists, Jeff Hanna and Bruce Kunkel formed a duo named the New Coast Two, before starting a group called the Illegitimate Jug Band. In college, they met guitarist Jackson Browne and formed the first version of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band along with Glen Grosclose (drums), Dave Hanna (guitar/vocals), Ralph Barr (guitar) and Les Thompson (bass/vocals). Browne left to pursue a solo career after a few months and was replaced by John McEuen (banjo, fiddle, mandolin, steel guitar, vocals). John was the younger brother of the group's manager, Bill McEuen, who helped them land a recording contract with Liberty Records....With their mixed bag of jug-band, vaudeville and pop material, the band had trouble finding work on the live circuit, but recorded another unsuccessful album called "Alive" in May of 1969 before spitting up.
The members went their separate ways for a while, but six months later the group reformed....Bill McEuen became the group's producer as well as its manager. Their first effort was an album called "Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy", issued in 1970....The album yielded what is the group's best-known single, their cover of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles," which climbed into Billboard's Top Ten. The album made it to #66, and managed to produce another chart single with Kenny Loggins' "House At Pooh Corner".
Their next album, "All The Good Times", released in early 1972, had an even more countrified feel and failed to make much of an impact. The band then went to Nashville and recorded a selection of traditional numbers with country stars Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Travis, Doc Watson and Vassar Clements. Some Nashville stars were sceptical at first, but they soon saw how respectful the band was toward them, their work, and their music, as well as how serious they were about their own music. The result was a triple disc album called, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", released in January of 1973. It became a million-seller, reaching #68 on Billboard's album chart and gained positive reviews from both the rock and country music press. The band had become a full-fledged "cross-over" act, reaching country and bluegrass audiences even as their rock listeners acquired a new appreciation for country music....
Continuing their habit of drifting from one style to another, they backed Steve Martin on his 1978 novelty hit, "King Tut", which made it to #17 in the U.S.A.
I didn't know that was the Dirt Band on "King Tut" - I had always thought that the Saturday Night Live band (which initially performed the song with Martin) had also recorded the single.
Here's some information from John McEuen's web site:
With his band the (NGDB) he made over 24 albums, including the platinum-selling Will The Circle Be Unbroken, instigated by John and and conceived by the band's manager/producer (his brother) Bill McEuen in 1971 for United Artists. Indisputably “one of the most important recordings ever come out of Nashville” (Rolling Stone) "...Circle..." is recognized today as a country music milestone and integral part of Americana history....
John McEuen is known to a wide spectrum of music fans from working with a diverse group of people throughout his career. Name somebody in show business and he's probably got a story to tell about them!He has performed or recorded with Dolly Parton, Andy Williams, The Doors, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, Bill Wyman, Johnny Cash, Little River Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Air Supply, Doobie Brothers, Bill Cosby, Steve Martin, Robert Schimmel, Stephen Wright, The Smothers Brothers, Rowan & Martin, Little Richard . . . Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Clint Eastwood, Robert Schimmel, Dizzy Gillespie, The Band, Crystal Gayle, Tammy Wynette, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Leon Russell, Vassar Clements, Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Albert Gore, Hootie and the Blowfish, Phish, ... the list goes on.
Initially, searching for a path to showbiz in 1965, McEuen booked Bob Dylan for a show that sold out at a high school in southern California. Later, by 1970, he convinced his brother to also manage high school buddy Steve Martin, who John had worked with in Disneyland's Magic Shop (Steve learned his musicianship on the banjo from John)....
And from The Compleat Steve:
Steve has been a banjo player since high school. Self taught, he has played with a number of world renowned banjoists, has recorded his music, and has included it in his act and movies....
2002 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance
Foggy Mountain Breakdown with Marty, Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Glen Duncan, Steve Martin, Vince Gill, Gary Scruggs, Albert Lee, Paul Shaffer, Jerry Douglas and Leon Russell....
The same site includes a Steve Martin essay on the banjo. Again, read the whole thing. This is just an excerpt:
...I first heard Earl Scruggs on record in 1962 when I was seventeen years old. I was living in Orange County, California, about as far away from bluegrass country as one could get and not be in Taiwan. The sound penetrated me, however, and I borrowed my girlfriend's father's four-string banjo in order to learn it. I did not know that I was one string away from Nirvana....
I had a high school friend named John McEuen, who was also interested in the banjo. He is now one of the finest banjo players in the world. It was at his house in 1964 that a friend, Dave, came over and played the banjo live. Dave sat in front of us and intoned "Floppy Eared Mule," a song whose high point came when the strings were struck behind the bridge, emulating the sound of a donkey's bray. Emulating the sound of a donkey's bray may not be your idea of music, but to us, Dave was Menuhin.
Dave showed us some simple picking patterns and wrote them down in impromptu hieroglyphs on a torn piece of paper. These patterns could be practiced not only on the banjo but also on your school desk and on the car steering wheel and on your pillow just before sleep....
My interest in the banjo was also heavily fueled by David Lindley. David played in a group at Disneyland called the Mad Mountain Ramblers. During my last two years of high school, I worked at Disneyland performing magic tricks in the magic shop. I arranged a deal with Patty, who worked there with me, where we would cover for each other when she wanted to sneak away to rendezvous with her boyfriend or when I wanted to sneak away to hear the Ramblers. In the summer nights at Disneyland, with the fairy lights in the trees, I would listen amazed as Lindley's authority over his instrument drove the music. I spoke with him once, and he explained the frustration of having his mind outpace his fingers' ability to move. I was still learning to put the fingerpicks on properly. He had an eccentricity of standing on his tiptoes as he played, which I copied for years afterward, thinking it was cool. I was also pleased to see that he moved his lips when he played. I intentionally redeveloped my old habit. Lindley later became a renowned rock 'n' roll guitarist....
The Topanga Canyon Banjo and Fiddle Contest took place in the summertime in California, and the contest was held under trees in the dry forests of the Santa Monica mountains....I had about three songs in my repertoire. I entered the contest in the beginner category and vaguely remember winning something, either first or second place. I have a clipping of me onstage that appeared in the local newspaper. Later that day, I heard blues artist Taj Mahal, in the professional category, frail the song "Colored Aristocracy" so vibrantly that I actually wanted to be the song, to be the notes that wafted into the air under the broken sunlight filtering through the trees.
He won....
I went to Nashville with my soon-to-be manager, Bill McEuen, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, of which Bill's brother, and my old high school friend, John, was now a member. Catching the coattails of the Dirt Band 's recording time, I taped five original songs with the best bluegrass musicians around: Vassar Clements on fiddle, Junior Husky on bass, Jeff Hanna and John on guitar. Years later, I put the songs on the back of my last comedy album. I still take pride in these early efforts at creativity....
I played the banjo in my stand-up comedy act, largely using it as a prop, but sometimes played a full-out bluegrass song, which the audience tolerated. When I stopped performing live in 1981, I also stopped practicing consistently, though I still pick up the banjo periodically and get my thick fingers moving again. Occasionally, I'll learn a new song....
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