Quite possibly the greatest country album ever recorded (not to mention ambitious as well) is the roots oriented album from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Will The Circle Be Unbroken.
  In 1971 the boys of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (John McEuen, Jeff Hanna, Jimmie Fadden, Jim Ibbotson & Les Thompson) brought together in Nashville at the Woodland Sound Studios a consortium of legendary talent to set down a record of an artistic style that was quickly fading from the musical landscape of America. The result after all the tracks were laid down was a double album of 38 songs by the most respected and revered musical artists that would forever influence the world of country music.
   The matriarch of country music, Mother Maybelle Carter headed the list of all-star performers that also included Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Roy Acuff, Merle Travis, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements, Junior Huskey, Norman Blake and Pete Oswald Kirby. 
   What Circle has become over the years is nothing short of legendary. As a chronicle it records some of the earliest works that would become the foundation of several musical forms, including country, bluegrass and folk. As a teaching tool it exemplifies the best of instrument skill. As a history it records not only early music but conversations between the principles, disclosing their observations of songs, people and events.
   A sampling of the tunes include "Keep On The Sunny Side" and "The Wildwood Flower" both featuring Mother Maybelle, "Tennessee Stud," "Way Downtown" and "Down Yonder" all three featuring Doc Watson. Vassar Clements takes a blistering lead on "Orange Blossom Special" that is only outdone by Merle Travis's fret flying fingers and vocals on "Dark As A Dungeon" and "Cannonball Rag." The high lonesome sounds of Roy Acuff vocals waft sweetly down on "The Precious Jewel," "Wreck On The Highway," "Pins And Needles" and the Hank Williams tune "I Saw The Light."
   Not to be outdone and in complete harmony with the older set, the boys of the NGDB offer up their skills up with leads on "Lost Highway," "My Walkin' Shoes," "Sunny Side Of The Mountain," and Hank Williams' "Honky Tonkin'."
   With 38 songs on two discs suffice it to say there is enough here to satisfy every country music lovers appetite. Will The Circle Be Unbroken is more than a good album - it is a legacy.

-Charlton Wiggins