Track Listing

1. Life's Railway to Heaven
2. Grandpa Was a Carpenter
3. When I Get My Rewards
4. Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan
5. Little Mountain Church House
6. And So It Goes
7. When It's Gone
8. Mary Danced With Soldiers
9. Riding Alone
10. Sitting on Top of the World
11. Lovin' on the Side
12. Lost River
13. Bayou Jubilee
14. Blues Berry Hill
15. Turn of the Century
16. One Step Over the Line
17. You Ain't Going Nowhere
18. Valley Road
19. Will the Circle Be Unbroken
20. Amazing Grace

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18452 in Music
• Brand: MCA
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
"We've lost the living room," Emmylou Harris says before her ethereal version of "Mary Danced with Soldiers," "but today I think we got it back." Full of back-home warmth, inspired pairings--Roseanne Cash and John Hiatt, Levon Helm and the host Nitty Gritty Dirt Band--and a song selection that walks the line between traditionals and excellent contemporary material, somehow this follow up to the barrier-breaking first volume is never nostalgic nor aimless. In fact, it's nearly as good--even John Denver sounds inspired. Jimmy Martin sings "Sitting on Top of the World" as if his life depended on it, and Ricky Skaggs and Levon Helm both turn in vocal performances that stand comfortably beside any of their careers. --Roy Francis Kasten

Customer Reviews

Not the classic the original "Circle" is, but I like it
This record is the sequel to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's original Will The Circle Be Unbroken triple album, the one that got me hooked on these guys. In '72, when Circle was released, the members of the Dirt Band were long-haired, progressive country-rock artists who were trying to bridge the musical and cultural gap between themselves and the veteran country artists they were recording with. When the sequel to Circle came out in '89, 17 years later, NGDB was a veteran country act who had had a lot of hits. Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Volume 2 is not the groundbreaking album its predecessor was, but this record has a lot of great songs by a talented group of artists.

I don't know where to start with the highlights--there are many. The title track features Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff, Ricky Skaggs, Levon Helm(formerly of The Band) and NGDB's Jimmy Ibbotson taking turns singing the lead, and all the musicians and singers who perform on this record join in. Acuff, who was one of the singers on the first Circle album, and country music Hall of Famer Earl Scruggs, who played banjo, make a return engagement here. Ibbotson added a fifth verse to A.P. Carter's original lyric and dedicated it to the late Mother Maybelle Carter, who was one of the key performers on the original Circle album. The first hit off this record was "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", the classic Byrds song that was written by Bob Dylan. Although I think the Dirt Band's live version of the song on their Live Two Five album is a little more energetic than the studio version, "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is noteworthy because Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, two of the guys from the Byrds, sing lead here. "Turn Of The Century" is the Dirt Band's utopian vision of the future("There won't be no TV preachers to ask how much we gave/We won't need no TV preachers/See, by then we'll all be saved") and features Jerry Douglas on dobro, Mark O'Connor on fiddle, and NGDB's Jimmy Ibbotson, Jeff Hanna and Bob Carpenter each singing a verse. "Lost River", written by Michael Martin Murphey, has Murphey singing lead and John McEuen, who had left the Dirt Band a couple of years before, joining his old bandmates on banjo. Hanna's Cajun rocker "Bayou Jubilee", which NGDB first did on their 1975 album Dream, is redone here and is no less spirited now than it was then. "When It's Gone", with Randy Scruggs(son of Earl) on lead guitar, O'Connor on fiddle, and Jimmie Fadden on harmonica, is a toe-tapper reminiscent of NGDB's classic bluegrass and swing numbers. "And So It Goes", on which John Denver is backed up by the Dirt Band, was the first hit song in four years for the classic '70s folk-rock artist. Other songs I really like on this record are the traditional bluegrass anthem "Sittin' On Top Of The World" with lead vocals by Jimmy Martin(another singer who was on the first Circle album); the gospel numbers "Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan", featuring the New Grass Revival, and "Little Mountain Church House", sung by Ricky Skaggs; John Prine's "Grandpa Was A Carpenter"; John Hiatt's "One Step Over The Line", with lead vocals by Hiatt and Rosanne Cash(Johnny's daughter); and the moving wartime ballad "Mary Danced With Soldiers", sung by Emmylou Harris.

However, even though I like Circle, Volume 2, I give it only four stars instead of five, mainly because of the way it was recorded. On NGDB's classic Will The Circle Be Unbroken, every song was recorded on the first or second try--as Acuff, one of the participants on both Circle albums, said, "Do it right the first time"--and a lot of the conversation the participants had between songs was recorded, giving the album a "live" feel even though it was a studio recording. There are some live conversations on this record, but in my opinion, most of the record sounds more like a slickly-put-together studio product than a get-together by folks having a good time, which is the feeling I get from listening to the LP of the first Circle album. Still, I don't think Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fans--or music fans in general--ought to miss this one. Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Volume 2 is a fine tribute to tradition featuring a band who has been making high-quality music for a long time.

My favorite Circle album
There are three Circle collections. General opinion is that the first album is the best, the third album is a close second and that this is the weakest of the three. I love all three but this one particularly appeals to me. It has many traditional musicians and singers but also a few less obvious singers like John Denver, Levon Helm (of the Band), John Prine, Roger McGuinn (of the Byrds), Paulette Carlson (of Highway 101) and Bruce Hornsby. Perhaps it is the presence of such guests that some dislike but you can't please everybody.

Whatever you may think of the normal music that some of the guests have recorded, they all justify their place on this excellent album of traditional music, sometimes singing songs they've previously recorded, but adapted to a traditional setting. For some of them, it may have been their chance to record some traditional country without upsetting their fans or their record label. Both would understand that this was (for them) a one-off. They certainly made the most of their opportunity.

So we get Bruce Hornsby singing and playing piano on Valley road, but in a traditional country/bluegrass style. Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, both ex-members of the Byrds, sing and play guitar on You ain't going nowhere, a Bob Dylan song that was recorded by the Byrds in the sixties. Michael Martin Murphey sings and plays guitar on Lost river, one of his own songs. John Hiatt sings a duet with Roseanne Cash on One step over the line. John Prine sings and plays guitar on his song Grandpa was a carpenter.

Some of the songs are oldies like Life's railway to heaven (featuring Johnny Cash), I'm sitting on top of the world (featuring Jimmy Martin), the title track (featuring everybody but particularly Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff and Ricky Skaggs) and Amazing grace, an instrumental solo by Randy Scruggs. Other songs appear to be originals including And so it goes (featuring John Denver), Mary danced with soldiers (featuring Emmylou) and Lovin' on the side (featuring Paulette Carlson).

If you haven't got any of the Circle albums, this album is a great one to start with, especially if you're relatively new to traditional country music.

Excellent Roots Music!
Before I share my thoughts on "Circle II," I need to clarify something. Many people over the years have referred to this disc as country. Simply stated, it isn't. It's a combination of bluegrass, folk, appalachian, and gospel. Think about those 4 styles of music as you'll see how true this is.
As for the disc itself, let me start by saying this. If you're a fan of any 1 or more of the above mentioned styles of music, then you'll love this disc. It sort of reminds me of Christmas at Grandma's house. There's something for everyone. Everyone who's bought this seems to be fans of one person or another that's on here, too. The picking, playing, and singing all blend well enough to let everyone shine. No one stand out, but yet everyone does,
This album got the NGDB their first 2 awards ever. The first was for album of the year at CMA Awards. The second was for bluegrass recording of the year at the Grammies(The Valley Road w/Bruce Hornsby). It's sad that it took these guys so long to win an award. But it was also great because it was for a recording with no electric instruments! And remember folks, this was long before the recent resurgence in bluegrass music! One other thing-The NGDB won a platinum award for this disc, too. Not bad, huh?
If you've wondered where country music came from or perhaps where it's headed, listen to this disc. This one should give you a pretty good idea. I hope the NGDB record a "Circle III" album. If you're out there guys, think about recording it!