Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Good Ole Opry Song
2. Keep On the Sunnyside
3. Nashville Blues
4. You Are My Flower
5. The Precious Jewel
6. Dark As A Dungeon
7. Tennessee Stud
8. Black Mountain Rag
9. Wreck On The Highway
10. The End Of The World
11. I Saw The Light
12. Sunny Side Of The Mountain
13. Nine Pound Hammer
14. Losin' You (Might Be The Best Thing Yet)
15. Honky Tonkin'
16. You Don't Know My Mind
17. My Walkin' Shoes

Disc 2:

1. Lonesome Fiddle Blues
2. Cannonball Rag
3. Avalanche
4. Flint Hill Special
5. Togary Mountain
6. Earl's Breakdown
7. Orange Blossom Special
8. Wabash Cannonball
9. Lost Highway
10. Doc Watson & Merle Travis (dialogue)
11. Way Downtown
12. Down Yonder
13. Pins and Needles (In My Heart)
14. Honky Tonk Blues
15. Sailin' On to Hawaii
16. I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes
17. I Am a Pilgrim
18. Wildwood Flower
19. Soldier's Joy
20. Will the Circle Be Unbroken
21. Both Sides Now
22. Foggy Mountain Breakdown
23. Warming Up For "The Opry" (talk)
24. Sunny Side (talk)
25. Remember Me

Disc 3:

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. I'm Sittin' 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. The Valley Road
19. Will The Circle Be Unbroken
20. Amazing Grace

Disc 4:

1. Take Me In Your Lifeboat
2. Milk Cow Blues
3. I Find Jesus
4. Hold Whatcha Got
5. Mama's Opry
6. Diamond In The Rough
7. Lonesome River
8. Some Dark Holler
9. The Lowlands
10. Love, Please Come Home
11. Goodnight Irene
12. I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome
13. I'll Be Faithful To You
14. Tears In The Holston River

Disc 5:

1. Fishin' Blues
2. Save It, Save It
3. Wheels
4. Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms
5. Oh Cumberland
6. I Am A Pilgrim
7. Sallie Ann
8. Catfish John
9. Roll The Stone Away
10. All Prayed Up
11. Return To Dismal Swamp II
12. There Is A Time
13. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Glory, Glory)
14. Farther Along

Disc 6:

1. My Walkin' Shoes (DVD)
2. Catfish John (DVD)
3. One Step Over The Line (DVD)
4. Roll The Stone Away (DVD)
5. Love, Please Come Home (DVD)
6. All Prayed Up (DVD)
7. Oh Cumberland (DVD)
8. Fishin' Blues (DVD)
9. The Lowlands (DVD)
10. Return To Dismal Swamp II (DVD)
11. Earl's Breakdown (DVD)
12. I Find Jesus (DVD)
13. Mama's Opry (DVD)
14. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (DVD)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19108 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-30
• Number of discs: 6
• Formats: Box set, Enhanced

Amazon.com
The original Will the Circle Be Unbroken is undoubtedly a landmark country-music recording. A peace offering between rock-reared longhairs and rock-ribbed Nashville patriarchs (and one matriarch, Mother Maybelle Carter), it exposed generations of upstart pickers and singers to old-time country music and its impact is felt to this day. The organizers of the 1971 sessions that led to the initial three-LP set, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, have produced two sequels, the first in 1989 and the most recent in 2002. This six-disc collection (including an all-star concert DVD) pulls together all three Circle sessions and, naturally, captures dozens of essential performances, plus a fair number of inessentials. Anyone with an interest in country music will want the original. Its mission is clear, the performances are inspired, and its significance is undeniable. The second Circle strays far afield from the original concept, bringing in the rather lightweight likes of John Denver and Michael Martin Murphy to mix with volume one holdovers Jimmy Martin and Earl Scruggs. The final volume is also more diffuse than one would like, though eminent guest stars such as Del McCoury, June Carter Cash, and Johnny Cash help it capture the spirit of the original more frequently than does its immediate predecessor. Completists will relish having all three collections in one box, while those who think three times around the circle is two too many are advised to stick with the 30th anniversary reissue of the initial album. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

American Bluegrass Music - Yesterday and Today
"Trilogy" is a monument to American Bluegrass music. Within its seven hours of music is a living history of this American art form, from the 1930's until today. It brings together all three volumes of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and adds a DVD performance disc, and adds updated notes about the history of this three decade long project by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

No other collection of country music brings together "founders and originators" such as Mother Maybelle Carter, and the Carter Family, with their musical "children", Roy Acuff, Chet Atkins, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Earl Scruggs, Merle Travis, and Doc Watson, and the third generation...Rosanne Cash, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Allison Krauss, Tony Rice, Dwight Yoakum...some of the greatest talents of three generations and six decades of American music.

Each generation of singers and musicians remain faithful to the "roots" of this music, playing with acoustic guitars, banjos and fiddles. The mood is that of a group of talented friends, sitting in the living room, and singing and playing the songs they love the best. The feeling and heart in these performances can be felt, as well as heard.

The sound quality is exceptional. It is easy to forget these are recordings...it feels as if the musicians are sitting right next to you while they joke, chat, sing and play these songs.

This is too much music to digest in a single sitting. Instead, it is more enjoyable to select just one CD, savor it for a day or two, and then move on to another. I have no doubt that people will be listening to, and loving, this music a century from now. This will be one of the living treasures of American culture for generations to come.

It is amazing that a seven hour collection of some of the greatest music of our time is available for less than $50...less than $7 for each incredible hour of music. At this bargain price, even folks who own one or two of the previous sets included in "Trilogy" ought to buy this collection...and perhaps buy another for their children or a good friend.

Ultimate NGDB!
The ultimate NGDB collection piece I've ever owned. The bonus DVD is spectacular and superb quality - the guest artists on it are incredible. I own all three Circle volumes and have them scattered between the car, home and office. This is the best piece to have all three together in one package. Next on my list of NGDB 'must-haves in a perfect world' would be a new studio album.
I remain in NGDB heaven with my new box set!

5 stars are not enough
This is a dynmite collection of blue grass music. After 5CDs and you think it can't get any better there's a DVD that puts it all over the top. Can not say enough good things about this package....