Will The Circle be Unbroken
Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Exclusive Signed Copy): The Making of a Landmark Album, 50th Anniversary
Buy Now at Landmark Booksellers - Only 500 Copies
July 8, 2022
From John McEuen
The ...Circle... album became a "family affair", gathering together the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with legends of country music for what would become a landmark recording session. The record producer (also manager), my brother Bill, captured so many wonderful moments with his photos, images to become the foundation for creating the album cover AND this book - a magical moment in time. He had given me the photos in 2012, which I use in a multi-media show about ...Circle..., and now I put them in this book, along with early NGDB shots he took. It is important to show that EVERYONE had a vital role in making this recording happen.
It is right, in my opinion, for anyone involved, to call it ‘their’ masterpiece album. It belongs to all of us - and each of us. Rock-based Ibby (Jim Ibbotson) singing a Hank Williams song, folk-rooted Jeff Hanna singing with Maybelle and Doc, Les Thompson playing Mandolin with Jimmy Martin, Jimmie Fadden showing off his incredible harmonica chops (and all singing too!). And for me, banjo picking with the best. This was a record of an event, one that has been captivating audiences for 50 years, and continues to this day. Something Bill and I never imagined while playing Jimmy Martin music at L.A. clubs in those pre-NGDB days.. It was 'something'. Wow! Were we fortunate to be there! And now, you can go there with us all…
Will the Circle Be Unbroken; The Making of a Landmark Album
By John McEuen with photographs by William E. McEuen
Publication date: August 2022
From the publisher; Backbeat Books
The 1971 collaboration of legendary Nashville bluegrass musicians and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, a Southern California country-rock-jug group, was the genesis of Will the Circle Be Unbroken, which Rolling Stone magazine would declare "the most important album to come out of Nashville." In this definitive, beautifully illustrated book, McEuen gives an inside look at the making of a landmark album, covering each of its thirty-eight songs and sharing previously unseen photographs taken by the author and his brother Bill McEuen, who produced the recording.
The story of the album begins after the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's cover of "Mr. Bojangles" became a surprise hit, when McEuen invited Earl Scruggs to join the band on a new project. Scruggs said yes—as did Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements, Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, and other country stars. For six days in the summer of 1971, the musicians sat in a circle facing one another, recording country and bluegrass standards in East Nashville's Woodland Studios. Out of that magical collaboration came one of the most iconic albums in American history, one that melded musical worlds, bridged generations, and captured the essence of Americana. Now, after fifty years, John McEuen invites readers to join him in the circle, hear the stories, and listen to the music.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
xi
Acknowledgments
xiii
Introduction
John McEuen with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band members Jeff Hanna,
Jimmie Fadden, Jimmy “Ibby” Ibbotson, and Les Thompson
xv
One
The Path to the Circle
Two
The Circle Sessions: Music Forms a New Circle
Three
A Circle of Friends: The Circle Continues
Afterword
In Memoriam
The Circle Family
Discography
Index
Publisher: Backbeat
ISBN13: 9781493062331
Binding: 8x10 Hardback, Color and B/W photos
Retail Price : U.S. $50.00
Page Count: 256 Pages
Pub Date: August 2022
Look for the book at your favorite local bookseller,
or online at Amazon, Barnes&Noble
For more information: https://www.johnmceuen.com
or on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/JohnMcEuenMusic |
This book is dedicated to photographer William E. McEuen, a visionary in film, television, stage, and thankfully, records. He never wanted the spotlight himself, but I think he liked knowing with his contributions he deserved it.
William E. was mentor to many who continue today in showbusiness doing great things. He left behind a bunch of singing, laughing and dancing people with happy feet who loved what he brought them. He KNEW what they would like!
Special thanks to William E. McEuen, for you made something equally enduring as your favorite movie,
Citizen Kane.
Where to Buy
Landmark Exclusive Autographed Edition
Musician John McEuen Comes Full Circle
In August 1971, a group of musicians spent six days circled up in the old Woodland Studios building on a corner street in East Nashville, Tennessee. Amid the sticky late-summer heat, they merged genres and generations, recording around 40 bluegrass and country tracks to create a landmark album.
Read The Full Story at Aspen Daily News
''John McEuen discusses Western Edge exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame''
Interview: McEuen discusses Western Edge, his new book, band legacy and upcoming stage show in the Ozarks • Americana Highways
The significance of this October 14 show at The Riff in Springfield, Missouri is two talents from influentially historic bands team up for the first time. The Dillards did more to expose bluegrass to a large audience via the Andy Griffith Show in six episode appearances between 1963 and 1966 (as The Darlings band on the show).
americanahighways.org