Jim Wilson Posted February 12, 2016 Posted February 12, 2016 I had to drive over to Fort Stockton today to pick up a load of deer meat, so I took along a CD that I'd bought recently and not yet listened to. It is WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN (anniversary issue) that the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band put together. My lord, that's some great music! Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Mother Maybelle, and Earl Scruggs...to name a few. It's kind of a museum piece for acoustic musicians and, sadly, all of those legends are gone now. Mother Maybelle picking KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE on that old Gibson of hers was, I believe, my favorite track. We've all heard those songs many, many times. I just wanted to honor the legends.
jedzep Posted February 12, 2016 Posted February 12, 2016 That is a great album...even though the NG Dirt Band at times seems hokey and out of their league. Especially listen to Doc Watson's flatpicking at it's peak when he kills the break on 'Way Downtown'. I played the crap outta' that album back in college (1972).
MissouriPicker Posted February 12, 2016 Posted February 12, 2016 I'm very familiar with the CD you mention. Love it........Some songs will live forever. They don't need to be continuously recorded or constantly played on the radio. In fact, it's almost a shame to play them alongside of some of the garbage now on the radio. All one has to do is hear these songs a few times and they become embedded in our memories. This CD is full of those songs. Among my favorites are "I Saw The Light" and "Wreck On The Highway" and "Tennessee Stud." Whether the songs are clever, sad, serious, etc., they each give a glimpse at how people of that particular era of music looked at life, cried about it, wrote about it, worried about it, laughed about it, lived it. Good music about rural life in rural America and Canada, and sung by the elder musicians who had personal knowledge of it.
zombywoof Posted February 12, 2016 Posted February 12, 2016 You could not find a turntable that record was not being played on in 1972.
Jim Wilson Posted February 12, 2016 Author Posted February 12, 2016 I remember the album when it first came out, but hadn't listened to it in years. I had the same feeling about NGDB being out of their league, but now I suspect that they were just paying tribute to their roots. At least, that's how I'd like it to be. It's just great to listen to some clean picking and songs that these people had lived.
bayoubengal1954 Posted February 13, 2016 Posted February 13, 2016 I still have the vinyl, and later bought the CD. A shining moment in music history.
Fullmental Alpinist Posted February 13, 2016 Posted February 13, 2016 That is a great album...even though the NG Dirt Band at times seems hokey and out of their league. Especially listen to Doc Watson's flatpicking at it's peak when he kills the break on 'Way Downtown'. I played the crap outta' that album back in college (1972). "When he kills the break...." Are you referring to the part at 1:57 in the YouTube vid below? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ggpz1jL6lI If so, I must agree with you jedzep.
jedzep Posted February 13, 2016 Posted February 13, 2016 Oh yeah, that's it. I'm grateful to have seen Doc and Merle from a front table at the Bottom Line circa '74. It gave me a kick in the pants to go home and pick up the old J-50 I had then.
BluesKing777 Posted February 13, 2016 Posted February 13, 2016 Oh yeah, that's it. I'm grateful to have seen Doc and Merle from a front table at the Bottom Line circa '74. It gave me a kick in the pants to go home and pick up the old J-50 I had then. I have been a early Doc with his Martin D18 lover forever! THE reason, with Skip and Brownie for buying my D18! Very disappointed with a video I bought with all his tunes live in a quacky soundhole pickup....horrid BluesKing777.
jedzep Posted February 13, 2016 Posted February 13, 2016 Burn that video, BK, so you can begin to wash it from your mind. At some point on this record, the boys are talking to Doc, and someone tells him his guitar 'rings like a bell'. He responds by saying 'Mister (blank) built this thing...' Can anyone help me recall the builder he mentions? I've been on their site, I think, pondering whether going into foreclosure to own one was worth the eventual consequences. Answering my own question... http://www.docsguitar.com/guitar.html#tpm1_3
BluesKing777 Posted February 13, 2016 Posted February 13, 2016 Burn that video, BK, so you can begin to wash it from your mind. At some point on this record, the boys are talking to Doc, and someone tells him his guitar 'rings like a bell'. He responds by saying 'Mister (blank) built this thing...' Can anyone help me recall the builder he mentions? I've been on their site, I think, pondering whether going into foreclosure to own one was worth the eventual consequences. JW Gallagher. BluesKing777.
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