| Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Nitty Gritty Dirt Band |
| Cover: | Circle II album cover.jpg |
| Recorded: | December 1988 and January 1989 |
| Studio: | Scruggs Studio (Nashville, Tennessee) |
| Length: | 62:19 |
| Label: | MCA |
| Producer: | |
| Prev Title: | Workin' Band |
| Prev Year: | 1988 |
| Next Title: | The Rest of the Dream |
| Next Year: | 1991 |
Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two (also Circle II) is the nineteenth studio album by American country folk group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, released on May 1, 1989. The album follows the same concept as the band's 1972 album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, which featured guest performances from many notable country music stars.
Circle II features largely acoustic, bluegrass music instrumentation with a line-up of contemporary country music artists that includes Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Michael Martin Murphey and Ricky Skaggs. Returnees from the first Circle are bluegrass musician Jimmy Martin, banjoist Earl Scruggs, fiddler Vassar Clements and singer Roy Acuff.
Other artists represent the rock, folk and pop genres, including Levon Helm from The Band, John Denver, John Prine, John Hiatt and Bruce Hornsby.
Among the tracks is the Bob Dylan composition, "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", sung as a duet by former members of The Byrds, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, their first reunion in many years.
The roster of session musicians for the album featured many notable performers, including fiddler Mark O'Connor, resonator guitarist Jerry Douglas, banjoist Béla Fleck, guitarist Chet Atkins and bassist Roy Huskey, Jr., son of bassist Junior Huskey, who had played on the first Circle.[1]
Like the first Circle, the album features snippets of studio chatter. In the lead-in to John Denver's song, "And So It Goes", someone asks, "Is this practice?" Denver replies: "They're all practice."
In an intro to the song "Riding Alone", Emmylou Harris summed up her thoughts about relaxed atmosphere of the recording sessions, saying: "Years ago I had the experience of sitting around in a living room with a bunch of people and singing and playing, and it was like a spiritual experience, it was wonderful. And I decided then that was what I was going to do with my life was play music, do music. In the making of records, I think over the years we've all gotten a little too technical, a little too hung up on getting things perfect. We've lost the living room. The living room has gone out of the music, but today I feel like we got it back."
Nick Robinson of British music newspaper Music Week reviewed the album positively. He wrote: "The result is an impressive and uplifting collection of 20 tracks that should even appeal to those punters that are not already familiar with the styles included."[2]
Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two was certified gold in the United States and Canada. The album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Top Country Album chart and at 95 on the Billboard 200. Singles from the album included John Denver's "And So It Goes", "Turn of the Century", "When It's Gone" and "One Step Over the Line".
It won Grammy Awards in 1990 for Best Bluegrass Recording (for "The Valley Road", with Bruce Hornsby), Best Country Instrumental Performance (for "Amazing Grace" by Randy Scruggs), and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. It also won Album of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards. A documentary film, The Making of Will the Circle Be Unbroken II, was released by Cabin Fever Entertainment.
Circle II was followed up with a 2002 album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Volume III, which coincided with the 30th anniversary re-release of Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
| Chart (1989) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Albums (RPM) | 57 | |
| Canadian Country Albums (RPM) | 3 | |
| US Billboard 200[3] | 95 | |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[4] | 5 |
| Chart (1989) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[5] | 38 | |
| Chart (1990) | Position | |
| US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[6] | 62 |