Will the Circle Be Unbroken

A history-making event for both popular and country music, this album brought together the hippieish Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with some of the all-time legends of country and bluegrass music, including Roy Acuff, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, and Mother Maybelle Carter herself. It may not sound earth-shaking now, but in the days before Johnny Cash covered Soundgarden songs, there wasn't too much mixing going on between Nashville and the longhair camp. The result: an epochal meeting of minds exploring the joys of gospel, bluegrass, and old-time country music. Check out traditional acoustic gems like "Wildwood Flower," "Orange Blossom Special," "Soldier's Joy," and of course the heart-wrenching title track. Sixteen years later, Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two made for a worthy sequel to this seminal cross-cultural experiment. --Mary Park