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Connections Out
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from this node by:
Artificial Intelligence
Network Node
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Name:
John McEuen
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City/Place:
Franklin, Tennessee
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Country:
United States
Current News
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What's Up?
WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN
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.
Life & Work
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Bio:
Three years before he became a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, teenage Disneyland Magic Shop magician John McEuen discovered that he liked being in front of people.
In his last months of high school 'music' showed up and put him on stages of all the many southern California folk clubs. Playing solo and with others (Michael Martin Murphey, Jose Feliciano, Penny Nichols and Mary McCaslin, and his first group, Wilmore City Moonshiners) would lead to Grammys and entertainment business recognition, fans around the world, and a career that has spanned 50+ years.
Initially, searching for a path to showbiz in 1965, with borrowed money (from his father) McEuen booked Bob Dylan for a concert in a Long Beach high school auditorium. It sold out! He paid back the loan and bought a new banjo. By 1970, his brother (then manager/producer of NGDB) also began managing his high school buddy Steve Martin, with whom John had worked with in Disneyland's Magic Shop (“Steve says he learned a lot of banjo from me. I could just steal notes off records quicker was all; Steve has written some of my favorite banjo tunes. But I learned a LOT from him, and not all music”).
When "a bunch of guys playing together at McCabe's Guitar Shop (where John was teaching banjo during a 1966 So. Calif. summer) in Long Beach, California, joined forces as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, a jug band that headed out to play everything from "folk to rock to country...". At the end of thier 50th year tour, due to 'differences of opinion" and growing demand for his own shows, John left NGDB in October of 2017. With the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, he made 34 albums, including the platinum-selling Will The Circle Be Unbroken, initiated by John asking Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson to record with his bandmates (produced by the band's manager John's brother, Bill McEuen) in 1971 for United Artists Records. Indisputably "one of the most important recordings ever come out of Nashville" (Rolling Stone, 1972), "...Circle..." is recognized today as a music milestone and integral part of Americana history. It was declared by the 2004 Zagat survey "the most important album in Country Music". The 'Circle' album has been inducted in to the Library of Congress and the Grammy Hall of Fame as “one of America's most important historic recordings.”
Multi-instrumentalist McEuen has ventured into varied musical genres, making 7 of his own CD's and producing 10 others. Taking his music and other talents to different formats including television specials (writing and producing), film scoring (14 FILMS TO DATE), unusual award winning CDs and concert production, John has received recognition and awards in MANY the fields. Keeping up an active concert schedule, he also won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album for his production of The Crow - New Songs for the 5-string Banjo by Steve Martin, on Rounder Records.
September of 2017 he was inducted in to the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame!
His love of acoustic music history and being onstage is evident to all those who see him putting his banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, lap steel, and piano together with songs and comedic storytelling.
After doing over 10,000 interviews McEuen started his Radio show, Acoustic Traveller, on XM's The Village, now in its 9th year. The music John performs today evolved from early inspiration from seeing The Dillards in his native Southern California, and music he made going down that early road with various artists.
In his career so far John has played over 9,500 shows around the world.
His book - The Life I've Picked - was released in April of 2018 on Chicago Review Press.
John McEuen has performed and/or recorded with: Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Bill Wyman, Johnny Cash, Marshall Tucker Band, Steve Martin, The Smothers Brothers, Rowan & Martin, Clint Eastwood, Phish, Crystal Gayle, Michael Martin Murphey, Hans Olson, Tammy Wynette, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Leon Russell, Kevin Nealon, Tom Chapin, Pete Seeger, Mary McCaslin, Vassar Clements, Jose Feliciano, Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Andy Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, The Band, The Doors, Foreigner, John Denver, Kenny Rogers, Little Richard, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Robin Williams, Albert Gore, Robert Schimmel, Tom Petty, Stephen Wright, Little River Band, Air Supply, Doobie Brothers, Bill Cosby, Martha Redbone, Hootie and the Blowfish, the list goes on, and there are stories about all of them.
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