Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two

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Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two (also Circle II) is the nineteenth studio album by American

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 appearance of McGuinn and Hillman on an album dominated by Grand Ole Opry members represented a reconciliation of sorts between them, after the Byrds had received a cold reception at their lone appearance on the Opry in 1968;^[1] the song itself was one that Ralph Emery had famously dissed during the Byrds' brief Nashville residency in the same era.^[2]

The roster of

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."^[7]

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

1. "Life's Railway to Heaven" (Traditional, arranged by Johnny Cash) – 4:39
   • Lead vocal and guitar by Johnny Cash with June Carter Cash, Anita Carter and Helen Carter (as the Carter Family)
   • Gibson L5
2. "Grandpa Was a Carpenter" (John Prine) – 3:24
   • Lead vocal and guitar by John Prine
3. "When I Get My Rewards" (Paul Kennerley) – 4:25
   • Lead vocal by Levon Helm
4. "Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan" (Traditional) – 3:56
   • Mandolin and first verse lead vocals by
     Bob Carpenter and John Cowan; third verse vocals by Jimmy Ibbotson and Pat Flynn
5. "Little Mountain Church House" (Jim Rushing, Carl Jackson) – 3:32
   • Lead vocal and guitar by Ricky Skaggs
6. "And So It Goes" (Paul Overstreet, Don Schlitz) – 3:54
   • Lead vocal by John Denver
   • Released on John Denver's Australian album Stonehaven Sunset
7. "When It's Gone" (Jimmie Fadden, Don Schlitz) – 2:34
   • Lead vocal by Jimmy Ibbotson
8. "Mary Danced With Soldiers" (Kennerley) – 3:07
   • Lead vocal and guitar by Emmylou Harris
9. "Riding Alone" (Bob Carpenter, Jeff Hanna, Richard Hathaway) – 3:09
   • Lead vocals by Bob Carpenter and Emmylou Harris
10. "I'm Sittin' on Top of the World" (Lonnie Chatmon, Walter Vinson) – 3:10
    • Lead vocal and guitar by Jimmy Martin
11. "Lovin' on the Side" (Paulette Carlson, Jimmy Ibbotson, Sandy Waltner) – 2:57
    • Lead vocal by Paulette Carlson
    • Mandolin by Levon Helm
12. "Lost River" (Michael Martin Murphey) – 3:26
    • Lead vocal and guitar by Michael Martin Murphey
13. "Bayou Jubilee" (Jeff Hanna) – 3:01
    • Lead vocal by Jeff Hanna
    • Fiddle by Sam Bush
    • Piano by Bruce Hornsby
14. "Blues Berry Hill" (Carpenter, Fadden, Hanna, Ibbotson, R. Scruggs) – 3:26
    • Instrumental, featuring Randy Scruggs on lead guitar
15. "Turn of the Century" (J. Fred Knobloch, Dan Tyler) – 3:39
    • Lead vocals by Jimmy Ibbotson (first verse), Jeff Hanna (second verse) and Bob Carpenter (third verse)
16. "One Step Over the Line" (John Hiatt) – 4:30
    • Lead vocal and guitar by John Hiatt with Rosanne Cash, vocals
17. "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" (Bob Dylan) – 3:53
    • Lead vocals and twelve-string guitar by Roger McGuinn with Chris Hillman, lead vocals and guitar
18. "The Valley Road" (Bruce Hornsby) – 4:13
    • Lead vocals and piano by Bruce Hornsby
19. "
    Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (A. P. Carter
    /last verse lyrics by Jimmy Ibbotson) – 5:39
    • Lead vocals by Johnny Cash (first verse), Roy Acuff (second verse), Ricky Skaggs (third verse), Levon Helm with Emmylou Harris (fourth verse) and Jimmy Ibbotson (fifth verse)
    • Backing choir: Roy Acuff, Cynthia Biederman, Sam Bush, Paulette Carlson, Bob Carpenter, Gretchen Carpenter, June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash, Cindy Cash, Rosanne Cash, John Cowan, Steve Dahl, John Denver, Jimmie Fadden, Béla Fleck, Pat Flynn, Radney Foster, Vince Gill, Jeff Hanna, Melody Hanna, John Hiatt, Chris Hillman, Bruce Hornsby, Jimmy Ibbotson, Helen Carter Jones, David Jones, Bashful Brother Oswald, Bill Lloyd, Jimmy Martin, Michael Martin Murphey, Roger McGuinn, Tracy Nelson, Robert Oermann, Brad Parker, Don Schlitz, Earl Scruggs, Gary Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Steve Scruggs, Lynn Shults, Marty Stuart, Wendy Waldman, Steve Wariner, Cheryl White, Sharon White, Bobbie White
20. "Amazing Grace" (John Newton) – 1:48
    • Solo guitar, performed by Randy Scruggs

• Bob Carpenter – piano, accordion, harmony vocals
• Jimmie Fadden – drums, harmonica
• Jeff Hanna – guitar, washboard, harmony vocals
• Jimmy Ibbotson – mandolin, harmony vocals

• Jerry Douglas – resonator guitar
• Roy Huskey, Jr. – upright bass
• Mark O'Connor – fiddle, mandolin
• Randy Scruggs – producer, guitar
• Chet Atkins – guitar on "Riding Alone"
• Vassar Clements – fiddle on "Sittin' on Top of the World"
• Béla Fleck – banjo on "Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan", "Little Mountain Church House" and "I'm Sittin' on Top of the World"
• Bernie Leadon – banjo on "The Valley Road" and "Blues Berry Hill"
• John McEuen – banjo on "Lost River"
• Earl Scruggs – banjo on "Life's Railway to Heaven"
• Buck White – piano on "Little Mountain Church House"