Can The Circle Be Unbroken (By and By) - The Carter Family

Today we listened to an American classic by the very prolific Carter Family - Can the Circle Be Unbroken.  The original Carter Family lineup of the 1920s and 1930s consisted of A.P. Carter, his wife Sara Carter and her cousin Maybelle, who also happened to be married to A.P.'s brother Eck (who had a daughter named June Cash, who went on to marry Johnny Cash and become June Carter Cash).  The Carter Family came from the Appalachian mountains in Virginia and are seen as the foundation of country music and bluegrass.  A.P. would dig up songs for the group to perform and Sara and Maybelle would put together the arrangements and do most of the performing, with Sara singing lead and Maybelle singing harmony and playing guitar.  This song was released in 1935 and 1936 saw the dissolution of A.P's and Sara's marriage (she went on to marry his cousin), so some of the mourning in the song could be for the loss of a relationship as opposed to the literal loss of a loved one.

So the song itself was adapted from the hymn of the same name by A.P. Carter.  It is sung from the viewpoint of an individual who has lost their mother, attends the funeral and returns to the empty house (cheery stuff).  The song has been covered a bajillion times and almost all of the cover versions use 4/4 meter, whereas the Carter Family recording from 1927 has them in 3/4 at the end of each verse (who do they think they are, Rush?).  Anyhow, the song is such a big deal that it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.  And here's what we think of it:

Holly:

Can the Circle be Unbroken (The Carter Family): 3/5 This is the first of likely many songs on this list that brings me straight back to my childhood. I definitely remember many Saturday mornings with this song coming on. Not this version, though. This is the first time I’ve heard The Carter Family version. I had no idea growing up how incredibly sad this song is. Listening to the lyrics, it came as a big surprise. The Carter Family sounds like classic American folk music, plain and simple. Energetic rhythm guitar, drawling nasal voices, a clear story being told through the music. I really like it because of its historical importance, and I enjoyed The Carter Family’s sound, but I wouldn’t rush out to listen to more. I also found the ending to be such a cop out. It just kind of…..stops.

Kelly:

Ohhh, this one hits me right in the childhood!  I'm pretty sure the version that we were familiar with is done by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (featuring Johnny Cash) which can you hear here, and please take note of the fantastic fashions.  Anyhow, this version is pretty good - I feel like it is pure Americana and I picture them sitting in rocking chairs on the porch of their Blue Ridge Mountain cabin and thumb picking and singing this, all it's missing is someone playing the jug and the spoons.  The version that I really like and prefer is that of the Staple Singers (although I'm sure they could take a song as heinous as Stupid Hoe and make it great) which can be heard here.  I appreciate how important the song was, but if I'm going to purchase the song, it's going to be someone else's version.  And I agree with Holly about the end of the song.  It was like, 'so how do you want to end this?  Meh, we'll come up with something after lunch'.  3/5

Fun fact about the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: they appeared as the backing band on SNL for Steve Martin's million selling song King Tut.  They were billed as the 'Toot Uncommons'.

Here is the 1927 recording:

Can the Circle Be Unbroken 1927

And here is the 1935 version:

Can the Circle Be Unbroken 1935