Saturday, 17 June 2017

[dcab-l] Father's Day Song: Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

Music Lovers & Songwriters:

 

Here’s a live cut from a Rattlesnake Hill gig at Cactus Flats, a wonderful family

restaurant just north of Fredrick, Md.          

(https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cactus-Flats/158687354187225)

 

"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a popular Christian hymn written in 1907 by

Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H Gabriel.  The song is often recorded

unattributed and, because of its age, has lapsed into the public domain.

 

A reworked version of the song, intended as a funeral hymn, was written by A. P. Carter

and released in 1935 by the Carter Family.  The Carter version, titled “Can the Circle be

Unbroken”, uses the same music and the same verse structure but with different verse

lyrics and a modified chorus.  That version has often been recorded as "Will the Circle

be Unbroken", including the 1972 performance by Mother Maybelle Carter and ensemble

on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album of the same title.  In 1998 “Circle” was inducted into

the Grammy Hall of Fame.

 

My cover appeared in a CD called “Live at Cactus Flats”; the playdate happened to fall

on Father’s Day.  As I had “Circle”  already on my playlist, and suddenly realizing on the

bandstand that I could substitute “Father” for the usually referenced “Mother”, I did so,

on the fly.  Despite the mourning and burial normally reserved for “Mother” in this song,

you can hear the how responsively the audience reacts to “Father” in a song we all

know and love.

 

 

Musicians:

 

   Barb Diederich                 Bass

   Garrett Wren                   Mandolin

   John Brunschwyler            Banjo

   Ed Schaeffer                    Guitar & Vocal

 

To listen, click URL below:

 

http://rattlesnakehill.org/Web_Music/edsmusic.html

 

I hope you enjoy it!

Ed

 


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