![]() Two of country's greatest harmony singers, Gill and Loveless, join Stanley for gorgeously layered vocals on the more secular "If That's the Way You Feel" and "A Lonesome Night," and the rough-hewn Stanley tenor also drives some outstanding duets with country singers Hal Ketchum (a wistful "How Mountain Girls Can Love") and Loveless (on the Appalachian ballad "Pretty Polly"), as well as with alt-country stalwarts Gillian Welch (a luminous reading of A.P. Songs of bedrock faith grace the collection, notably "How Can We Thank Him for What He Has Done," which features warm quartet harmony singing with Diamond Rio and a sermonlike recitation by Stanley "When I Wake Up to Sleep No More," another lush quartet vocal with the Marshall Family the Louvin Brothers' haunting "Are You Afraid to Die," featuring Stanley in a chilling trio with Sonya and Becky Isaacs and "Bright Morning Star," a mesmerizing a cappella duet with Kathy Mattea. The hard country/bluegrass connection is also evident on John Anderson's mournful "I Only Exist," Vern Gosdin's "Way Down Deep," Marty Stuart's compassionate "She's More to Be Pitied" and a pair of Stanley collaborations with Yoakam, the sprightly "I Just Got Wise" and the somber "The Darkest Hour Is Just Before the Dawn." For instance, the Stanley Brothers and George Jones both recorded the latter's tragic narrative of infidelity, "The Window Up Above," in 1961 37 years later, the bitter sadness in their voices mingles beautifully. #When i wake up to sleep no more ralph stanley full#The album is full of inspired partnerships, many based on old friendships. ![]() In fact, the latter did his first Nashville recording session in almost 30 years for this album, joining Stanley on an emotionally raw duet rendering of "The Lonesome River." Dylan has called the encounter "the highlight of my career." Mostly it's because there's such deep respect for Stanley, whether the artists be from the bluegrass world or from country, or whether they be little known (like the Isaacs Family) or fabled as Bob Dylan. Partly it's because everyone recorded together live - there's no studio chicanery to dampen the connections. He and Stanley join voices and spirits on the jubilant gospel tune "Shouting on the Hills of Glory" and the regret-tinged ballad "Nobody's Love Is Like Mine," and it's clear that the love and respect forged in the early '70s remains iron-solid.ĭespite its many guest artists, "Clinch Mountain Country" feels of a single piece. Skaggs - with Keith Whitley and Larry Sparks the most famous Clinch Mountain alumni - appears twice on this 36-track collection drawn mostly from the Stanley Brothers repertoire. ![]() Their full-throated, emotionally expressive singing came from growing up in the Primitive Baptist Church, and they quickly became known for their soul-piercing harmony singing, blending Ralph's high-lonesome tenor and hard-edged banjo style and Carter's classic compositions about love, loss and faith.Īfter Carter Stanley died of cancer in 1966, Ralph continued with the Clinch Mountain Boys, mentoring generations of young bluegrass and country musicians in his band, much as Art Blakey did with the Jazz Messengers. Influenced at first by Monroe - who wasn't? - the Stanley Brothers soon developed a simple, distinctive "mountain music" sound that drew heavily from traditional vocal and instrumental styles. Growing up in southwestern Virginia, Ralph and his brother, Carter, formed the Stanley Brothers in the late '40s and started recording in 1947. ![]() ![]() Stanley's position in the hierarchy of bluegrass is right alongside such pioneers as Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs. It features 30 guest artists, a number of them aboard for a second round, including Dwight Yoakam, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, Alison Krauss and Ricky Skaggs, who began his music career as a Clinch Mountain Boy and who will host Stanley as part of the annual Ricky Skaggs Pickin' Party at the Barns at Wolf Trap today. Now comes "Clinch Mountain Country," another double CD from Rebel Records. The first was 1992's "Saturday Night/Sunday Morning," an award-winning double CD on which Stanley was joined by a dozen bluegrass and country stars on secular and sacred songs drawn from a five-decades-deep repertoire crafted by the Stanley Brothers and, later, Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. There are now two significant tributes to bluegrass patriarch Ralph Stanley. ![]()
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