Ralph Stanley-8 cd

Ralph Stanley-8 cd
Files: 176 Size : 497 MB
tracker : piratebay
1971-1973 4CD - 1995
Bound To Ride - 1991
Clinch Mountain Country-Ralph Stanley & Friends 2CD - 1998
Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop - 2002
1971-1973
This four-CD set is a collection of the entire output of Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys during an astonishing three-year period in the early '70s. The albums collected here include the first appearance of Stanley's signature a cappella bluegrass-gospel, and feature the outstanding lead singing of the late Roy Lee Centers. The strong incarnation of the Clinch Mountain Boys features Curley Ray Cline on fiddle, Jack Cooke on bass, and Ricky Lee on lead guitar. Teenage Stanley disciples and future country stars Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs make their first recorded appearances here also, and Country Gentleman John Duffey stops by to max out the needles on the Stanley Brothers classic The Lonesome River. The band runs through straight bluegrass, gospel, old-time banjo songs, fiddle tunes, and Stanley Brothers classics, all with great confidence and style. Songs are pulled from multiple and diverse sources, including the Carter Family, old country, Bill Monroe, and even a beautiful Jesse Winchester song, "Brand New Tennessee Waltz." This set is for purists more than bluegrass neophytes, but no fan of Ralph Stanley or the Stanley Brothers should be without it. These albums broke new stylistic ground at a time when there was some concern whether Ralph Stanley could continue in the wake of Carter Stanley's death.
Bound To Ride
This disc collects 20 recordings made in the early '70s by the legendary Ralph Stanley with his Clinch Mountain Boys, who included, at various times, Ricky Skaggs, Roy Lee Centers, and even the late John Duffey. The fierce, elemental purity of Stanley's sound is captured beautifully on these sessions, many of which feature him playing clawhammer banjo in the style he learned from his mother. But though his banjo playing is very good, it's Stanley's singing that has always set him apart from the rest of the bluegrass pack: His piercing mountain tenor voice and his sanctified delivery almost sound like something from another world. When he sings "Pretty Polly," "Riding the Midnight Train," or especially, the hair-raising "Man of Constant Sorrow," the effect is visceral and spiritual at the same time. Listening to him blow out the microphone with Duffey and Centers on "The Lonesome River" is almost literally a religious experience. This is mountain music at its finest.
Clinch Mountain Country
The two-disc set Clinch Mountain Country is a treasure that amazes and inspires at every turn. Ralph Stanley is one of the true greats of American music. Kicking off with an all-time favorite, "How Mountain Girls Can Love," the set features Stanley's signature clawhammer banjo style and the distinctive mountain harmonies perfected by himself and his brother, the late Carter Stanley. Other guests from the music world include Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stuart, Bob Dylan, Patty Loveless, BR5-49, Rhonda Vincent, Gillian Welch, Laurie Lewis, Junior Brown, Vern Gosdin, Vince Gill, and many others. One of the most poignant tracks is Stanley, the Clinch Mountain Boys, and country & western master George Jones singing "The Window up Above." The meeting of Stanley and Jones is a monumental moment in music history. Together their voices blend effortlessly on a song that Jones wrote so many years ago. Also significant is the prominence of Ralph II, the man who will carry on the legacy his father and uncle began in the mountains of Virginia. Stanley's high lonesome vocal style is unlike any other sound, and he is without peer in the world of bluegrass music. This collection of tunes, many written by Carter and/or Ralph, is evidence of the heartfelt, soul-nourishing music the Carters brought out of the western Virginia Highlands and gave to the world.
Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop
On February 11th, 2001, an intimate group of lucky people crammed into tiny McCabe's Guitar Shop to experience 55 years of bluegrass legacy firsthand when Ralph Stanley held court at the ripe age of 74 years young. Supported heavily by his Clinch Mountain Boys, Stanley acts initially as an MC, introducing the members of his band to each come up and take his turn on vocals and featured instrumentals, and during the second set takes center stage himself performing recent favorites like "Man of Constant Sorrow" and "Oh Death." The sparing use of the patriarch of bluegrass is by no means surprising, nor is it even a detraction. The able vocals of his son Ralph Stanley II and the superlative banjo picking of Steve Sparkman leave the elder Stanley to supply the piercing tenor harmonies that he perfected with his brother Carter in the '40s and '50s. The band turns in a searing "Daybreak in Dixie," expert clawhammer-style banjo playing on "Rocky Island," and an astounding a cappella rendition of "I'll Wear a White Robe" during this second set. The loose, intimate setting makes for a real authentic hills-and-hollers feel, and the appreciative (and fortunate) crowd seems genuinely awed at this rare opportunity to see a true musical legend in his element. While this is by no means the definitive Ralph Stanley album, or even a great starting point for listeners intrigued by what they found in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, it is a terrific document of how the music of the mountains can become more valuable as it ages.