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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZSTANLEY BROTHERS, TheCarter Glen Stanley, lead guitar and vocals (b 27 August 1925, McClure VA; d 1 December 1966, Bristol VA) and Ralph Edmund Stanley, banjo and vocals (b 25 February 1927, Stratton VA; d23 June 2016, Coeburn VA) Leaders of the influential bluegrass group Clinch Mountain Boys, the Stanleys created some of the most beautiful harmonies in country music, specializing in religious material, much of it written by themselves and reflecting their early days in the Shenandoah Valley Region. One year Ralph had a choice between a pig and a banjo for his birthday; he chose the banjo, and his mother taught him to play it. The boys started their musical career, but were interrupted by WWII; after US Army service they formed the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys '46, worked on radio WCYB in Bristol and made their first records for the Rich-R-Tone label '48; a move to Columbia '49 gave them wider exposure, though like other bluegrass artists they were never part of the mainstream, their influence having to wait 20 years to come out in the '70s-80s. They recorded for Mercury, Starday and King in the '50s and '60s, their sole top 20 country hit being 'How Far To Little Rock' '60 on King. Ralph continued to lead the group after Carter's death, appearing at bluegrass festivals and recording for Rebel; their songs have been covered by John Conlee, Emmylou Harris, Dan Fogelberg and others. They were still influential '90s, most notably with singer-songwriter Gillian Welch and bluegrass diva Alison Krauss; songs continue to be well-covered and much of the original Stanley Brothers and Ralph Stanley's work was available on CD: Stanley Brothers 1949-52 '92 and two-CD 1953-59 '94, both on Bear Family; Hymns And Sacred Songs '92 on King; The Complete Columbia Stanley Brothers '96 on Columbia; Ralph Stanley -- Stanley Sound Today '91 and Short Life Of Trouble: Songs Of Grayson And Whitter '97 both on Rebel; Saturday Night And Sunday Morning '93 on Freeland. Ralph Stanley never liked the term 'bluegrass' and described what he did as old-time mountain music. After he received an honorary degree, he insisted on being known as Dr. Ralph Stanley. He finally achieved the fame he deserved when the music of the Stanley Brothers was featured in the Coen Brothers' film O Brother, Where Art Thou in 2000 (the score produced by T Bone Burnett): 'Angel Band' was their original recording; one of three different performances of 'I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow' in in the film was Carter's arrangement; and Ralph's solo version of the traditional 'O Death' won a Grammy. Ralph was awarded a National Medal of the Arts. The alcoholic Carter had ended by drinking himself to death. Ralph's memoir Man Of Constant Sorrow 2006 (with Eddie Dean) is full of honest detail about hardscrabble childhoods and years on the road, whitewashing nothing. A play, Man of Constant Sorrow: The Story of the Stanley Brothers, was written by Dr. Douglas Pote. The University Press of Mississippi published Lonesome Melodies: The Lives and Music of the Stanley Brothers, by David W. Johnson, in 2012. |