Something completely different! I'm a huge fan of bluegrass music and it's collaborative effort among musicians. Dr. Ralph Stanley is a legend and a favorite.
89 years ago today in 1927, Ralph Edmund Stanley was born in rural southwestern Dickenson County, Virginia - a place where he still lives to this day. As a child, his mother bought him a banjo from his aunt for $5. Ralph's parents owned a store and his aunt took her pay in groceries. He learned to play the banjo from his mother, using the clawhammer approach.
In 1945 Ralph graduated from high school and joined the Army. When he was discharged he started a band with his brother Carter Stanley called 'The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys.' Ralph had a high tenor voice and in their band, Carter would play guitar and sing lead vocals, and Ralph would play the banjo and sing backup and harmony vocals.
The Stanley Brothers (along with Flatt & Scruggs) initially copied and played a lot of Bill Monroe covers in performances and on the radio live. This angered Monroe, who felt they were hurting him economically. Later, when the Stanley Brothers were signed to the same record label as him, Monroe left in protest and went to a new label. He and the Stanley Brothers would later become friends.
Just copying Bill Monroe wasn't working, so Ralph and Carter started writing their own songs and performing more traditional old time songs.
In the early 1950s due to economic hardship, the brothers quit music and moved to Detroit to work for Ford Motor Company. Carter eventually left Detroit and joined Bill Monroe's band. In late 1951, Ralph Stanley was in a bad car wreck that almost ended his career. When he recovered, he and Carter reunited the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys. The brothers performed together for more than 13 years until Carter's death from cirrhosis of the liver at age 41 in 1966. (later disputed to be from an undetected genetic kidney defect).
Ralph wasn't sure whether to continue with music after the death of his brother, but he received such support from fans that he continued ahead as Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. One of the musicians that would play in his band in the early '70s was a 17-year old Ricky Skaggs.
Ralph received an honorary doctorate in the '70s and is now referred to in promotions as Dr. Ralph Stanley. In 2000 he had a bit of a resurgence thanks to the film 'O Brother Where Art Thou,' when his acapella version of the old dirge 'Oh Death' was included in the film and on the soundtrack. With that song, he won the 2002 Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
His brother Carter's adaptation of the old song "Man of Constant Sorrow" was also used in the movie 'O Brother Where Art Thou' (sung by Dan Tyminski of 'Alison Krauss & Union Station).
In 1992 Dr. Ralph Stanley was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor. In 2000 he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. In 2006 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bush.
In 2011, Ralph was involved in a documentary titled 'Regeneration' that teamed up different musicians with well-known DJs for collaborations. For the film, Ralph recorded parts of the old timey song "Wayfaring Stranger" with LeAnn Rimes, and the DJ Pretty Lights. (Although in the film he doesn't seem to enjoy the experience.)
In 2016, Ralph and his band continue to tour, albeit it less often. His band sometimes tours without him, but with his grandson Nathan Stanley leading the band. Every Memorial Day, Ralph hosts and performs at the 'Dr. Ralph Stanley Annual Hills of Home Bluegrass Festival' that takes place in Coeburn, Virginia, on the mountaintop where he was raised, and where his brother Carter is buried.
