RIP: Dr. Ralph Stanley

[f5loar]

I learned so much from the Stanley Brothers. The first time I saw them was in Charlotte, March of 1965. It took this photo of Ralph b backstage.

[grassrootphilosopher]

Rest in peace.

I saw a double feature at the Ryman, namely Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys and Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mnt. Boys in the summer of ´94. It was a great show and it was inspiring to see them perform together. But all good things come to an end.

If you take into consideration Ralph Stanley´s age, the fact that it was recently anounced on bluegrasstoday.com that Ralph II would take over the Clinch Mnt. Boys and robif´s recent thread on banjohangout.org to keep Ralph in your prayers, Ralph´s passing did not come as a surprise.

"My latest sun is sinking fast,
My race is nearly run;
My strongest trials now are past,
My triumph is begun.

Oh, come, angel band,
Come and around me stand;
Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings
To my eternal home;
Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings
To my eternal home.

I know I’m near the holy ranks
Of friends and kindred dear—
I hear the waves on Jordan’s banks,
The crossing must be near.

I’ve almost reached my heav’nly home,
My spirit loudly sings;
Thy holy ones, behold, they come!
I hear the noise of wings.

Oh, bear my longing heart to Him,
Who bled and died for me;
Whose blood now cleanses from all sin,
And gives me victory."

[Paul Busman]

I think it's "won't you spare me over for another year". Not to be a nit picker.

But my condolences as well. One of the most memorable concerts I have had the pleasure of attending. When he sang "O Death", it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I'd never heard of Ralph Stanley until I watched O Brother Where Art Thou. Hearing O Death during that film had the same effect on me. What an astounding voice.

[Skip Kelley]

So sad! RIP Ralph!

[David Houchens]

Ralph will be greatly missed. Ralph and Tony Ellis are my two favorite banjo players.
RIP Ralph.

[Frankdolin]

Rest in Peace Mr. Stanley, You had a great run...

[Tom C]

What a classy man. When I saw him play at Town Hall in NYC, I was there early. The lobby area was empty as nobody went in yes. but I saw Ralph sitting all alone. I was able to go in and speak with him about 1/2 hr. I happen to have front row center seats, so while he was talking to the audience about O'Brother, Like..who has seen the movie...he was mostly looking right at me while talking.

[blawson]

I'm originally from Coeburn, VA, a small town that sits just down the mountain from the Stanley home on the ridge. As a kid growing up, I would regularly see the "Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys" tour bus sitting, parked in the Marty Shopping Center in town. (As a kid, I foolishly didn't see what the big deal was with this local "old man".)

I recall a few years back, post O Brother, visiting my mother back home and we went for a stop at the post office in town. A nice black Mercedes -- not standard transportation in that part of coal country -- pulled up, and Dr. Ralph stepped out, in a sharp black suit, also headed to the P.O. It was nice to see he had a measure of success, yet still smiled and gave a friendly hello in passing.

[Caleb]

What a VOICE that man had, with an ability to evoke such haunting feelings and imagery. It was like listening to something out of the deep past. Truly one of a kind.

[George R. Lane]

I can't add anything more than has already been said, just a great loss to the world.

[allenhopkins]

Saw Stanley with the Clinch Mountain Boys once, in the 1970's at a local college. Another of that "first wave" of bluegrass musicians gone. Who's left? Jesse McReynolds, Mac Wiseman, Curly Seckler, Paul Williams, J D Crowe, Bill Emerson, Del McCoury -- those who played in the late 1940's and early '50's, a distinguished and diminishing band...

Really too bad that the "Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers" band that was contemplated in the '50's never formed, due to Ralph's car accident, I believe (?). That would have been something else.

[Michael H Geimer]

Came here today to pay respect. Just heard the sad news on NPR. Fresh Air is about to re-broadcast an interview on my local station.

[mandroid]

"Oh Death" recording & film Royalties will, certainly cover the Funerary Costs.

[Johnny60]

"When you go walking after midnight" - a fantastic bluegrass song with such a great bluesy feel. RIP

[JAK]

NPR Radio, "Fresh Air," broadcasting an interview with Ralph (1:oopm - 1:30, in San Francisco, June 24), 88.5 fm radio. It will be in NPR archives.

[Andrew B. Carlson]

See you in that next place brother Ralph.

[UlsterMando]

Met the man back in the 90s and a great honour it was.
One of my all time favourite artists. He leaves a great musical legacy.

[tburcham]

A voice instantly recognizable is gone and legions of fans and friends mourn his loss. Rest in Peace Dr. Stanley.

[Willie Poole]

One year at the festival in Arcadia Md. my band was to go on before Ralph`s so I asked if it was OK to do two of his songs and he said I could do all I wanted as long as we didn`t make his band look bad, as if we ever could....That is the one and only time I ever spoke to him but his fiddle player Curly Ray Kline seen me picking in the field later that day and he told me Ralph had said that we did his songs as well as anyone he had heard do them, what a compliment coming from the great man himself...The two songs were Rank Strangers and The Fields Have Turned Brown, my all time favorite Stanley Bros. songs....

RIP Ralph.....

[swampstomper]

I promoted Ralph and the "classic" Clinch Mountain Boys (Roy Lee Centers, Jack Cooke, Curly Ray Cline) + teenage Skaggs & Whitley in Ithaca NY high school in February 1972. This was during the period of those great Rebel LP's which we bought from County Sales... terrible vinyl but tremendous music. They drove overnight in a small camper from the previous night's gig in Vienna VA, slept in the camper in the high school parking lot, and put on a tremendous show all for $600. The "contract"? It was a letter from me to him, a return letter simply saying "yes I will play" and a verbal agreement over the phone. I can remember as if it were yesterday the intensity from the first song (a rousing Katie Cline) to the last... high points were Keith's solo on Barbara Allen, of course Jack Cooke Sitting On Top of the World (heard it many times, never got old), Katie Daley with Roy Lee sounding chillingly like Carter Stanley, twin fiddles on "Cry from the Cross", Ricky and Ralph picking my special request "Daybreak in Dixie" and of course Ralph's clawhammer on Shout Little Luly. We should not mourn his passing; 89 years and so much music and legacy is more than enough for one man. Instead let's celebrate by picking some of those mandolin solos from Ricky Skagg's younger days on those Rebel LPs.

[AlanN]

Ralph's style of bluegrass after Carter's passing was raw, simple, honest. I have a cassette release of Michigan Bluegrass, with a young Skaggs and Whitley. Rock Bottom, Ain't It Hard and all the others were great. I saw him in the 80's, when he had the great James Alan Shelton, Jr. Blankenship, Curly Ray, Steve Sparkman (who picked like Ralph, same right hand). In the last period, he had some local boys in the band, Dewey Brown and Jimmy Cameron. The last time I saw him, he came out stage, hands clasped, and sang some ensemble things for part of the set, no banjo. Very moving.

RIP, Dr. Ralph.

[Willie Poole]

a great article in today`s Washington Post saying "If Mt. Rushmore was in the south Ralph`s face would be on it"...A real interesting article by a local writer that spent a lot of time with Ralph and Skaggs...I guess it can be Googled.....

I have listened to his music ever since I was a teenager and never realized how many people with different walks of life he touched with his music...his likeness should be placed on a pedestal somewhere, perhaps at the Bluegrass Hall Of Fame someday....

Willie

[Mark Wilson]

Ralph's style of bluegrass after Carter's passing was raw, simple, honest.

perfect - he was all that

[Steve Sorensen]

An honest tribute from a lifetime friend --

[JimY]

We saw Ralph Stanley here in London UK a couple of times - once when he came on stage with his leg in plaster! What a trouper. (He had Art Stamper fiddling with him that night too. Wow!)