Bucking prevailing trends, Stanley reacted to his brother Carter’s 1966 death by taking a giant step backwards. Recorded as “progressive” bluegrass was just starting to take off, the eight albums cherry-picked for this early 70s sampler returned instead to the sound of the Stanleys’ roots: old-time mountain music, rendered with exceptional passion and conviction. Dr. Ralph’s mournful, melismatic, ancient-sounding voice sets the tone, even when it sings tenor to Roy Lee Centers’s Carter-like lead. (Listen carefully to hear a teenaged Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley backing some of these tracks, as well as a lovely turn from Country Gentleman John Duffey on “Lonesome River.”) This period marked the first appearance of Stanley’s goosebump-producing a capella gospel hymns (common in the Primitive Baptist Church of his childhood), as well as other characteristically Appalachian elements: ancient murder ballads, high, lonesome harmonies, and spirited instrumentals, some featuring the traditional frailed or “clawhammer” banjo as well as Ralph’s virtuoso take on the Scruggs three-finger style.
Disc 1
Disc 2
Disc 3
Disc 4
- The Stanley Brothers
- Larry Sparks
- Ralph Stanley & Ralph Stanley II
- Flatt & Scruggs
- Bill Monroe
- Country Gentlemen
- Dave Evans