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Ralph Stanley - Live In Seattle - 1969

(Stanley Family Records 75531-01487) 2018

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This 2xCD set features a live performance by Ralph from 27th May 1969 at the University Of Washington in Seattle. The gig was the penultimate show in a 4-5 week tour of the West Coast that was organised by Steve Waller (Sawtooth Mountain Boys)^[1] and which included dates in Hollywood, Santa Barbara, California and La Grande, Oregon.^[2]

Sound quality is pretty good and it's great to have a complete show with two sets and a total running time of 1 hr 34 mins, even though Ralph's vocal occassionally sounds a bit fatigued, and a couple of numbers during the 'request' section are a bit sloppy. Having said that, at the time of the recording Larry Sparks and Curly Ray Cline had been with Ralph for a couple of years, and the band were generally on top form. Larry Sparks lays down some excellent lead guitar work, and Curly Ray and Ralph were a hard combination to beat at this time.

Melvin Goins the regular bassist was absent from this gig, with local musician Barney Munger filling in. According to a stage announcement by Ralph, Melvin was sick and had to stay behind in Kentucky. Melvin later gave the date he left Ralph as 18th May 1969,^[3] about a week before the Seattle show.

This recording was also made about 6 weeks before the Carlton Haney' Berryville festival performance that was partially released on the Live at Watermelon Park CD. It's not surprising then that there is a degree of overlap in the song selection / dialogue. The Watermelon park set probably has the edge sound-wise, but is now quite hard to find. This Seattle show does have the advantage, however, of being recorded in stereo and with all the dialogue seemingly intact.

At the time of the gig I Only Exist and My Long Skinny Lanky Sarah Jane had yet to be recorded by Ralph, and were later cut for the Hills Of Home LP a few weeks later in 14-15th July 1969. Four songs are also feature on Ralph's first two solo King LP's with Lost Train, Hemlock And Primroses being from Brand New Country Songs and Going Up Home To Live In Green Pastures and What Kind Of Man from Over The Sunset Hill. The remaining song selection is drawn largely from the Stanley Brothers' catalogue and Curly Ray's ...And His Lonesome Pine Fiddle debut LP.

A large proportion of the second set consists of requests, and it's noteworthy that Ralph turns down a request for Footprints In The Snow saying "We don't know the Footprints In The Snow", when the lyrics for it are included in his recently produced 'Song & Picture Folio No. 1' which he advertises heavily at the end of the first set! (This is presumably down to the abscence of Melvin Goins, who sometimes sang a Bill Monroe number in shows around that time.)

The 'Songbook Sales Pitch' is also interesting as Ralph goes through the pictures at the front of the booklet, giving a few details on each of them, and cracks a joke about a fictional picture of Curly Ray (which must have been refering to either fan club president/vice president Fay McGinnis / Norma Fannin, as aside from a group pic. Curly Ray doesn't otherwise figure in the photos).

Overall this another welcome archive release on Ralph II's 'Stanley Family Records'. Let's hope there's more to come!!

The 2xCD set comes housed in a three-fold card sleeve, with liner notes by Gary Reid, and can be obtained from CDBaby.com.
(If buying from the UK however, be aware that CDBaby will declare the full customs value and with Royal Mail's handling fee, you can expect to pay a surcharge of £12.25 or so for Customs/Handling.)

One cut from the album, Clinch Mountain Breakdown can also be found on youtube.

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Further Notes:

Another recording of Ralph from Montreal 26th April 1969, was presumably made at the start of the tour. This duplicates about 12 tracks but features Melvin Goins and a guest spot by the Canadian bluegrass duo 'Bob & Rose'. A highlight of this set is a version of The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers' You're No Good with Melvin Goins on lead vocal, though he notes in the introduction "We don't mean anything by the title of this song".

A first hand report of the Seattle and La Grande shows appeared in the Dec. 1969 Ralph Stanley Fan Club newsletter by Steve Waller. I've reproduced part of this this below, but worth noting that after the La Grande show on the 28th, the band had to hit the road to travel to their next date two days later in Chicago - approx. a 1,900 mile drive!

• Ralph Stanley: banjo, vocal
• Curly Ray Cline: fiddle
• Barney Munger: bass
• Larry Sparks: guitar, vocal

^{[1] Ralph Stanley comments dedicating Daybreak In Dixie to Steve Waller on the 5th July Afternoon show at Watermelon Park, Berryville Va. Ralph:- "I'd like to do it for a real good friend of ours,, that we've been knowing know for a few years. Steve Waller, lives out on the West Coast. The last 4 or 5 weeks and he led us all over the state of Oregon and Washington and I don't where we're all (be) if it hadn't a been for Steve, I guess we'd a been lost yet." http://frobbi.org/audio/landreth/Berryville1969/BV69104Stanley03.html
[2] Album liner notes by Gary Reid.
[3] Melvin left 18th May 1969 - liner notes to The Goins Brothers - Bluegrass Hits Old & New (REM LP-1041) 1969}