Clinch Mountain Echo

CMB Birthdays this month:

04 Feb 1972 - Steve Sparkman. Harlan, Kentucky.

04 Feb 1906 - Art Wooten. Born 'Arthur James Wooten' in Alleghany, North Carolina.

11 Feb 1960 - Junior Blankenship. Born at the old Grundy Hospital, Grundy, Va.

25 Feb 1927 - Ralph Stanley. Born 'Ralph Edmund Stanley' in Big Spraddle Creek, near Stratton, McClure, Virginia.

29 Feb 1932 - Jim Williams. Born 'James Lee Williams' in Wythe County, Virginia.


In Memoriam:

05 Feb 1980 - Chubby Anthony. Gainesville, Alachua, Florida.

08 Feb 2003 - Ralph 'Joe' Meadows. Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland.

08 Feb 1987 - Harold 'Red' Stanley. Fentress, Tennessee.


For the Official Ralph Stanley II and the Clinch Mountain Boys site, visit:

Ralph II ralph2.com

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In Person Vol. 3
(King EP-469)


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Clinch Mountain Echo

Ralph Stanley - A Distant Land To Roam

Songs Of The Carter Family

(Columbia/DMZ 82796 93629 2) 2006


A Distant Land To Roam

Average Album Rating: 2.33
(Total votes 3)

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Please rate this album:

A tribute to the original Carter Family, who arranged and recorded a treasure-trove of songs between 1927-1941 and who played in a style which would form the foundation of bluegrass, country and much of popular music since.

The Carter Family were an early influence on The Stanley Brothers, who as children listened to their radio broadcasts from the powerful XERA station on the Mexican border. Later when the Stanley's started work at Bristol's WCYB station, they became friends with A.P. Carter and perfomed at his music park/country store. He introduced them saying: "This here is the Stanley boys, Carter and Ralph... Far as I know, they're all right. They ain't done nothing wrong yet. I never heard nothing different. Not yet anyhow."[1]

A good number of songs popularised by The Carter Family were later perfomed by The Stanley Brothers or Ralph, eg. Are You Tired Of Me, Darling, East Virginia Blues, Gold Watch And Chain, I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome, I Never Will Marry, Jimmie Brown The Newsboy, Just Another Broken Heart, Let The Church Roll On, Let Us Be Lovers Again, Little Darling Pal Of Mine, Meet Me By The Moonlight, Single Girl, Maried Girl, The Wandering Boy, Weeping Willow, Where We'll Never Grow Old, Wildwood Flower, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Will You Miss Me and (via Bill Monroe) Working On A Building.

On this CD, the band is augmented by Mike Seeger on autoharp, and Dennis Crouch handles bass... presumably to allow Jack Cooke to concentrate on backing vocals.

Most of the songs are drawn from the early Carter Family period 1927-34, with a couple (Keep On The Firing Line and Waves On The Sea) from their last session in 1941. Longing For Home is quite an unusual choice, as I don't think The Carter Family recorded it apart from the 1952 Acme session featuring Sara and A.P. Carter (but not Maybelle).

Ralph sings lead on all the tracks, performing Motherless Children solo except for some droning atmospheric fiddle from Todd Meade. On the whole the album is quite pleasant, but it's not one of Ralph's finest either...

There is a short (blurry) youtube video from Brian Willse showing how he created the CD cover.

  • Ralph Stanley: vocals
  • Jack Cooke: vocals
  • Dennis Crouch: bass
  • Todd Meade: fiddle
  • John Rigsby: mandolin, vocals
  • Mike Seeger: autoharp
  • James Alan Shelton: lead guitar
  • Steve Sparkman: banjo
  • Ralph II Stanley: guitar

 

Track:
Title:
Time:
Date:
Original Release:
A-1
God Gave Noah The Rainbow Sign
03:08
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl Autoharp Ld Gtr Gtr Bs      
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Mike Seeger
James Alan Shelton
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
 
A-2
Little Moses
03:54
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl Autoharp Ld Gtr Gtr Bs      
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Mike Seeger
James Alan Shelton
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
 
A-3
Worried Man Blues
04:02
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl - Mnd Fid Autoharp Ld Gtr Bjo Gtr Bs  
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Todd Meade
Mike Seeger
James Alan Shelton
Steve Sparkman
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
A-4
Longing For Home
03:27
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl - Mnd Autoharp Ld Gtr Gtr Bs      
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Mike Seeger
James Alan Shelton
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
 
A-5
Motherless Children
03:29
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Fid                
  Ralph Stanley
Todd Meade
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A-6
Storms Are On The Ocean
03:42
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl - Mnd Autoharp Ld Gtr Gtr Bs      
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Mike Seeger
James Alan Shelton
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
 
A-7
Keep On The Firing Line
03:09
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

Sara Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl - Mnd Fid Ld Gtr Bjo Gtr Bs    
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Todd Meade
James Alan Shelton
Steve Sparkman
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
A-8
Engine 143
04:06
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Autoharp Ld Gtr Gtr Bs          
  Ralph Stanley
Mike Seeger
James Alan Shelton
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
 
 
 
A-9
I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes
03:54
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl - Mnd Fid Ld Gtr Bjo Gtr Bs    
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Todd Meade
James Alan Shelton
Steve Sparkman
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
A-10
Poor Orphan Child
04:31
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl - Mnd Autoharp Ld Gtr Gtr Bs      
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Mike Seeger
James Alan Shelton
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
 
A-11
On A Hill Lone And Grey
03:04
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl Autoharp Ld Gtr Gtr Bs      
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Mike Seeger
James Alan Shelton
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
 
A-12
Waves On The Sea
02:53
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl - Mnd Autoharp Ld Gtr Gtr Bs      
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Mike Seeger
James Alan Shelton
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
 
A-13
Distant Land To Roam
03:16
c2005
A Distant Land To Roam

A.P. Carter
  Ld Vcl Hrmny Vcl Hrmny Vcl - Mnd Autoharp Ld Gtr Gtr Bs      
  Ralph Stanley
Jack Cooke
John Rigsby
Mike Seeger
James Alan Shelton
Ralph II Stanley
Dennis Crouch
 
 
 

NB: Liner notes don't specify instruments/vocal parts for individual tracks, so the above is guesswork.

Other artwork / related images:
Rear Cover Booklet Picture CD Tray Signed Copy

[1] Ralph Stanley and Eddie Dean's 'Man Of Constant Sorrow' book (p.123)

For the Official Ralph Stanley II and the Clinch Mountain Boys site, visit:

Ralph II ralph2.com

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