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

Spotlight on:-

Call Of The Honky Tonk
(Rutabaga RR-3014)


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Clinch Mountain Echo

The Banjo Of Ralph Stanley: From Old-Time To Bluegrass

(Homespun ) 1992. Reissued on DVD (Homespun HL00641906) 2005.


The Banjo Of Ralph Stanley: From Old-Time To Bluegrass (DVD)

Average Album Rating: 4.5
(Total votes 2)

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Please rate this album:

This is a fine video from Homespun, and will probably appeal to the majority of Stanley fans, irrespective of whether they play the banjo or not. Ostensibly a banjo instruction recording, it also includes several live performances with the CMB's, and a handful of duets with Ralph and Curly Ray Cline, plus one with Ralph picking Wildwood Flower with 13-14 year old Ralph II.

Interspersed between the music, Mike Seeger interviews Ralph, coaxing him into demonstrating how his Mother used to play the banjo, singing a verse from Brown Girl and discussing four methods of picking in the clawhammer style, plus the two-finger method Ralph learnt from listening to Wade Mainer. Ralph also discusses his musical influences, and how some of the tunes were written, giving slowed down renditions of some of the numbers.

As with other Homespun DVD's there are good split screen demonstrations of Ralph's picking technique, and the picture / sound quality on the DVD is excellent.

The latter half of the set (which lasts nearly an hour and a half) has the CMB's performing half a dozen numbers uninterrupted, including two a cappella gospel songs, which must be a first for a banjo tape; and a clawhammer medley of I've Got A Mule To Ride / Rocky Island / Little Birdie / Shout Little Luly.

The DVD came originally with a 32 page booklet of tab's transcribed by Bill Keith, although on later copies (and the instant access download) I think this is included as a 'pdf' file. Obviously, the tab's reflect what Ralph plays on the video, rather than his recorded versions of the songs, so some, like Little Maggie or How Mountain Girls Can Love differ quite a bit.

The only down-side to the tab booklet, is that the numbers indicating what fret should be fingered, are quite small and difficult to read.

For the most part, Ralph plays one of the original 'Chrome' Stanleytone banjo's, and a borrowed '30 bracket' open-back, however Worried Man Blues features Ralph on a Gold Star flat-head...

You can find a 2 min sampler of the video of the DVD on youtube as well a 6 min extract of Little Maggie.

  • Ralph Stanley: banjo, vocals
  • Jr Blankenship: lead guitar
  • Curly Ray Cline: fiddle
  • Jack Cooke: bass
  • Ralph II Stanley: guitar
  • Ernie Thacker: guitar, vocals

 

Track:
Title:
Date:
DVD
(1:26:33)
A-1
I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (with the CMB's)
c1992

R.D. Burnett
A-2
Interview
c1992

N/A
A-3
Shout Little Luly (Demo)
c1992

P.D.
A-4
Interview
c1992

N/A
A-5
Little Birdie (4x Clawhammer Demo)
c1992

P.D.
A-6
Interview
c1992

N/A
A-7
Brown Girl (excerpt)
c1992

P.D.
A-8
Interview
c1992

N/A
A-9
Cuttin' The Cornbread
c1992

R. Stanley
A-10
Cripple Creek
c1992

P.D.
A-11
Interview
c1992

N/A
A-12
Little Maggie (Demo)
c1992

P.D.
A-13
Little Maggie (with the CMB's)
c1992

P.D.
A-14
Interview
c1992

N/A
A-15
Dickenson County Breakdown (demo)
c1992

R. Stanley
A-16
Dickenson County Breakdown (with the CMB's)
c1992

R. Stanley
A-17
Interview
c1992

N/A
A-18
Hard Times (demo)
c1992

R. Stanley
A-19
Hard Times (with the CMB's)
c1992

R. Stanley
A-20
Interview
c1992

N/A
A-21
Clinch Mountain Backstep (demo)
c1992

Ruby Rakes
A-22
Clinch Mountain Backstep (with the CMB's)
c1992

Ruby Rakes
A-23
Interview
c1992

N/A
A-24
Train 45 (demo)
c1992

G.B. Grayson
A-25
How Mountain Girls Can Love (demo)
c1992

Ruby Rakes
A-26
How Mountain Girls Can Love (with the CMB's)
c1992

Ruby Rakes
A-27
Interview
c1992

N/A
A-28
Wildwood Flower (with Ralph II)
c1992

P.D.
A-29
Pretty Little Indian (with Curly Ray Cline)
c1992

P.D.
A-30
Row Hoe (with Curly Ray Cline)
c1992

Curly Ray Cline / R. Stanley
A-31
Sourwood Mountain (with Curly Ray Cline)
c1992

P.D.
A-32
John Henry (with Curly Ray Cline)
c1992

P.D.
A-33
Children, Go Where I Send Thee (with the CMB's)
c1992

P.D. arr C. Love
A-34
I'm Willing To Try (with the CMB's)
c1992

Bob Fleming
A-35
Room At The Top Of The Stairs (with the CMB's)
c1992

Randall Hylton
A-36
Worried Man Blues (with the CMB's)
c1992

A.P. Carter
A-37
Medley (with the CMB's)
c1992

Donnie Joe Mullins - P.D. - P.D. - P.D.
A-38
I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (with the CMB's)
c1992

R.D. Burnett
Other artwork / related images:
DVD Jacket VHS Front VHS Rear Sample Tab
Ralph with the Gold Star flat-top Jr. Blankenship, Ralph and Ernie Thacker
Curly Ray Cline and Ralph II Ralph Stanley
Mike Seeger and Ralph Stanley Clawhammer split screen example
Three-Finger split screen example Ralph and The Clinch Mountain Boys
Ralph and Ernie Thacker Ralph II and Ralph Stanley
Curly Ray Cline and Ralph Ralph, Ernie Thacker and Jack Cooke
Ernie Thacker and Jack Cooke Jr. Blankenship

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

Ralph II ralph2.com

Spotlight on:-

So Blue / You'd Better Get Right
(Mercury 70612)


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A Life Of Constant Sorrow
alifeofsorrow.com

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Ralph Stanley Museum
ralphstanleymuseum.com

CME Recommends...

Hills Of Home Festival
drralphstanleyfestival.com

CME Recommends...

Rebel Records
rebelrecords.com

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Bluegrass Unlimited
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