Bill Monroe - And Stars Of The Bluegrass Hall Of Fame

(MCA MCA 5625) 1985

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This album features Ralph singing lead and playing banjo on one track, Can't You Hear Me Callin'. The track was recorded in the evening of 10th June 1985 at Sound Stage Studio in Nashville, Tn. and produced by Emory Gordy Jr.

The material featured on the album, has been reissued on CD as part of the Bill Monroe's 'My Last Days On Earth (Bluegrass 1981-1994)' box set (Bear BCD-16637-DK) 2007, although here the tracks are presented chronologically, rather than as originally released. The box set has a lavish booklet, with session details, and detailed notes by Neil V. Rosenberg and Charles Wolfe. The section detailing Ralph's session is worth repeating verbatum^[1]:-

"That evening Ralph Stanley came in and did two tracks, "Can't You Hear Me Callin'" and "Pike County Breakdown" but had problems with the latter. "Ralph took me to the side during the session," Gordy remembered, "and told me he had not played the song very much and was not comfortable with his performance. I promised him it 'would never see the light of day.' I never mixed or edited it. I should have burned the original multitracks. I respect Ralph that much." After completing "Can't You Hear Me Callin'" with Monroe singing tenor to Ralph's lead, Gordy grew curious about how Stanley alone would sound on the song. "I told Ralph we were havng a technical probelm and asked him to sing all of the song, solo. There was no technical problem. I have that performance on tape... he's amazing." True to his word, Gordy shelved "Pike County Breakdown", and it remains unissued."

The personnel on the track is as follows:-

• Bill Monroe: mandolin. tenor vocal
• Ralph Stanley: lead banjo, lead vocal
• Glen Duncan: fiddle
• Wayne Lewis: guitar
• Clarence 'Tater' Tate: bass
• Blake Williams: backup banjo

Other artwork / related images:

[1] The notes can also be found in Neil V. Rosenberg and Charles K. Wolfe's book 'The Music Of Bill Monroe' (p.230)