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:-

40
(Rebel REB-CD-1806)


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The Goins Brothers - Sweet Sunny South

(Old Homestead OHS-90165) 1985


The Goins Brothers - Sweet Sunny South

Average Album Rating: 4
(Total votes 1)

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I don't know the recording date for the Goins Brothers second (& final) album for Old Homestead, but the line-up is largely the same as their 1981 At Their Best LP. Apart from the absence of Tommy Boyd, the only change is the appearance of Roy Lee Centers' son Lenny on the final track, a version of Carter Stanley's I'll Take The Blame where he contributes lead guitar & vocal.

Overall the album is quite uptempo and a enjoyable listen, although much of it is comprised of bluegrass standards, eg:- Johnny Bond's I Wonder Where You Are Tonight, which was cut by the Louvin Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Jim & Jesse, Bill Monroe, Red Allen etc.; a fast-paced rendition of Long Journey Home which is similar to Ralph's 1967 version (although Melvin wasn't on that Jalyn session despite being in the CMB's a the time); Gotta Travel On, an old folksong arranged by Paul Clayton & popularised in bluegrass circles by Bill Monroe; Don't Let Your Deal Go Down plus Cora Is Gone, which were first recorded by Flatt & Scruggs; Bill Clifton's White Washed Chimney; Down In The Willow Garden; Don Reno's Barefoot Nellie; and finally the Stanley Brothers' I'll Take The Blame.

Perhaps of more interest, Bluegrass Blues is a catchy number co-written by WLSI DJ Mike Paxton with Edward T. Branham (aka Kentucky Slim), who'd played on the debut Bluegrass Hits Old And New LP. (Melvin also gets co-writer credit for the song on that LP). Bluegrass Blues had been recorded for an unreleased Jessup LP, which finally was released on the Bluegrass Blues cassette in 1984.

Another original, Song Of The Mountain by Floyd Stewart, has some fine fiddle work by Art Stamper and is a nostalgic lament about missing the mountain home & the old folk...

As with other Goins Brothers releases, there's a nod to their time with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, with Twenty-One Years originally from the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers first RCA Victor session in 1952. (Ralph Stanley also cut the song on his The Bluegrass Sound Of... LP in 1968, whilst Melvin was a member of the CMB's, although as with Long Journey Home he wasn't present on that particular recording).

The title cut, Sweet Sunny South is an old lament that seems to have origins in the Minstrel shows of the 1800's, including a version published as Take Me Home in 1853.[1] Lead vocals on this song are by Dan Jones, who had previously sung it with the Bluegrass Alliance on their 1969 debut 'Bluegrass Alliance' LP (American Heritage AH-LP-21). Dan also sings lead on I Wonder Where You Are Tonight, Cora Is Gone, White Washed Chimney and Song Of The Mountain.

Finally Your Old Standby by Jim Eanes had also been previously cut by the Goins Brothers on Bluegrass Hits Old And New.

The album received a lukewarm review 'Bluegrass Unlimited': "...the album's overall sound quality is only minimally acceptable. The final mix is overloaded with excessive reverb and unexplained variations in the volume level. Also, side 2 of the review copy was pressed slightly off center which significantly distorts the last three or four songs.". My copy and an MP3 Rip of the album, which I found on the internet both sound pretty good to me...

Lenny Centers, who does a credible job on lead vocal on I'll Take The Blame, can also be seen performing with the Goins Brothers in a 1978 'Shriners Bluegrass Festival' performance, when he was 16: https://appalshoparchive.org/Detail/objects/14525.

Dan Jones later won the 1987 Kentucky State Fair pipe smoking contest, with a contest-record of 1 hour 40 minutes and 22 seconds. The event was sponsored by 'Brown & Wiliamson Tobacco Corp.'[2] In 2017, he died aged 77, after 'battling the effects of multiple major cancers'.[3]

  • Melvin Goins: guitar
  • Ray Goins: banjo
  • Dan Jones: mandolin
  • Dave Skeens: bass
  • Art Stamper: fiddle
  • Lenni Centers: guitar (a)

NB: (a) Lenny appear on one track: I'll Take The Blame.

 

Track:
Title:
Time:
Date:
Original Release:
A-1
Bluegrass Blues
02:51
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

Edward T. Branham / Mike Paxton / Melvin Goins
  Ld Vcl / Gtr Tn Vcl / Bjo Bt Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
A-2
Your Old Standby
03:58
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

Jim Eanes
  Ld Vcl / Gtr Tn Vcl / Bjo Bt Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
A-3
Long Journey Home
02:56
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

P.D.
  Ld Vcl / Gtr Tn Vcl / Bjo Bt Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
A-4
I Wonder Where You Are Tonight
02:35
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

Johnny Bond
  Gtr Bjo Ld Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
A-5
Twenty-One Years
02:49
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

Bob Miller
  Ld Vcl / Gtr Tn Vcl / Bjo Bt Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
A-6
Gotta Travel One
02:45
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

Paul Clayton
  Ld Vcl / Gtr Tn Vcl / Bjo Bt Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
A-7
Cora Is Gone
03:02
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

Mac Odell
  Gtr Bjo Ld Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
B-1
Sweet Sunny South
03:45
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

W.L. Bloomfield (?) or Raymond (?)
  Gtr Bjo Ld Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
B-2
White Washed Chimney
02:34
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

Bill Clifton
  Hr Vcl / Gtr Hr Vcl / Bjo Ld Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
B-3
Song Of The Mountain
03:07
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

Floyd Stewart
  Hr Vcl / Gtr Hr Vcl / Bjo Ld Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
B-4
Down In The Willow Garden
03:14
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

P.D.
  Ld Vcl / Gtr Bjo Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
B-5
Don't Let The Deal Go Down
02:14
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

Gladys Stacey Flatt / Jerry Organ / Louise Certain / Wayne P. Walker
  Ld Vcl / Gtr Tn Vcl / Bjo Bt Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
B-6
Barefoot Nellie
02:05
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

Don Reno / Jim Davis
  Hr Vcl / Gtr Ld Vcl / Bjo Hr Vcl / Mnd Bs Fid    
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
   
B-7
I'll Take The Blame
02:35
c1984
Sweet Sunny South

C. Stanley
  Gtr Bjo Mnd Bs Fid Ld Vcl / Ld Gtr  
  Melvin Goins
Ray Goins
Dan Jones
Dave Skeens
Art Stamper
Lenny Centers  
Other artwork / related images:
Rear Cover Side One Side One

[1] Sheet Music for Take Me Home, sung by Christy's Minstrels and composed by W.L. Bloomfield:- https://www.loc.gov/resource/sm1853.710410.0?st=gallery
[2] Bluegrass Unlimited's "General Store", April 1988.
[3] https://bluegrasstoday.com/danny-jones-remembered/

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

Ralph II ralph2.com

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(Rebel SLP 1498)


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