Ralph Stanley - I Can Tell You The Time

(Rebel REB 1637) 1985

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This Gospel album was recorded on the 6th Feb 1985 at Maggard Sound Studio in Big Stone Gap, Va. Sadly, it hasn't been reissued on CD.

I Can Tell You The Time was one of the first songs The Stanley Brothers recorded for Rich-R-Tone in 1947. Ralph: "we got them two tunes 'I Can Tell You The Time' and 'Death Is Only A Dream', we got 'em from old songbooks that we found somewhere."^[1]

Three of the songs which are credited to Ralph on the album: Sometimes I Sing, Thy Will Be Done and Jerusalem, My Happy Home are performed a cappella, with the latter song being 'lined out' by Ralph. At 5:12 it is one of his longest tunes. Also, although credited to Ralph, Sometimes I Sing was actually written by Buddy Carty and picked up by Ralph when he heard Elder Frank Newsome sing it in church. Buddy's version can be heard on youtube.

Ralph's other composition on the album Over There is pretty decent and there are several other catchy songs on the album like Two Men A Praying and Man In The Middle. The latter was later recorded by Delia Bell and Bill Grant, The Hotmud Family and Tony Trischka and Skyline.

The two old chestnuts Oh Daniel Prayed and He Will Set Your Fields On Fire, were also in The Stanley Brothers repertoire, although He Will Set Your Fields On Fire was never recorded by them in the studio.^[2]

Arvil Gearheart who provided I Want A Clear Record had earlier co-arranged Going Up Home (To Live In Green Pastures) which Ralph also cut on Over The Sunset Hill and I Want To Preach The Gospel.

Thanks to West Taylor for the info on Sometimes I Sing.

• Ralph Stanley: banjo, vocals
• Junior Blankenship: lead guitar
• Curly Ray Cline: fiddle
• Jack Cooke: bass
• Charlie Sizemore: guitar, vocals

NB: Liner notes don't specify instruments/vocal parts for individual tracks.

Other artwork / related images:

[1] Liner notes to The Stanley Brothers - Earliest Recordings: The Complete Rich-R-Tone 78s (Rounder 11661-1110-2) 2004. (p.7)
[2] There are live versions by The Stanley Brothers on: The Legendary Stanley Brothers Live Vol. 1 (Rebel SLP 1487) 1970 (aka On Stage (Seven Seas SR 287-288) 1969); On Radio (Rebel REB CD 1115) 1991; Live At The New River Ranch CD (No label) and Stanley Series, Vol. 3 No. 3 (Copper Creek CCCD-5511) 1990.