Don Rigsby - Doctor's Orders

(A Tribute to Ralph Stanley)

(Rebel REB-CD-1841) 2014

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'Doctor's Orders' is a fine tribute, that does a good job of paying homage to the early '70s Clinch Mountan Boy sound, and largely concentrates on some of the lesser known, but quintessential Stanley material.

Don Rigsby has been a life-long fan of Ralph and The Stanley Brothers, and decided to record this tribute in 2013, whilst Ralph was still around to see how much the Stanley's music had meant to him.

As a birthday present, Don first got to see Ralph play live when he was aged 6. Before the show began, his father arranged via Keith Whitley for Don to meet his idol & during the show at the Paramount Arts Centre in Ashland Ky, Ralph dedicated Little Maggie to the birthday boy. The concert proved to be a life changing event - Don:-"That night was one of the moments in my life that was transcendent. It lit a fire inside me that has been burning ever since... it was one of those magical moments that will live forever in my soul."

Growing up in Isonville, Ky. Don also learnt his craft from the likes of The Sloas Brothers, before working his way through Morehead University by playing with Charlie Sizemore. He later played with The Bluegrass Cardinals, J.D. Crowe, and Lonesome River Band.^[1] In 1998 his first solo album, A Vision, included a few Stanley Brothers songs and a couple of tracks also featured Ralph on vocals.

For 'The Doctors Orders' Don wanted Ralph to be the first and last thing listeners would hear, so Ralph opens the CD with the cry "The Doctors in..." and closes it playing clawhammer banjo on Traveling The Highway Home.^[2] The album also features CMB alumni Larry Sparks, Charlie Sizemore, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Sparkman and James Alan Shelton. Barry Bales and Ron Stewart do a good job of 'channeling' Jack Cooke & Curly Ray... and the production is top notch too.

To help promote the album, Don appeared on the 'Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour' (Show #726) backed by Nathan Stanley, Junior Blankenship, Dewey Brown, Mitchell Van Dyke and Randall Hibbits. The show is available to download in both audio and MP4 video formats - just search for '726' in their archives.

The CD comes with a nice 12-page booklet with detailed liner notes by Don.

Other artwork / related images:

[1] http://www.flatpik.com/instructors/don-rigsby
[2] Mentioned in a radio interview about the album with Dennis Jones on WMCW's 'Going Across The Mountain' show. I seem to remember Don saying that the banjo playing on Traveling The Highway Home was split between Steve Sparkman and Ralph and spliced together, but only Ralph is credited on the CD.