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:-

Soldier's Grave / Take Me Home
(King 6053)


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Clinch Mountain Echo

Ernie Thacker & Ralph Stanley - Holdin' On

(River Track Studios RTS 1525) 1990


Holdin' On

Average Album Rating: 4
(Total votes 5)

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This album was recorded on 25th Sept 1990, and originally issued on cassette. Nine of the cuts feature Ernie Thacker on lead vocals, with one fiddle tune - a version of Buckwheat which was had first been recorded for Sing Michigan Bluegrass LP.

Although Ernie Thacker was lead vocalist from 1990-1994, the albums in that period (Pray For The Boys, Back To The Cross, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, and the a cappella Almost Home) are either (a) all Gospel or (b) dominated by guest vocalists. This release is therefore, the best all-round studio example we have of Ernie's tenure as lead vocalist.

All the songs are taken from the Stanley Brothers/Ralph back catalogue, with the exception of Holdin' On... I can't find who wrote this, and I don't think it's been recorded anywhere else... Could it perhaps be one of the missing Wendy Smith tracks? [1]

Ernie's vocals are fabulous, especially for someone who had barely turned 18 when the recording was made. Like Keith Whitley, there's hints that better things are to come.

It's also good to hear Ralph 'Hank' Smith on guitar, who otherwise is only featured on Pray For The Boys.

The album was later remastered and reissued on CD & cassette (Crosscut Records CR-1121) 2000.

If anyone can provide a better copy of the cassette cover, please get in touch via the Contact page - thanks!

  • Ralph Stanley: banjo, vocals
  • Curly Ray Cline: fiddle
  • Jack Cooke: bass
  • Ralph 'Hank' Smith: lead guitar
  • Ernie Thacker: guitar, vocals

 

Track:
Title:
Time:
Date:
Original Release:
A-1
Don't Ask Me Why
02:26
25 Sep 1990
Holdin' On

Roy Lee Centers
A-2
I'll Just Go Away
02:42
25 Sep 1990
Holdin' On

C. Stanley
A-3
Buckwheat
02:02
25 Sep 1990
Holdin' On

Curly Ray Cline / R. Stanley
A-4
Holdin' On
02:40
25 Sep 1990
Holdin' On

??
A-5
Sweetest Love
02:36
25 Sep 1990
Holdin' On

C. Stanley
B-1
This Weary Heart You Stole Away
02:26
25 Sep 1990
Holdin' On

C. Stanley
B-2
Kitten And The Cat
02:08
25 Sep 1990
Holdin' On

C. Stanley / R. Stanley
B-3
Jealousy
01:56
25 Sep 1990
Holdin' On

Candace K. Randolph / R. Stanley
B-4
Gonna Paint The Town
02:04
25 Sep 1990
Holdin' On

R. Stanley
B-5
Home In The Mountains
03:16
25 Sep 1990
Holdin' On

Rick Stanley
Other artwork / related images:
CD Front Cover CD Rear Cover CD Tray

[1] In 'Wendy Smith And Michigan Bluegrass' by Marty Godbey, Blugrass Unlimited (April 1984) he said that Ralph had recorded about nine of his songs, but I can only account for six: River Underground, Daughter Of Geronimo, Sweet Sally Brown, Lonesome, Hills Of Home and Shotgun Slade.

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

Ralph II ralph2.com

Spotlight on:-

Live In Japan
(Seven Seas SR 690)


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