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

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Live At The Old Homeplace
(Rebel REB 1627)


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Clinch Mountain Echo

Ralph Stanley II - Lord Help Me Find The Way

(Stanley Family SFR-004) 2019


Lord Help Me Find The Way

Average Album Rating: 4
(Total votes 1)

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Please rate this album:

Ralph II's second CD as leader of the 'next generation' Clinch Mountain Boys, is a decent Gospel album, with about a third of the tracks dealing with the relationship between fathers & sons. One such number, Between Fathers And Sons has a catchy melody & the kind of quirky smart lyrics that Charlie Sizemore often favours.

Like Ralph II's previous album, the first track is an uptempo number which links back to Dr. Ralph's back catalogue. Jesus On The Mainline, which was featured on Dr. Ralph's My All And All CD, is an old spiritual which Ralph II had previously sang lead on in 1997. The song was first collected in field recordings in 1937,[1] but presumably originates from around the time the telephone network spread across the 'States.

The title track, Lord Help Me Find A Way was also cut by Ralph II on his excellent This One Is II in 2008. Performed with sparse guitar a minimal fiddle/mandolin, the song takes on new poignancy, with Ralph II's prayer:-

"Music is what I am
It ain't easy, it ain't hard
But I'm feeling pretty lonesome
Way down in my heart
I know that times were changing
From that old wind that blows
There's a date in the distance
On a stage for a show
Trying to fill his shoes,
is the hardest thing I know.
It's not living for the legend,
it's the Dad that I love so.

So Lord help me find the way,
To bless me with the words that I want to say.
Lord help me find the way,
To be the man he wanted me to be, each and every day.
I knew there'd come a time when we'd have to say goodbye
But he left me a roadmap, that keeps me riding high

So Lord help me find the way,
To bless me with the words that I want to say.
Lord help me find the way,
To be the man he wanted me to be, each and every day.
To be the man he wanted me to be, each and every day."

Other album highlights include: John Caught A Vision which has some fine Stanley-style banjo work by Alec Leach; Beautiful Hills Of Home a tribute song to Carter & Ralph; and Old Family Graveyard which was written by Rick Stanley & Donna Ulisse. Rick's father was a cousin of Carter & Ralph's & his original version of the song can be heard on You Can't Smoke The Bluegrass CD from 2000, which features Dr. Ralph singing harmony on the chorus.

  • Ralph II Stanley: guitar, vocals
  • Randall Hibbitts: bass
  • Alex Leach: banjo
  • John Rigsby: fiddle, mandolin

 

Track:
Title:
Time:
Date:
Original Release:
A-1
Jesus On The Mainline
02:28
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

P.D.
  Ld Vcl / Ld Gtr Tn Vcl / Bjo Bt Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
A-2
Between Fathers And Sons
03:13
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

John Barlow Jarvis / Gary Tolbert Nicolson
  Ld Vcl / Gtr Bt Vcl / Bjo Tn Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
A-3
Meet Me In Heaven Someday
02:31
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

Carl Jackson / Ronnie Bowman
  Ld Vcl / Gtr HiBt Vcl / Bjo Tn Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
A-4
Glory Land
03:43
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

Russell Pruitt
  Ld Vcl / Gtr HiBt Vcl / Bjo Tn Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
A-5
Lord Help Me Find The Way
03:17
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

Ralph Stanley II / Marty Raybon
  Vcl Gtr Mnd & Fid        
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
 
 
   
A-6
John Caught A Vision
03:18
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

Carmen Logan
  Ld Vcl / Gtr Tn Vcl / Bjo Bt Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
A-7
New Day In Heaven
03:53
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

Donna Ulisse / Marc A Rossi
  Ld Vcl / Gtr Tn Vcl / Ld Gtr Bt Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
A-8
Beautiful Hills Of Home
03:20
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

William Michael Wise / Reba Joan Wise
  Ld Vcl / Ld Gtr HiBt Vcl / Bjo Tn Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
A-9
Old Family Graveyard
02:50
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

Richard L. Stanley / Donna Ulisse
  Ld Vcl / Gtr HiBt Vcl / Bjo Tn Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
A-10
I Hope My Lord Will Let Me In
02:32
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

Randall Hylton
  Ld Vcl / Ld Gtr HiBt Vcl / Bjo Tn Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
A-11
From Father To Son
02:37
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

Bill Vorndick / Glen Carlton Duncan / Adam Engelhardt
  Ld Vcl / Ld Gtr Tn Vcl / Bjo Bt Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
A-12
I Feel Like Going Home
02:37
c2018
Lord Help Me Find The Way

C. Stanley / R. Stanley
  Ld Vcl / Ld Gtr Bt Vcl / Bjo Tn Vcl / Mnd & Fid Bs      
  Ralph II Stanley
Alex Leach
John Rigsby
Randall Hibbitts
 
   
Other artwork / related images:
Rear Cover

[1] https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=50343

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

Ralph II ralph2.com

Spotlight on:-

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(Starday 413)


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