Ralph Stanley - Cry From The Cross

(Rebel SLP 1499) 1971

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Recorded 22-23rd February 1971 at Roy Homer's basement studio in Clinton, Maryland. This first session by Ralph for Rebel spawned two great albums and won critical acclaim from both 'Muleskinner News' and 'Bluegrass Unlimited'.

Some of the critical acclaim, I'd guess, was possibly due to Roy Lee Centers superb vocals, which are much closer to Carter than the earlier King albums with Larry Sparks.

Ralph had wanted to record a Gospel album, with some a cappella vocals, for some time, ^[1] so it seems serendipitous that Dick Freeland was there at a time when King/Starday was floundering/defunct, and with the Clinch Mountain Boys having arguably their finest line-up.

The material is largely new, with Cry From The Cross having been previously recorded by The Stanley Brothers for Mercury and Death Is Only A Dream being their first cut for Rich-R-Tone in 1947. (Will He Wait A Little Longer was also cut for Mercury but remained unissued until 1971.)

Two of the cuts are written by J.D. Jarvis:- Take Your Shoes Off Moses and Come On Little Children. J.D. recorded several LPs for Jewel, Rural Rhythm, Down Home and other labels; and was introduced to Ralph by Jimmy Skinner. J.D. in turn introduced Ralph to The Wilson Brothers, and Ralph would stay with J.D. sometimes when they were on the road. ^[2] In 1969 Ralph and the CMB's also helped J.D. record his More Bluegrass Gospel Songs LP, albeit anonymously, which also included a version of Come On Little Children.

'Cry From The Cross' is also somewhat of a 'landmark' for its cover:-

Ralph:- "We used to pass by this roadside cross on Lee Highway in Northern Virginia, not far from the Big K radio station where Tomcat Reeder was the disc jockey for so many years. We used to play a club up the highway, Partners II, close by Centreville, so we'd see see that cross a lot. It was one of those sights you always look for when you're traveling like a signpost... The cross stood high in a cemetary on top of a hill, and it was rigged up with electricity so at night it was lit up like a Christmas tree." ^[3]

Ricky Skaggs:- "We were all lined up in our stage suits on a hill under a huge cross, and it was a cold and windy day. Curly was about to have a fit like he was gonna freeze to death, saying he felt like Hitler having to stand there ramrod straight and serious." ^[4]

The album was also issued in Japan with a different cover (Seven Seas SR-669) 1971 and a foldout LP sized insert / lyric sheet. Later Japanese copies featured the standard Rebel cover with OBI strip.

'Cry From The Cross' has been reissued as part of the Rebel 4xCD 1971-1973 box set ^[5] and again on CD with excellent liner notes from Gary Reid (Rebel REB-CD-1499) 2001. Originals seem to cost an 'arm & a leg'...

A rehearsal recording of two tracks from Feb. 1971 (Death Is Only A Dream and Step Out In The Sunshine), and presumably from this session can be heard on the 2xCD set Classic Stanley.

Thanks to Chris Wing for the scans of the CD artwork.

• Ralph Stanley: banjo, vocals
• Roy Lee Centers: guitar, vocals
• Curly Ray Cline: fiddle
• Jack Cooke: bass, hand claps (*)
• Ed Ferris: bass (*)
• Ricky Skaggs: mandolin, fiddle
• Cliff Waldron: hand claps (*)
• Keith Whitley: lead guitar

(*) Cliff Waldron and Jack Cooke 'hand claps' on Take Your Shoes Off, Moses, with Ed Ferris on bass.

NB: Also Jack Cooke - handclaps on A-6 & B-1; Cliff Waldron - handclaps on B-1.

Other artwork / related images: