Retirement Be Damned, Ralph Stanley Readies New Album
It was all doom and gloom and teary-eyed salutations when Dr. Ralph Stanley announced in June of 2013 that he would be embarking on his farewell tour in late 2013 into 2014. It was supposed to be the last time we would be able to see The Man of Constant Sorrow grace the bluegrass stage. But Stanley has always been one to have restless bones, and even before the farewell tour began in earnest, he was already saying he wasn’t ready to retire. “I meant it at the time,” Stanley says about the premature proclamation. “But I’ve decided to leave it up to the good Lord.”
Since then Stanley has continued to tour with no signs of slowing down, despite being 87-years-old, and losing his right hand man and guitar player James Alan Shelton last year. Now Dr. Stanley has a new album in the works. Ralph Stanley & Friends: Man of Constant Sorrow is scheduled to be released on January 19th, and will be distributed through Cracker Barrel’s country stores. It will also be available digitally through iTunes, Amazon, etc. It features 13 brand new tracks, all but two of which match up Stanley with some of the greats of bluegrass and beyond, including Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury, Dierks Bentley, Lee Ann Womack, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, and Old Crow Medicine Show.
“I have always enjoyed performing with other musicians ever since my older brother Carter and I first started playing music together when we were kids,” says Dr. Stanley. Carter and Ralph first started out as performers 68 years ago, backed by the Clinch Mountain Boys. “I am excited to share these collaborations with such wonderful artists with our fans. So many of my fans are regular visitors to Cracker Barrel, so I’m happy to have my project available exclusively there so they can find the CD in one of their favorite locations.”
The songs on Ralph Stanley & Friends will be familiar to many Ralph Stanley and bluegrass fans, but the recordings are all brand new. The effort was co-produced by Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, who also appear on a new rendition of the song “I Am The Man, Thomas.”
We Shall Rise with Josh Turner- I Only Exist with Dierks Bentley
- Sweethearts in Heaven with Ricky Skaggs
- Rank Stranger with Nathan Stanley
- I Am the Man, Thomas with Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale
- White Dove with Lee Ann Womack
- Red Wicked Wine with Elvis Costello
- Pig in a Pen with Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
- Two Coats with Robert Plant
- Brand New Tennessee Waltz with Del McCoury
- Short Life of Trouble with Old Crow Medicine Show
- Hills of Home Ralph Stanley solo
- Man of Constant Sorrow Ralph Stanley solo
December 14, 2014 @ 6:30 pm
Ralph Stanley, Old Crow, and Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings on the same album? *girlish squeal of excitement*
My feelings about Skaggs as contrasted with Stanley, however, are best described in this poem which I found in The Oxford American a few years back: http://realdeepblues.blogspot.com/2011/11/denunciation-of-ricky-skaggs-from-on.html
December 15, 2014 @ 10:39 am
I read the poem but didn’t get all the references. What’s the problem with Ricky Skaggs? Best I could get from that poem was that his sound is to polished and that he should stop singing gospel songs.
At any rate it’s always great to hear new music from fellow Virginian Dr. Stanley. I love his stuff.
December 16, 2014 @ 11:07 pm
I think it’s a hipster’s lament of the fact that not every tune Skaggs has recorded over the course of his 40+ year career has been a stone-cold traditional bluegrass number.
I frankly can’t think of anyone more appropriate to play on this album given that his first big-time paying job was with the Clinch Mountain Boys.
December 16, 2014 @ 11:27 pm
Not everything bad is a “hipster lament!”
Honestly, it’s not personally an opposition to Skaggs to me, so much as a look at the different between music that is from the guts, and that isn’t.
Stanley is from the guts.
December 16, 2014 @ 11:55 pm
The reason there is negativity towards Skaggs is because during the 80’s when the mainstream was bereft for stars, they tapped Ricky and he was more than happy to play the role for a few years and sell some records. But when you look at the extremities of his career—the early stuff under the tutelage of Bill Monroe, and his recent stuff—he is a bluegrass icon. Is there better? Is Ralph Stanley better? This is a matter of taste, but I wouldn’t argue against those stances. But Ricky has also contributed greatly to country and bluegrass, if only being one of the best male harmony vocalists to ever step foot in a country studio. You take Skaggs’ vocal contributions off of all those records he’s worked on, and they sound completely different. Skaggs has baggage, but when you zero in on specific accomplishments, he’s contributed to some excellent work.
December 17, 2014 @ 12:29 am
God knows I know Stanley’s work better, but Skaggs just has never done a thing for me. Everything I’ve heard has left me cold. But I freely admit, I need to give him a few more shots.
Okay, everything has left me cold except baby Ricky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhvDvMV4_FY
Honestly, I just like the poem. A good poem about music is such a rare thing. I have tried and failed to write them, and I think that one works.
December 17, 2014 @ 10:30 am
Maybe “Hipster” isn’t the right word; it seems like it’s written by someone who’s pissed off that all of Ricky’s work isn’t hard-core bluegrass. I get that, just as I get people who loved Van Halen before Eddie started putting keyboards on the albums and people who like Luke Bryan’s work prior to Tailgates and Tanlines.
What I don’t get is why someone would feel the need to write a dark, grammatically-challenged piece of prose about it.
December 17, 2014 @ 10:33 am
And to follow up on trigger’s comment, how many people have been introduced to the music of Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and other bluegrass artists as a result of Ricky’s crossover success? I don’t think that can be ignored if one really cares about the preservation of the art.
December 17, 2014 @ 11:24 am
Hey, good for him, if that’s so. And I’m not a purist exactly. Nobody whose favorite band is Old Crow Medicine Show can be 100 percent pure.
But then, maybe somebody’s been introduced to country music through the horrors of bro country. Doesn’t mean I’m down with the latter.
All I’m saying is, Skaggs leaves me cold, and Stanley runs the most delightful chill down my spine. I’m open to any songs by the former that might change my mind, however.
December 14, 2014 @ 8:12 pm
This should be a helluva record . Kudos to Ralph for keepin it all alive and showcasing all of these other greats .
December 15, 2014 @ 8:07 am
If this is as good as the good doctor’s song with Bob Dylan ( THE LONESOME RIVER, found on the Oxford American Southern Music Sampler #5 a few years back), this should be an awesome set of songs~!
December 16, 2014 @ 11:27 pm
That song is great.
December 15, 2014 @ 7:50 pm
Excellent.
I’m glad Dr. Stanley is still in good spirits and wants to keep performing.
Also, it seems like Cracker Barrel’s music department has a better track record in terms of quality than the major country record labels at this point.