- The Stanley Brothers【 11 albums 133 lyrics 】
- The Stanley Brothers were an American bluegrass duo of singer-songwriters and musicians made up of brothers Carter Stanley (1925–1966) and Ralph Stanley (1927–2016). Ralph and Carter performed as The Stanley Brothers with their band, The Clinch Mountain Boys, from 1946 to 1966. Ralph kept the band name when he continued as a solo after Carter's death, from 1967 until his own death in 2016.
Careers
The brothers formed a band, the Lazy Ramblers, and performed as a duo on WJHL radio in Johnson City, Tennessee. World War II interrupted their musical career, but once both brothers returned from the United States Army, they resumed their musical pursuits. They formed their band, the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys, in 1946 as the first band to copy the Monroe sound. Carter played guitar and sang lead, while Ralph played banjo and sang with a strong, high tenor voice. Additional members of this early band were Darrell 'Pee Wee' Lambert on mandolin and Bobby Sumner on fiddle. Sumner was soon to be replaced by Leslie Keith.
On December 26, 1946, the band began performing at radio station WCYB in Bristol, Tennessee as stalwarts of the famed Farm and Fun Time radio show. They made their recording debut in September 1947 for Rich-R-Tone Records which had been founded the year before. Their records sold well, 'outselling even Eddy Arnold' regionally. Up to now, Ralph had been playing his banjo with two fingers on recordings and in concerts, but in 1948, he switched to the three-finger style (popularised by Earl Scruggs). In March 1949, the Stanley Brothers began recording for Columbia Records. During this time, Bill Monroe was not particularly fond of groups like the Stanley Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs who he believed 'stole' his music by copying it; they were seen as 'economic threats.'
Financially hard times in the early 1950s forced the brothers to take a short break in their musical career. They began working for the Ford Motor Company in Detroit. Eventually, Monroe and the Stanley Brothers became friends, and Carter performed for several months with Bill Monroe in the summer of 1951. In August 1951, Ralph was involved in a serious automobile accident that almost ended his career. Following his recovery, Carter and Ralph reunited to front their Clinch Mountain Boys.
As bluegrass music grew less popular in the late 1950s, the Stanley Brothers moved to Live Oak, Florida, and headlined the weekly Suwannee River Jamboree radio show on WNER from 1958 to 1962. The three-hour show was also syndicated across the Southeast. In 1966, the brothers toured Europe, and upon returning home they continued to perform together until Carter's death in December 1966.
Many years later, Ralph revived the Clinch Mountain Boys. He performed with them through 2013. He recorded one last album in 2014, Side By Side, with his son, Ralph II. Among the musicians who have played in the revived Clinch Mountain Boys were Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Larry Sparks, Curly Ray Cline, Jack Cooke, Roy Lee Centers, Charlie Sizemore, Ray Goins, and Ralph Stanley II. Ralph's career received a big boost with his prominent role on the very successful soundtrack recording of the 2000 feature film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which featured the song 'Man of Constant Sorrow' among others.
Personal lives and deaths
Carter Stanley died in December 1966.
Ralph Stanley died on June 23, 2016. - Sorted by ＞ Sorted by album (Time) Sorted by song name (Characters) Sorted by other
- Album name Release Date Song
-
An Evening Long Ago
2004
1.Handsome Molly -
O Brother Where Art Thou? Soundtrack
2000
1.Angel Band -
Old Country Chuch
1961
1.Old Country Church
2.Campin' in Canaan Land
3.A Few More Years4.Mother's Only Sleeping
5.Kneel at the Cross -
The Stanley Tradition: Tribute to a Bluegrass Legacy
1.Bootleg John
2.I'm Better Off Now That You're Gone3.Medicine Springs
4.The Only Way to Say Goodbye -
The Stanley Brothers: The Early Years 1958-1961, Volume 1
1.Think of What You've Done
2.I'll Meet You in Church Sunday Morning3.Are You Afraid to Die -
Stanley Series, Volume 3, Number 3
1.I'm Lost, I'll Never Find the Way
2.I'll Never Grow Tired of You3.Hills of Roane County
4.Orange Blossom Special -
Stanley Gospel Tradition: Songs About Our Savior
1.Take Your Shoes Off, Moses
2.Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn
3.Zion's Hill4.Cry From the Cross
5.I Am Weary, Let Me Rest
6.I Am the Man, Thomas -
An Evening Long Ago (Live)
1.Handsome Molly (Live)
2.East Virginia Blues (Live) (Provided)
3.The Story of the Lawson Family (Live)
4.Dream of a Miner's Child (Live)5.Bound to Ride (Live) (Provided)
6.My Long Skinny Lanky Sarah Jane (Live)
7.Orange Blossom Special (Live)
8.Tragic Love (Live) -
American Bluegrass (Remastered)
1.This Wicked Path of Sin (Remastered)
2.Mother's Footsteps Guide Me On (Remastered)
3.Tragic Love (Remastered)
4.That Happy Night (Remastered)
5.Wings of Angels (Remastered)
6.Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet (Remastered) (Provided)
7.Keep a Memory (Remastered)
8.Next Sunday Darling Is My Birthday (Remastered)
9.I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow (Remastered)
10.Old Rattler (Remastered)
11.Mountain Dew (Remastered)
12.It's Raining Here This Morning (Remastered)
13.Tragic Romance (Remastered)14.That Home Far Away (Remastered)
15.Sweeter Than the Flowers (Remastered)
16.Orange Blossom Special (Remastered)
17.The Cry from the Cross (Remastered)
18.Think of What You've Done (Remastered)
19.Who Will Call You Sweetheart (Remastered)
20.A Voice from On High (Remastered)
21.Are You Afraid to Die (Remastered)
22.Poison Lies (Remastered)
23.I'll Meet You in Church Sunday Morning (Remastered)
24.How Mountain Girls Can Love (Remastered)
25.White Dove (Remastered)
26.Rank Stranger (Remastered) -
100 (100 Original Tracks Remastered)
1.Angel Band (Remastered)
2.If That's the Way You Feel (Remastered)
3.Let Me Walk, Lord, By Your Side (Remastered)
4.A Life of Sorrow (Remastered)5.I'll Never Grow Tired of You (Remastered)
6.Rank Stranger (Remastered)
7.Orange Blossom Special (Remastered)
8.Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet (Remastered) (Provided) -
Miscellaneous
1.Little Glass Of Wine
2.I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow
3.The Fields Have Turned Brown
4.Have You Someone (In Heaven Waiting)
5.A Voice From on High
6.A Life Of Sorrow
7.A Vision of Mother
8.This Weary Heart You Stole Away
9.The White Dove
10.Angels Are Singing (In Heaven Tonight)
11.Let Me Be Your Friend
12.Harbor Of Love
13.I Hear My Savior Calling
14.Who Will Call You Sweetheart
15.Too Late to Cry
16.Sweetest Love
17.Let Me Walk, Lord, By Your Side
18.Hey! Hey! Hey!
19.The Old Home
20.I Love No One But You
21.The Drunkard's Hell
22.The Lonesome River
23.Calling From Heaven
24.The Wandering Boy
25.Memories Of Mother
26.Let's Part the Best of Friends
27.It's Never Too Late to Start Over
28.How Mountain Girls Can Love
29.Will He Wait a Little Longer
30.Say Won't You Be Mine
31.We'll Be Sweethearts in Heaven
32.Gathering Flowers For The Master's Bouquet
33.Somebody Touched Me
34.Dream of A Miner's Child35.Our Last Goodbye
36.Baby Girl
37.Man of Constant Sorrow (Live)
38.The Fields Have Turned Brown (Remastered)
39.What About You
40.Never Again
41.Over In the Gloryland
42.What a Friend We Have In Jesus
43.Rank Strangers
44.O Death
45.I Don't Want Your Rambling Letters
46.Just A Little Talk With Jesus
47.Oh Death
48.It's Never Too Late
49.I'm Lonesome Without You
50.Could You Love Me (One More Time)
51.Don't Cheat in Our Home Town
52.Ridin' That Midnight Train
53.Little Maggie
54.Lonely Tombs
55.Maple on the Hill
56.A Lonesome Night
57.Tragic Love
58.Nobody's Love Is Like Mine
59.Poison Lies
60.The Window Up Above
61.Mountain Dew
62.Will the Circle Be Unbroken
63.Precious Memories
64.If We Never Meet Again
65.Hand In Hand With Jesus
66.I Saw the Light
67.If That's The Way You Feel
【Correction of errors in the album information】