RIP Ralph Stanley- Ralph Stanley was a musical giant in the same way that Miles Davis, BB King, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Bessie Smith, Hank Williams, Otis Redding, Mahalia Jackson, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, George Jones, Patsy Cline, Bob Marley, John Coltrane, Nina Simone, Thelonius Monk, Merle Haggard, Bill Monroe, and Etta James were giants (sorry-I’m sure I left out a lot).
My only personal experience with him was that in 2005 he was part of Christmas Jam along with Marty Stuart, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Dave Schools, Mike Gordon, Bill Kreutzmann, Stanton Moore. Trey Anastasio, John Scofield, John Medeski and Ivan Neville. Aside from being one of my personal favorite memories it was also the only time in the history of Christmas Jam that every artist and every musician was on stage watching an artist perform. I was standing next to Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen from HOT TUNA and Jack leaned over to me and said “I saw the Stanley Brothers in 1960 or 1961.”
Which reminds me of another related story: Robert Hunter told me that he and Jerry Garcia met at a Stanley Brothers show. They were both there with recording equipment taping the show. How crazy is that? Jerry and Hunter-the original tapers.-WH
Very glad I got to see Dr Ralph in '12 and shake his hand. Great article:
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/ralph-stanleys-inimitable-voice?mbid=rss
I was fortunate to see Dr. Ralph and the Clinch Mountain Boys an awful lot between 1998 and 2010 or so. My favorite time was at a place called the Horst Auction Center in Ephrata, PA in April of 2002. Maybe 25 other people there. 3 hippies and the rest of the folks were Amish farmers! Anyway, he was really accessible that night and he told me that he thought the secret to his voice was putting honey in his coffee. I'll never forget it. I'll never forget him either.
