In Honor Of The Late Ralph Stanley- Clinch Mountain Sweethearts, Indeed!- Ralph Stanley And Friends

In Honor Of The Late Ralph Stanley- Clinch Mountain Sweethearts, Indeed!- Ralph Stanley And Friends

A YouTube's Film Clip Of Ralph Stanley Doing "Oh Death".



CD Review

Clinch Mountain Sweethearts, Ralph Stanley and Friends, Rebel Records, 2001



In a recent DVD review of the now mountain music movie classic, George Clooney's "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", I mentioned in passing the name of the artist under review here, Ralph Stanley. I also noted that this grand master of mountain music as it derived from The Carter Family strain was eminently worthy of a separate review on his own merits. I make amends here. I think that this settles all debts by all parties.



That said, the following excerpt from that above-mentioned review can be used here to set the tone for a look at Ralph Stanley's work here:



"Sometimes a revival of a musical form, like the "talking blues", that highlighted the urban folk revival of the early 1960's is driven by a social need. In that case it was to provide a format for the "glad tidings" that a new political and social movement was a-bornin'. In the case of the revival several years ago of what is called "mountain music" it was the films "The Song Catcher" and, more importantly, the very popular movie starring George Clooney " O Brother, Where Art Thou?" The CD under review is a compilation of music from that movie, a not unnatural tie-in in the modern entertainment business. The movie deserves a separate review, however, this CD can stand on its own as a very nice cross section of "mountain music", some familiar most not so.



Without straining credulity "mountain music" is the music of the simple folk of Appalachia, those who worked hard in the coal mines, on the hard scrabble farms and in the isolated mills of the region. This was their Saturday night entertainment and with the advent of radio was a unifying cultural experience. The songs "speak" of hard and lonely lives, the beauty of the then pristine countryside, the usual vagaries of love and lost and the mysterious ways of a very personal, if arbitrary, god. Throw in a few upbeat tunes reflecting the love of "corn" liquor, women and the sometimes funny side of coping with life's trials and tribulations and you have the mountain version of the folk experience. Sound familiar? Sure it does, except, it is done with simple guitar, a blazing fiddle and, hopefully, a full-bodied mandolin."



After that introduction it would seem hardly necessary to do more than list the outstanding tracks on this CD. Except one thing. Ralph has gathered around his "good old boy" self a virtual who's who of female country singers, female folk singers, female folk rock singers, female rock folk singers and ..., well you get the drift. Most of the names here have popped up in other reviews, or will do so in the future. Start with my "Internet Sweetheart", Iris Dement on "Ridin' The Midnight Train" and "Trust Each Other". Folk legend Joan Baez on "Weeping Willow". Maria Muldaur, early on from the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and now a "blues mama" extraordinaire in her own right, on "This Memory Of Yours". Melba Montgomery on the classic country song " You Win Again". Lucinda Williams on "Farther Along". And last but not least Gillian Welch on the Stanley national anthem "Oh Death". Did I kid you? This as an All-Star A-list (excepting only Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt). How did the old coot do it? Enjoy.




Ralph Stanley — Daddy's Wildwood Flower lyrics


INSTRUMENTAL INTRO



Mama was his Wildwood Flower, my Daddy used to say,
And to prove to her he loved her, he'd play it every day.
Mom would look at him and smile, she'd say, "God bless my man,
I don't regret one single time that I gave him my hand."

REFRAIN
The Wildwood Flower
(The Wildwood Flower)
Was his favorite song,
And when he played for Mama,
Her house became a home.

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK

Mom took sick and passed away, this was his darkest hour.
He came home that very day and he played the Wildwood Flower.
Time went by and he grew old, he'd sit and play for hours,
Mem'ries of Mom on his old guitar, he'd play the Wildwood Flower.

REFRAIN

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK

One night, as I walked by his house, I though I heard his song.
I heard Mama talkin', but Mom had long been gone.
I looked through the window and saw God's mighty power,
There sat Mom with Daddy, he was playin' the Wildwood Flower.

REFRAIN

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK

As he grew old, he could play no more, and his mind began to fail.
We'd often find him in the field, he seemed so old and frail.
One day, we couldn't find him, and after many days,
Found him lyin' with the wildwood flowers, up on Mama's grave.

REFRAIN



INSTRUMENTAL OUTRO