Staring Back

Sometimes, you just shake your head over how good a song is. This is one of those songs.

The recorded version (from Stanley’s wonderful, award-winning double CD, “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning”) is slower, with the lilting rhythm of half-spoken, half-sung children’s taunts. This version -- from the must-see bluegrass documentary, Gather At the River -- is faster than any of those speeding bullets, suggesting that maybe the family ran away from the hate to greener pastures.

Then again, maybe they just learned to stare right back at the bigots who so scornfully referred to them as “Mountain Folks”.

Another rare track recorded live at the Berkshire Mountain Bluegrass Festival.

Everyone loves Ralph Stanley’s solo take on this one but, for my money, the trio versions, like this one that he did with Keith Whitley and Jack Cooke, beat the solo a capella iteration for sheer mountain spookiness.

This is, of course, “O, Death”.

Last Call For A Legendary Lineup

A short set, a legendary lineup, and some lovely moments from Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys.

This was to be Keith Whitley’s last tour with the CMB. He left to work for J.D. Crowe – yet another legendary collaboration.

Listen for Whitley’s emotive ornamentation on the last verse of “Rank Strangers”; the stunning harmony singing on “Let Me Love You One More Time”; the way Dr. Ralph and Curly Ray Cline tear into “Lost Train Blues”; the unusual arrangement of “Gloryland”, with Jack Cooke on tenor and Whitley on baritone; Cooke’s beautifully-economical bass work throughout.

This is one of those sets that makes me wish Keith Whitley had stuck with bluegrass.