When
Carter Stanley
died suddenly in 1966 at the age of 41, his brother
Ralph Stanley
was left at an unenviable crossroads. Given that
the Stanley Brothers
were such a top-draw mountain bluegrass outfit, it almost seemed unimaginable that
Ralph
could continue performing at that prior level without his brother, who was the songwriter part of the duo. But continue he did, opting to stay close to the traditional Appalachian folk material he had grown up with, choosing songs that were often bone-chillingly dark and thus emotionally fitted to his ragged, weary-sounding tenor voice. That voice lost none of its poignant, weary grace as it aged, even though it had grown ragged, shaky, and worn by the time this set was tracked, the second of two albums released from the same sessions. Backed by a stellar band (
Stanley
's bands, the various
Clinch Mountain Boys
over the years, have always been excellent ensembles),
runs through several traditional Appalachian songs, many of which, like "Man of Constant Sorrow" here, have become signature tunes for him. His voice may be worn to the bone at this point, but he stills works these old gems with his usual mountain gospel grace, creating music that is part string band and part modern bluegrass, as haunting as ever as he searches for meaning and redemption in the old songs. ~ Steve Leggett