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RALPH STANLEY & RALPH STANLEY II - SIDE BY SIDE (REB-1850, 2013)

Musicians

Ralph Stanley: Vocals, Clawhammer Banjo on track 6
Ralph Stanley II: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
John Rigsby: Fiddle & Mandolin
Steve Sparkman: Banjo
Randall Hibbitts: Bass

Production Credits

Produced by: Ralph Stanley II & John Rigsby
Recorded and Mixed by: Dan Huff at Big Appal Studio, Paintsville, KY
Mastered by: David Glasser at AirShow Mastering, Boulder, CO
Photography: Allen Bolling
Production Coordinator: Mark Freeman

The Stanley Brothers, featuring the haunting vocal harmonies of Carter and Ralph Stanley and Ralph’s banjo playing, were among the first generation founders of bluegrass music. Maintaining a distinctive style of bluegrass with an old-time “Mountain” music flavor, they recorded many classic songs and tunes between 1946 and Carter’s untimely death 20 years later. Carrying on after the loss of his brother, Ralph reshaped his band The Clinch Mountain Boys around his own celebrated high and lonesome vocal sound, keeping the band in the forefront in the bluegrass field and introducing many star singers and instrumentalists in his band along the way. His career now stretches over some 70 years as a performer.

Longtime fans of Dr. Ralph Stanley will recall his introduction of his son Ralph II into the group’s live performances (playing a miniature plastic guitar) when Ralph II was just three years old. “Two” (as Ralph II is affectionately known) made frequent contributions as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist in the 1990s. But in over 30 years of performing together they have never done a full co-billed album until this Side By Side recording.

“I’d just been a Clinch Mountain Boy, a band member with him, and I was very proud to be that” Ralph II notes, “but we’d never actually done a duet record like this.” “Playing with Dad, who’s so much of a legend, could be intimidating—and he’s had such a great long line of lead singers to live up to—Carter Stanley (in the Stanley Brothers days), then Larry Sparks, Roy Lee Centers and Keith Whitley. But I’ve been on my own as a solo artist for about five years now and recorded three albums that way. I’m more experienced and more relaxed today and ready to show people what I can do with the master himself. So I felt that this would be a good time for us to team back up. I asked dad if he’d be interested in doing something like this and he said yes, he’d love to.”

Side by Side was co-produced by Ralph II and his frequent collaborator John Rigsby, who also plays fiddle and mandolin on the album. It spotlights a riveting Dr. Ralph a cappella vocal on “Don’t Weep for Me” along with traditional numbers like “Wild Bill Jones” and “I’ve Still Got 99,” as well as some older Stanley classics. Other tracks include two new songs written by Shawn Lane (of the band Blue Highway) as well as numbers from composers as diverse as the Carter Family and Ernest Tubb. Dr. Ralph applies his famous clawhammer banjo work to the instrumental “Battle Ax” (supported by Two’s lead guitar).

Ralph Stanley II has followed in his father’s footsteps since being featured as a vocalist and guitarist in his band beginning in the mid 1990s. He has established himself as a distinctive singer, songwriter and musician via a series of solo albums that have blended more contemporary country music, bluegrass, and the classic sound. In Side by Side, father and son now present a harmonious new phase of the Stanley family tradition.