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Ralph on Ralph
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Ralph Stanley &
 The
Clinch Mountain Boys
Live at Watermelon Park
Berryville, Virginia 1969
Nestled along the Shenandoah River just outside historic Berryville,
Virginia you'll find Watermelon Park, the site of promoter Carlton Haney's
famous bluegrass festivals in the 1960's. Haney is credited with
organizing the first multi-day bluegrass festival held at Fincastle,
Virginia in September 1965. The Stanley Brothers, Carter and Ralph,
had appeared at that historic first festival. After a couple of
years, the festival was moved to Berryville where these recordings were
made in the summer of 1969. At that time, a young Larry Sparks was
handling the lead singing chores with Ralph Stanley and The Clinch
Mountain Boys. A position that was left vacant by the untimely
passing of brother Carter Stanley on December 1, 1966. At the time
of these recordings, Sparks had been in the Stanley band for three years
and was getting ready to venture out with his own band. He had
recorded five albums as Ralph's lead singer, three on Cincinnati's King
Records and two on the lesser known Jalyn label of Dayton, Ohio. It
is very interesting to note that Sparks is the only man in the history of
the Clinch Mountain Boys to hold down the job of both lead singer and lead
guitarist at the same time.
It seems that Ralph's band at the time was in a period of change.
Only Sparks and veteran fiddler Curly Ray Cline were regular members of
the group. On this day Ralph recruited Ed ferris from Bill Emerson's
band to play bass along with Lonnie Bowlin filling in on rhythm guitar.
Nonetheless, with Ralph's driving banjo and his piercing tenor voice at
the helm, the band was in fine form. Most of the selections
performed on the show were Stanley Brothers classics like "Riding The
Midnight Train", "Stone walls And Steel Bars" and "Think of What You've
Done". Some nice surprises are Curly Ray Cline's spirited fiddling
on "Lost Train Blues" and "Roanoke" plus a Stanley/Sparks Duet on the
Lesser known "Standing Room Only".
Now, let's take a journey back in time and see how one of the true masters
of traditional mountain sound went about his daily business...making great
music! -- James A. Shelton - December 4, 2005
Live at Watermelon Park is available only at
the record table at Ralph's shows and through the Ralph Stanley Fan Club.
To secure a copy if you can't make it to one of Ralph's shows, please mail
a check for $25 (which includes postage and packaging) to:
The Ralph Stanley Fan Club
1950 Highland Meadows Drive
Centerville, OH 45459 |
