Ralph and Carter Stanley represent the quintessential “mountain sound” of bluegrass music. The unmistakable sound of Ralph’s gritty tenor vocals, the driving banjo, and the soaring duets, quartets, and trademark high-baritone trios make this band a favorite of many .
After his brother's death in 1966, Ralph Stanley reformed the Clinch Mountain Boys and continued to play and recorded bluegrass music. In 1970, he started the annual Bluegrass Festival (named after his brother), an event which attracted large numbers of musicians and bluegrass fans. Over the years, his style of banjo playing has been copied by many young musicians and he has become respected (like Monroe) as one of the most important artists for popularizing bluegrass music. During the '70s and '80s, the Clinch Mountain Boys have included within their ranks such country artists as Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley and Larry Sparks and others including John Conlee and Emmylou Harris have recorded Stanley Brothers songs
Over the years, Monroe's band hosted all of the major bluegrass artists of the '50s and '60s, including Flatt and Scruggs, Reno and Smiley, Vassar Clements, Carter Stanley, and Mac Wiseman. Though the lineup of the Blue Grass Boys changed over the years, Monroe always remained devoted to bluegrass in its purest form. |
