Born on This Day in 1927, the Bluegrass Legend Who Helped Launch the Careers of Keith Whitley, Ricky Skaggs, and Many More

On this day (February 25) in 1927, Dr. Ralph Stanley was born in McClure, Virginia. He grew up surrounded by the traditional folk music of the Appalachian Mountains. After a stint in the military, he returned and started a bluegrass group with his brother, Carter Stanley. Together, they introduced traditional art forms to a wider audience.

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Stanley grew up in a musical family. His father worked in a steel mill and sang traditional songs around the house. His mother played claw-hammer banjo and passed her skills to him. The music of the Carter Family, old Primitive Baptist Universalist hymns, and traditional songs like “Man of Constant Sorrow” formed the bedrock of his and his brother’s early repertoire.

[RELATED: 5 Live Moments In Honor of Bluegrass Icon Ralph Stanley]

Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys combined country, old-time, and folk music to form bluegrass in 1945. Two years later, the Stanley brothers came home from a stint in the military and formed a band, using Monroe’s output and the music they grew up hearing as their blueprint.

The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys quickly gained popularity and landed a recording contract with Columbia Records, according to PBS. Carter Stanley became a songwriter, penning songs of sadness that fit his brother’s high-lonesome vocals like a glove.

Ralph Stanley Was an Originator

While Bill Monroe and his band get the credit for creating bluegrass and Earl Scruggs changed the way people approached the banjo, it is impossible to overstate Ralph Stanley’s importance to the genre. He also introduced a distinct style of banjo playing and wrote tunes like “Clinch Mountain Backstep” that later became standards. He also introduced a cappella singing to the genre. A perfect example of that is his recording of “O Death” on the Oh Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack.

Stanley also helped launch the careers of future stars. After Carter Stanley died in 1966, Ralph carried on. He reformed the Clinch Mountain Boys and continued to make music. However, he was the only constant member of the lineup.

Dozens of musicians went in and out of the Clinch Mountain Boys between the 1960s and Stanley’s death in 2016. Keith Whitley played guitar and sang lead in the band for a time. Ricky Skaggs played mandolin and fiddle. Other greats, including Curly Ray Cline, George Shuffler, Melvin Goins, and Larry Sparks, also spent time in the Clinch Mountain Boys.

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