Search - Ralph Stanley :: Live in Japan

A mere five years after brother Carter's death, Ralph Stanley had returned to the pinnacle of the bluegrass world. The superb quartet featured on these two awesome CDs--fiddler Curly Ray Cline, lead vocalist and guitarist Roy Lee Centers, Jack Cooke on bass, and Stanley--remains one of the most memorable incarnations of the Clinch Mountain Boys, if not the whole of bluegrass history. This collection captures a particularly riveting Tokyo performance from May 5, 1971, and finds the group rolling through traditional fiddle and banjo tunes, Bill Monroe and Stanley Brothers chestnuts, and a few other gems. The band generates an especially high level of excitement and fire behind some outstanding banjo work from Stanley and exquisitely passionate ensemble vocals, and the song selection tends toward rip-roarin' favorites rather than austere ballads. For those who wish to dig deeper, the spectacular four-CD box 1971-1973 offers a number of unreleased cuts culled from the same tour. --Marc Greilsamer