DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN

BORN 1927

Two brothers from rural Virginia, Ralph, 19, and Carter, 21, came back from the Second World War and formed a band that many consider on a par with Bill Monroe’s as pioneers of bluegrass. Only Ralph never called The Stanley Brothers and The Clinch Mountain Boys’ music bluegrass; it was “old time mountain music.” Dr Ralph (a title he assumed after a Tennessee university gave him his first honorary doctorate in ’76) continued to play it – on stage and around 200 recordings – for 70 years. The one time he thought of stopping was 1966, when Carter died. Bill Monroe sang at Carter’s funeral. At the same cemetery, in June 2016, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless sang at Ralph’s. Stanley, who eschewed Nashville’s showiness, sang in a sepulchral, bat-wing tenor that suited the unvarnished, traditional folk and hymns he favoured, such as O Death and A Man Of Constant Sorrow. Famous fans included Bob Dylan and Gillian Welch, who credits him for her choice of career. With the huge success of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? film, Stanley started the new millennium with even greater acclaim: Grammys; a five-times platinum album; a Library of Congress Living Legend medal; induction into the Grand Ole Opry – and a new, young audience. “Someone came up to me at my show,” he told me, “and said, ‘This is cool.’ It’s the music I grew up with as a country boy. There’s nothing else like it. It’s nice to see the city folk catching up.” Sylvie Simmons