Appalachian music reviews

I enjoyed this CD a great deal. Of course, I am older and remember when I used to hear the Carter Family on the radio.
I believe Mr. Stanley is a true original and he sings it like it was done "Back Then". I recommend this CD to all lovers of "Old time" country or mountain music.

so many people try to update Carter Family songs with slick studio tricks,and singing,while really not getting anywhere near the essence of the music. Ralph allowed the harmonies to have that feeling that precise singers like Union Station,and Doyle Lawson&Quicksilver just don't attempt. I just love this album,and hope Ralph lives & records another 80+ years.

Though Ralph Stanley made his name as a purveyor of bluegrass, his earliest influences - the music that he and his brother Carter grew up with - was the songbook of fellow Virginians, The Carter Family. Stanley's musical legacy (both with his brother and solo) followed many of the conventions laid down by Bill Monroe, but the forlorn and mournful tone of his singing has always been rooted in the Southern songs of tragedy and deliverance collected by A.P. Carter. With this latest release, Stanley revisits the depression-era songs of his childhood, bringing the wisdom of his years (and the breathtaking burnish of his aging voice) to bear on the emotional foundations of his youth.

Backed by his own Clinch Mountain Boys (augmented by Mike Seeger on autoharp), this is a backporch folk album, without the speedy tempos and intricate picking of the group's bluegrass work. The song selection mixes familiar Carter songs like "Worried Man Blues" and "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" with less well-known entries that span the pain, longing, and ultimate faith that have sustained the Carter Family catalog for over a half-century. At 79, and with a lengthy career that's brought international fame, Stanley serves easily as a living link back to the hard-scrabble lives from which these songs sprang, and the family of artists that originally brought them to fame.

Those who've known Stanley's work since the early days, as well as those who came on-board with his broader emergence in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" will treasure this opportunity to hear a master circle back to his roots. The Carter Family's 75-year-old songbook once again proves itself a vital, living and agelessly relevant collection. [©2006 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com]

As fine and understated a set of old-timey ballads as you're likely to hear... Really fine stuff! Tracy Schartz has, of course, been one of the great champions of old-timey music ever since his days in the New Lost City Ramblers, and Ginny Hawker has been rising through the ranks in recent years... Together they have made one of the prettiest, simplest, most emotionally direct records of the year... The accompaniment is a delight: straightforward and no-frills, but also very melodic and sweet, a perfect match for their plainspoken vocals. Dirk Powell pitches in playing mandolin on a couple of tunes, but fancy picking isn't the point of this new record, the songs are and that's the way it should be. Includes some standards such as "Poor Willie" and "Katie Dear," as well as a bunch of well-chosen obscurities, and some wonderful gospel tunes. Highly recommended!