It was originally released as Sixteen Years on cassette tape in 1985 on Stanley’s Rivertracks label, intended for regional distribution, and then re-released ten years later on Copper Creek. Accompanying Ralph was one of the choice editions of The Clinch Mountain Boys, with Charlie Sizemore on guitar and lead vocals, Junior Blankenship on lead guitar, Curly Ray Cline on fiddle and Jack Cooke on bass.

Gary Reid of Copper Creek, an historian of the music of Ralph Stanley, speaks quite highly of this recording, and had at one time planned a repacked reissue on his label.

“I always thought this was one of the best efforts Charlie Sizemore did with Ralph.”

Rounder has now remastered the original recording and will release it yet again on September 22. Songs include:

Charlie Sizemore contributes some remembrances of this session in the liner notes, saying that it was recorded in the “old time way.” All the tracks were cut live on a single day in the studio, with all mixing completed on the next. He then tackles the question of why this recording succeeds so well in capturing the Stanley sound.

“While not entirely comfortable with the recording process, during the making of this record he almost seems to be having fun. Curly Ray Cline and Jack Cooke, veterans both, are on top of their game. Nevertheless, the configuration of this band is relatively new. Despite the long hours, complacency is not an issue. And if it has any designs on this recording session, Ralph makes short work of thwarting it ‚Äì not only by example, which is customary, but also with direct, spoken exhortations and admonitions, which is rare. At times he urges the band, in so many words, to stay alert. So part of the answer may lie here.

Or it could matter that Ralph produced and initially released this recording on his own rather than for a record company. Under no deadline and with no one looking over his shoulder, so to speak, he has no one to please but his fans and himself. Perhaps this freedom provides a lack of self-consciousness, at once energizing and relaxing him.”

This is one I will be eagerly anticipating.

The group features both Charlie Sizemore and Dale Ann Bradley, two of the finest voices in modern bluegrass music, along with John Golden on banjo, Roscoe Morgan on mandolin and John Miller on bass.

Blue Plate Special airs at noon (EDT). The show originates from Knoxville, TN and is broadcast in that market at 102.9 FM – and via live streaming online.

Wayne played banjo with Sizemore, and is featured on his recent CD, Good News, released in 2007. Pennell is a member of Sizemore’s band as well, and is a noted songwriter in his own right.

Here is his heartfelt eulogy to Wayne:

Wayne Fields (1952-2008)

This letter is not only for Wayne Fields, and his family, it is just as much for me and anyone who knew him – and had so much more they wished to have said to him while he was here.

Wayne Fields was my friend and I loved him as did everyone who knew him. He was, of course, an incredible banjo player and musician. Being in a band with him is one of the greatest musical experiences I have had. He had that rare ability to make you feel so good about being on stage with him that it seemed to make you a better player. I recall looking over at him on stage and he’d give me that nod and wink to let me know he was enjoying my playing. This just made me feel like a million dollars. He always told me how much he enjoyed playing with us and how much he was looking forward to our next show.

And this from someone who was suffering physically about as much as a person could. When we cut our album “Good News”, Wayne was just a few weeks removed from chemotherapy and he told us he could barely feel his fingertips. Well, listen to that album and tell me if you think his playing sounds like a person struggling with a life threatening disease. He was the consummate pro. He played flawlessly on that album and was the spark that made us all want to do and play better.

To his wife, Tina, and his children Scottie, Charles, Christina and Tiffany, we want to extend our deepest sympathies for your loss. As much as I or any of his friends will miss him, this doesn’t even begin to compare to the loss you must feel. He was so proud of all of you and spoke about each of you all the time. He loved music so much and he passed a long his great gift to each one of you.

I remember first meeting Wayne when I was playing with Alison back in the early days of Union Station. We played several gigs together with his band, Southern Blend. We couldn’t wait to hear them perform. They were a fantastic band that had all the elements of a great bluegrass band; exceptional singing, lead and harmonies, great timing and just an incredible, infectious “feel” that only a few bands ever achieve. When we heard them, we all said, let’s learn to play together like that. They we’re our friends, but also our mentors; we wanted to be like Wayne’s band.

Wayne, thank you for being our friend. Knowing you and playing with you was as good as it gets in this world. I know I speak for everyone in our band and for anyone else who knew you when I say how much we loved you and how much we will miss you. You left an incredible mark on all of us and anyone else who was fortunate enough to have known you.

Rest in peace, brother.

The deminutive Fields was born in Hazard, Kentucky, and moved to the Lexington area at a young age. He started playing a guitar in his church at the age of eleven and grew up listening to Flatt and Scruggs on the radio.

Wayne and his brothers, Larry and Bill, plus a couple of friends put a band together and began performing all over Lexington. Although they performed all types of music, Field’s heart was always with bluegrass and the banjo.

Mostly self-taught, Fields had three lessons from a fellow employee at the local Holiday Inn, J.D. Crowe, who was playing there at the time along with Larry Rice, Tony Rice, and Bobby Sloan.

In 1977, he got his first job playing banjo for The Boys from Indiana, replacing Noah Crase. While he was a member of the band, they made an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry and on The Porter Wagoner Show.

Four years later Fields took a job with Renfro Valley regular John Cosby and the Bluegrass Drifters, with whom he won the first SPBGMA band contest in 1984.

Later that year, Wayne, his brother Bill, Ricky Wasson and Rick Johnson formed the group Southern Blend with whom he recorded and toured for 9 years. He also played with another Renfro Valley band Wilderness Trail. Other members included Dave Osborne & Jeff Parker (who played with Lonesome River Band and is now with Dailey & Vincent).

Later Fields joined J.D. Crowe, playing mandolin and singing tenor vocals for The New South.

During the last 10 years he has performed with various groups including the family band Driftwood, Gary Strong & Hardtimes, Rick Bartley & Blackwater, as well as with The Charlie Sizemore Band.

Fields is featured playing banjo and singing harmony on the stellar Charlie Sizemore album Good News that was released last year.

Wayne Fields leaves Tina, his wife, two daughters, Christina and Tiffany, and two sons Scott and Charles, both active bluegrass musicians.

Friend and fellow banjo player Frank Godley affectionately remembers Wayne this way ……

I could write pages about the kind of person Wayne Fields was apart from being a superb musician and singer… he was a gentleman and a gentle man, kind, generous, humble, thoughtful, courteous… you can see where this would go… as has been pointed out already on BGRASS-L, he’s someone you would have been proud to have for a friend; he enriched the lives of all who knew him.

I’ve told the story on the BGRASS-L before, but back in March or April of 1996 (”income tax season”) I got a phone call from Wayne & Ira Whitaker. Wayne was helping out at a liquor store (off-license) owned by a family member (I forget who, exactly) and they wondered if I’d like to come out and pick a little as it was a Monday evening and not much business was going on. I was in the middle of working on income tax, so declined the invitation… and no sooner than I’d hung up the phone I thought, “What was I thinking!!??” Called ‘em right back and asked, “How do I get there??”

That turned into a regular jam session every Monday night at the Parkway Liquor Store, lasting over 4 years, until the store closed for good, at which time we became a “floating” jam session for a while, continuing (unfortunately with declining participation) until just a few weeks ago. Wayne didn’t come often after the store closed as his day job (he was a golf course superintendent) required early hours, but he sure got us off to a good 4-year start.

Band leader and friend Charlie Sizemore pays tribute to Wayne Fields with a posting on his website.

“I first met Wayne over thirty years ago during his stint with The Boys From Indiana when I was a kid working with the Goins Brothers. I still remember being a bit taken aback by how respectful he was toward me – a skinny kid from Puncheon Creek still trying to learn to pick. He made me feel welcome and comfortable, and I was thrilled just to be able to hang out with him at festivals and shows.

As the years went by we became friends and I continued to be amazed and inspired by his talent, never dreaming that I’d be able to work with him.

I can say with complete honesty that working in a band with Wayne is the highlight of my career, and regardless of what happens from here I don’t think this will be surpassed.”

Credit for the picture and for grateful assistance with this tribute is owed to Frank Godbey.

Who Needs Country Radio? Not Tom T. Hall

The story spends a good deal of time discussing Hall’s growing alliance with the bluegrass music industry. The author suggests that the reason Hall has been pitching his tunes to bluegrass artists in recent years is that Hall felt the bluegrass artists would be true to the songs and not change them to make them commercially acceptable for country radio, thus preserving the integrity of his music.

Who would record them without changing them to make radio happy or forcing him into complicated business deals?

Bluegrass singers would.

Tom T. goes on to discuss his history of growing up in Appalachia, and made this great comment about writing bluegrass songs in collaboration with his wife, Miss Dixie.

Maybe our bluegrass songwriting works so well because we have such different views of Appalachia. As an outsider Miss Dixie sees these people as the hard-working, family-loving salt of the earth. As a member of the clan I see them as just the neighbors. She can see the trees, while all I can see is the forest.

The article is a fairly length piece, at a solid two pages, and worth the read. Four streaming audio files are also included featuring Tom T. and Charlie Sizemore.

Charlie Sizemore recently released Good News, his debut album for Rounder Records (0591) and the first of any kind for five years. For a lot of people it is indeed very good news, even if the CD’s title is a bit convenient. But that’s not really important. What is important is the quality of the music found thereon.

It is exceedingly difficult to pick highlights, favourites, call them what you may, as this is a uniformly excellent album. The songs are all very strong, regardless of source. Sizemore and co-producer Buddy Cannon penned Alison’s Band, I Won’t Be Far From Here and The Less I Drink. The former expresses a wishful desire to play with you know who. Paul Craft wrote Mama Turns Aloosa My Soul and I’ve Fallen And I Can’t Get Up, the driving opener that features some sparkling banjo from Wayne Fields. Both are top quality songs. The tempo changes with the two following songs, I Won’t Be Far From Here and Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart, both excellent observations of relationship issues, as is The Less I Drink.

Friends of Sizemore’s, and providers of the recording studio for the sessions which produced these recordings, Dixie and Tom T Hall, wrote Whiskey Willie, and the collaboration with Sizemore, Silver Bugle, a haunting account of another horrific episode in the War between the States. Barnes’s clawhammer banjo playing gives this story an additional atavistic touch.

Other songs are no less enjoyable; Blame It On Vern (co-written by Jeff Barbra and Steve G Jones) eulogizes Vern Gosdin. Doesn’t Sizemore’s singing sound so much like ‘The Voice’ in his prime? Yes, very much so! Upright bass player John Pennell co-wrote Devil On A Plow with Harley Allen, wherein a deceased farmer’s offspring speaks of a hard working existence and the possibilities in afterlife. Providing a little more variation, Matt DeSpain sings lead vocals on Hey Moon, a jaunty request for the moon to shine down on two lovers. DeSpain’s lighter tone is just right for this Ron Workman song.

I suspect that Cannon brought the country numbers Eddie Noack’s No News Is Good News and Hank Cochran’s My Dying Day to the studio. Irrespective of the source, these are very much in keeping with the rest of the package.

Some titles might suggest a low, even funereal, mood, but these are rendered in a matter of fact way with a large dose of dry humour, soul and sensitive consideration of the subject. Sizemore puts all of that into his singing and the listener is very aware of that throughout.

I have already mentioned Wayne Fields and John Pennell, but this album is noted as being by The Charlie Sizemore Band, and Sizemore has gathered together a worthy troupe with two others in Danny Barnes (mandolin, banjo and vocals) and Matt DeSpain (Dobro ¬Æ, Hawaiian guitar and vocals). They all combine to support the vocals and enhance Sizemore’s wonderfully expressive voice. The harmony vocals, whether two-part or a trio, admirably underscore Sizemore’s mellow tones.

This is a consistently top quality CD and Rounder Records did very well to pick it up and release it when it was on offer.

In the interview, Sizemore recalls how he came to join Stanley as a member of The Clinch Mountain Boys.

It was 1977‚ĶI was playing with with Melvin and Ray ‚Äì the Goins Brothers. I played lead guitar. During this time, I became fairly well acquainted with Keith Whitley. In September of that year, Renfro Profit, who was playing guitar with Ralph, left the band. Keith wanted to get me into the band playing lead guitar, so he asked me to come down and play the shows with Ralph at Ralph’s festival. Ralph liked what he heard and everybody seemed happy, and Keith said he’d give me a call. I left there thinking ‚Äì and I think virtually everyone around was thinking ‚Äì that I was going to work with Ralph playing lead guitar. It didn’t turn out that way because Danny Marshall, who had previously played with Ralph, ended up getting the job.

Then Keith left the band in November of 1977. Ralph asked me to sing a few songs with him, and I did. And then he asked me if I would come on stage with him and sing a few songs, and I did. And he said I’ll call you on Monday. And guess what? He called me on Monday. That’s how it began and lasted for the next nine years‚Ķ

You can read the entire interview on the Rounder site.

For more details on Good News, read this earlier post on the CD than was published on The Bluegrass Blog in June.

As of this morning, neither Rounder’s nor Charlie’s sites offer audio samples from Good News, but you can hear short clips from each song in iTunes. There is also a single song (I’ve Fallen And I Can’t Get Up) on Charlie’s MySpace page. Samples should be available elsewhere soon.

Update 8/27: Samples are now available on Rounder’s site.

Charlie has put together a short video that highlights his career in bluegrass – from the early days with Ralph Stanley to the present – plus highlights and discussion about the new release.

Watch it on Charlie’s web site, or click the player below.

He was a member of the legendary Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, formed by Ray and Charlie Cline in 1938. This group has been regarded by many early bluegrass historians as providing a “missing link” in the development of what became bluegrass music from the old time string bands and popular brother duets of the 1930s. Other members of Lonesome Pine Fiddlers during their nearly 30 year run included future bluegrass luminaries like Bobby Osborne and Paul Williams.

Ray joined the group with his brother Melvin in 1951, and they remained members until The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers disbanded temporarily in 1955, resurfacing in 1961 with the Goins brothers and Curly Ray and Ezra Cline. The band had a major brush with bluegrass history in 1954 when they turned down the Martha White sponsorship that then went to Flatt & Scruggs.

After the Fiddlers broke up in 1963, Ray and Melvin performed together as The Goins Brothers until Ray’s heart attack in 1994 slowed him down. Ray retired in 1997, while Melvin continued as Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain. Ray would share the stage with his brother on occasion, mostly close to home in eastern Kentucky.

There are a few more details, including funeral arrangements, in a piece published today in The Appalachian News-Express.

Charlie Sizemore had this to say about his departed friend:

I’ve known Ray Goins for over thirty years and known of him ever since I can remember. He and Melvin gave me my first job when I was a kid and I traveled with them for the better part of a year.

So I know what I’m talking about when I say this: On the day of Curly Ray Cline’s funeral, Ray and I were talking outside the church and the conversation turned to some of the inflated egos we’d seen over the years. Ray said, “Charlie, I’ve never thought I was better than anyone.”

He was wrong on this point. I’ve never known a better man. He was, to quote Curly Ray, “solid.” And also, I’ll add, a sorely underrated musician. Not that he would mind.

I’m among many who has lost a friend. I’ll miss him.

Kerry Hay of Hay Holler Records, where The Goins Brothers recorded in the 1990s, remembers him with fondness.

I had never met Ray Goins before the Goins Brothers signed on with Hay Holler Records in 1993. My remembrances and opinions of him can be summed up in a few statements:

In addition to being a fine banjo player, and one of the top vocalists I have heard in bluegrass, he was one of the finest gentlemen, in any walk of life, I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.

He was always upbeat and friendly and always kept a positive attitude – I don’t ever recall seeing a frown on his face.

He obviously got great pleasure out of playing bluegrass music for the music itself. Bluegrass has lost a great and under-appreciated artist.

Although the actual signing took place a few months ago, Rounder Records has recently announced the signing of revered bluegrass singer, band leader and attorney Charlie Sizemore.

At the same time, Rounder has announced the August 14th release of Sizemore’s first album for the label, Good News (ROU 0591). The 14-track CD is the first new studio album from Sizemore in five years. As of today (6/19), there are no audio samples on the Rounder site, but one track from the new CD, I’ve Fallen And I Can’t Get Up, can be previewed on Charlie’s MySpace page.

A powerful songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Ralph Stanley, Jimmy Martin, Doyle Lawson and Dry Branch Fire Squad to name a few, Charlie Sizemore contributes four new original songs to Good News. Among them the tongue-in-cheek Alison’s Band, reflecting Sizemore’s dry sense of humour that fans have to come to love. Other highlights include songs by Dixie and Tom T. Hall, Harley Allen, and veteran songwriter Hank Cochran. While Sizemore considers the record a bit “rough around the edges,” this is only in the sense that the record was recorded pretty much straight-ahead and live in the studio. With Good News Sizemore and co-producer Buddy Cannon shared the common goal of wanting to make a record that feels like and sounds like the records Charlie heard and liked while he was growing up.

Sizemore’s vocals are as restrainedly powerful and as unique as ever, and he considers co-producer Buddy Cannon to be his equal as the moving force behind the record and its making. Though it was done “live and quick,” Silver Bugle is a song the idea for which, Sizemore has carried around with him for the last fifteen years. It’s an evocation of a Civil War era event from his native part of Kentucky. Throughout the album, Sizemore’s singing is soulful and heartfelt, bringing a new level of emotion and insight to songs new and old. Much of the source of his powerful, yet subtle, emotional style comes from the world in which he grew up, Sizemore being one of the few contemporary bluegrass singers to have learned at the feet of the original generation of mountain singers and performers, from rural eastern Kentucky in an area where the Stanley Brothers were like gods, more popular and better-known than any other of the music’s founders.

After playing with his father, other local notables and Melvin Goins, Charlie Sizemore was hired at age of just 17 to take over from the departing Keith Whitley in Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys. He stayed with Stanley for over nine years, before leaving to start his own band and to attend college and later law school. He graduated with honours, and now maintains a successful law practice in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, in addition to his musical endeavours. Ralph Stanley said recently:

“Charlie Sizemore gave me nine and a half years of honest and dependable service as lead singer in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was one of my top lead singers that I have had through the years. Charlie knows music and knows how to make it right. I would highly recommend this CD.”

Sizemore provides this brief story about what led up to him signing for Rounder, as well as offering some comforting encouragement for ambitious young bands.

“Buddy Cannon, who has known Ken Irwin for probably two decades, sent him a copy of our rough mixes. I wasn’t particularly hopeful – if you’re sending an unsolicited recording to Ken you’d better hit the bulls eye or at least come really close. In the end, Rounder thought I deserved a chance and that’s all I can ask for. And I’m all the more appreciative because I think my best work is in front of me. The bard said there are no second acts in American life. I’ve set about to prove him wrong. We’ll see.”

The Charlie Sizemore Band is Charlie Sizemore (lead vocals, guitar), Danny Barnes (mandolin, vocals), Matt DeSpain (Dobro), John Pennell (bass) and Wayne Fields (banjo). The band is currently on tour and will perform at the 2007 I.B.M.A. World of Bluegrass Conference in October.