The widely-anticipated Stanley Brothers collection from Time-Life which we told you about earlier this year, is scheduled for release later this week. The Stanley Brothers - The Definitive Collection (1947-1966) will ship on April 19, a three CD set with a 40 page, color booklet, which includes selections that span their entire recording career.

This is a very attractive package, with much to offer to long-time Stanley aficionados, while providing a grand introduction to younger bluegrass fans just discovering their music. The photography is beautifully reproduced, and Gary Reid’s extensive notes are not to be missed. Folks, this is one you don’t want to download online.

The booklet also contains a detailed discography with original label and release date information for each track. I was especially taken by the inclusion of so many of the original cover images in the booklet, as well as their songbooks from the period.

Of course, the music is the main attraction, and I have enjoyed these CDs from start to finish - many times. The remastering of the original audio is top notch, and the sequencing of songs allows you to savor the music as it progressed chronologically. Several rare and a few previously unreleased tracks are featured, including live performances.

I don’t imagine that it is possible to overstate the importance of The Stanley Brothers in the history and development of bluegrass music. Any serious student of bluegrass who is not intimately familiar with this material has an incomplete education. Do yourself a favor and add this fine collection to your music library.

Audio samples for all 60 tracks can be found on the Time-Life site. The CD set should be available later this week wherever bluegrass music is sold, or directly from Time-Life.

This post is a contribution from Richard Thompson, a founding member of the British Bluegrass Music Association. He is also a longstanding contributor to British Bluegrass News, a quarterly print publication where he also briefly served as editor. He wrote the Roots & Branches column for International Country Music News for some years, and is now preparing a factbook (catalog of important events) on the life of Bill Monroe.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Carter Glen Stanley’s passing in a Bristol, Tennessee hospital. He was just 41 years old. As Ricky Skaggs comments below, it is hard to appreciate that forty years since Carter Stanley succumbed to an illness that had been troubling him for a while.

Despite such a passage of time Carter Stanley’s music can be enjoyed well onto the 21st century and beyond. A brief glance at the Fresh Sounds In The World Of Bluegrass column in the latest edition of the IBMA newsletter, International Bluegrass, will reveal that Carter Stanley’s name is noted twice as the source of songs on recent recordings by Dave Evans and Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain. This is indicative of a bluegrass legacy that has really stood the test of time.

We have asked a number of people to share their thoughts about Carter Stanley. I should like to thank them all for their contribution and we must acknowledge particularly the help that James Alan Shelton and Jeanie Stanley have provided during the course of compiling this tribute to Carter Stanley.

Current lead guitarist for the Clinch Mountain Boys, James Alan Shelton, who wrote in the October edition of Bluegrass Unlimited about Carter Stanley’s last full show - at Bean Blossom, October 16, 1966 - has admired Carter Stanley from afar.

“To me, Carter Stanley was the greatest natural lead singer who ever lived. He sang right on pitch and his song writing was second to none. As the front man and emcee for the Stanley Brothers he always had a way of saying just the right thing to introduce a song, or maybe tell a joke or a story about the songs to keep the show moving along. He was also a good rhythm guitar player. By all accounts he was a highly intellectual person, a deep thinker, who was on a different level than most people. I felt like he carried himself with a lot of class. My only regret is that I never got to meet him. But by first hand accounts from people who did know him, I think he would have been a friend.”

Ricky Skaggs, along with the late Keith Whitley, grew up singing Stanley Brothers songs. In one notable incident, the duo were invited on stage to cover for a delayed Ralph Stanley, who, when he heard them, was so impressed with their renditions of classic Stanley Brothers’ songs that he invited them to join the Clinch Mountain Boys when they were old enough to go on the road. Ricky and Keith made several recordings with and without Ralph. As they say, the rest is history. But Carter Stanley is far from history as far as Ricky Skaggs is concerned.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been 40 years since the passing of Carter Stanley. (more…)

Here’s a link to a post on a Japanese bluegrass blog, announcing that the monthly jam in Tokyo will be themed around Stanley Brothers music. The post features a cool picture of Carter and Ralph. Check it out.

We posted a few months ago about the stage show produced at Barter Theater in Abingdon, VA about the life of The Stanley Brothers, called Man Of Constant Sorrow. At that time, we mentioned that the show, while only appearing then at Barter Theater, would be touring the US with a professional company later in 2006.

That company is now being assembled, and auditions are still open. Casting is being handled by Paul Russell Casting in New York, and they are currently seeking three principal characters:

RALPH STANLEY Early 30″s to mid 40″s. Great banjo player. Actor must be able to sing high bluegrass harmonies for which Ralph is famous and play banjo well. A man of subtle humor and deep thoughts, Ralph is soft spoken with a big voice. Good comic delivery a must plus charisma as a performer. Ralph had a strong bond with his brother, Carter. Southwestern Virginia Appalachian accent a must”

FIDDLE PLAYER / RECORD EXECUTIVE / ANGEL OF DEATH Early 30″s to mid 40″s. An actor-musician who can play bluegrass / country fiddle well, sing harmonies and do character work. Southwestern Virginia Appalachian accent a must. Actor portrays one of the musicians from The Clinch Mountain Boys (one of the Stanley Brothers singing groups). Actor also plays a slick record label executive and the Angel of Death. The last two personas are not to be confused as one”

ACTOR WHO PLAYS STAND-UP BASS Early 30″s to late 40″s. A male actor-musician who can play stand-up bass well, sing harmonies and do character work. Actor portrays one of the musicians from The Clinch Mountain Boys. Southwestern Virginia Appalachian accent a must”

The tour is expected to run from the middle of September through November 2006, and then resume again for a second run January-March 2007. Resumes need to be submitted to Paul Russell Casting by February 2006.

You can find submission details on their web site.

Man Of Constant Sorrow is the name of a stage show on the life of the Stanley Brothers which was written by playwright Douglas Pote, who also wrote a recent stage production on the life of the Carter Family, Keep On The Sunny Side. The Stanley show was produced and ran this summer at The Barter Theater in Abingdon, VA.

The show mixes live musical performance with dialog and dramatic representations, and The Barter Theater’s web site describes it this way:

Man of Constant Sorrow reveals the struggle of Ralph and his older brother Carter, to find an audience for their music at a time when bluegrass and mountain music were being rapidly replaced by country and rock. Folk, traditional gospel and bluegrass were the music of their home in the hills of Southwestern Virginia. Record companies and radio station managers urged the brothers to get in on the rock n” roll craze led by Elvis Presley, but they refused to give up the music on which they were raised. They remained loyal to their family, their roots, and who they truly were.

The show is currently doing a road show tour through Virginia and Tennessee, and a review was published in the Roanoke Times on October 10.

UPDATE: We just heard from Debbie Addison, Marketing Director for Barter Theater, that Man Of Constant Sorrow will be touring on a much larger scale, with a professional touring company, in the latter part of 2006 and early 2007. Keep an eye on The Bluegrass Blog for more details as they are announced.