"Pure Country" - Original Soundtrack To Be Released On Vinyl 9/15

For the 25th Anniversary of the movie "PURE COUNTRY," the soundtrack will be released for the first time on vinyl on September 15. George Strait will also incorporate some of the songs featured in the movie in his two Las Vegas shows earlier that month. 

How time flies, in 1992 my former editor, Christine Mäder and I went to Dallas to attend a press junket for the movie release "Pure Country." She was interviewing the main actors for our publication, Country Music, while I was covering it for Swiss Television. Isabel Glasser (Harley Tucker) was charming, Lesley Ann Warren (Lula Rogers) was a blast, we had so many laughs and George Strait (Wyatt "Dusty" Chandler)  was George Strait, slightly uncomfortable with the media thing and actually kinda reliving his movie role in the movie. Too bad, our favorite actor in the movie, Rory Calhoun playing Harley's wry grandfather Ernest, didn't make the junket.

Even though the movie was a commercial flop with just $ 15 million dollars coming in and never saw a world wide release; my TV tapes are still collecting dust somewhere in an archive in Switzerland, the soundtrack did much, much better.

Besides Greatest Hits and other Compilations, "Pure Country" is Strait's most successful album to date, with sales over 6 million units. The latest figures by the RIAA are from 1999, so I'm sure that with digital downloads we are now closer to 7 million. Talking about downloads the tearjerker hit single from the climax of the movie reached number 1 in December of '92. "Cross My Heart" (Steve Dorff, Eric Kaz) has sold almost a million copies per digital downloads since it was made available on that platform, according to Roughstock. Another composition by Dorff, who also was in charge for the whole musical soundtrack, "Heartland," co-written with John Bettis also reached the Top Spot on the Billboard Country Charts. Even though not as hokey as the movie or its main single, "Heartland" did not belong to the best material on the soundtrack, which by the way was the first album by Strait that had Tony Brown as a producer.





The real or should we say pure country song, released as the third single "When Did You Stop Lovin' Me?" by Texan Monty Holmes, who later contributed other hits to Strait, including "Troubadour," reached the top ten, but stalled on #6. But there are other gems on this soundtrack, there is a subtle countrified version of "Last In Love" originally recorded by Nicolette Larson and by co-writer J.D. Souther (together with Glenn Frey) on albums in the late 70s. The western-swing influenced "Overnight Male," first recorded by B.B. Watson, penned by Kim Williams, Ron Harbin, and Richard Fagan, who passed a year ago, made it in the charts, without ever being released as a single. I always thought the Phil Thomas/Hal Newman song "Baby Your Baby" should have been a radio single, advising the guys to better put some lovin' into their relationship. Because if you do it right, "She Lays It All On The Line," that rockabilly tinged tune came from Texas songsmith Clay Blaker and also gave him the title of his 1993 album "LAYING IT ALL ON THE LINE."





"PURE COUNTRY" also features two singles written or co-written by Jim Lauderdale, the beautiful "The King Of Broken Hearts" and the up-tempo "Where The Sidewalk Ends," which both were originally released on Lauderdale's 1991 major debut, the fantastic "PLANET OF LOVE." That first one belongs into the pantheon of country classics, also recorded by Mark Chesnutt and Lee Ann Womack, due to the times, never got the exposure, it really deserves.
My favorite track is probably the remake of an old tune, also recorded by Ernest Tubb and Carl Smith, written by Mel Tillis and Wayne P. Walker, the deliciously sad ballad "Thoughts of a Fool" with its exquisite leading steel guitar part. Not sure which of the three players mentioned in the liner notes actually brings me all that joy. But I guess it's Sonny Garrish over Buddy Emmons (who did it on Tubb's version, which you should check out as well) or Doug Livingston. It's just pure bliss of sadness.



"PURE COUNTRY" Soundtrack - ★★★★/★★★★★ (4 out of 5)

So if you still like vinyl, like some traditional country fans do, this is definitely an album you want to put into your collection. As an extra for the 25th Anniversary, Austin movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema will be showing the original movie in its 28 locations across the country.

Sources: Essential Broadcast Media, YouTube, Recollections

Rhonda & Daryle go "Above And Beyond" - Duet Album "American Grandstand" out in July

Late August last year, "Queen of Bluegrass" Rhonda Vincent announced on her Facebook page that she's recording a duet album with 90's traditionalist Daryle Singletary and posted the above picture of them both in the recording studio.

Singletary, a mid 90's traditionalist, who had Rhonda singing background on his debut album on Giant and later on his indie releases was all excited “If you love traditional country music, and remember songs originally sung by well-known duet partners like George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, and Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens, this is a must-have CD that we are extremely excited about.”

Rhonda, who branched out from Bluegrass to traditional Country Music before, like on her 2014 album "Only Me" praised Singletary as one of the best singers in this generation of country music and went on to praise him even more: “It’s so fun to sing with someone who challenges me as a singer. The songs were given great thought, along with one that was totally unexpected. It’s one of the best projects I’ve ever been part of. I am so proud of this recording, and I cannot wait for the world to hear our wonderful creation, American Grandstand.”

Now about a month (release date is July 7th) before "AMERICAN GRANDSTAND" is hitting the stores, Daryle and Rhonda are heavily promoting it during CMA week (formerly Fan Fair) in Nashville with several shows. Being one of 20 acts not to miss according to music magazine "Rolling Stone," one of the shows they performed together at, was the "Music City Roots - Live From the Factory" Show hosted by Jim Lauderdale on June 7th, where the opening track of "American Grandstand," the Harlan Howard penned classic "Above And Beyond" was then shared to YouTube. First recorded by Wynn Stewart as a single in 1960, then by Buck Owens later that year, and then Rodney Crowell in the '80s, who celebrated his fifth number one song with the classic, it's nice to see that timeless song done as a duet.



Besides "Above And Beyond" and their current single "One" the list below reveals the full tracklist of "AMERICAN GRANDSTAND," the title track actually a new song actually written by Rhonda Vincent as part of their collaboration.

American Grandstand Track Listing:
1. Above and Beyond
2. One
3. After The Fire Is Gone
4. American Grandstand
5. Slowly But Surely
6. As We Kiss Our World Goodbye
7. Can’t Live Life
8. Golden Ring
9. We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds
10. Louisiana Woman Mississippi Man
11. A Picture of Me Without You
12. Up This Hill and Down

If you would like to pre-order the "American Grandstand" and get an immediate download of their current single "One," you can click here.

For more information about Music City Roots - Live From the Factory in Franklin, Tennessee, for a schedule of upcoming artists performing on the show and a direct link to see a streaming video, visit their official website - you may also find information on their facebook page


Sources: YouTube; musiccityroots.com; Webster PR; rollingstone.com; rhondavincent.com; darylesingletary.net

TV Alert - Dr. Ralph Stanley's Funeral To Be Broadcast Live

Dr. Ralph Stanley's funeral will not only be open to the public today, but will also be broadcast live on WYMT (If you click the link it will take you to the live streaming feed of the TV station).
The funeral will take place deep in the hills of Virginia at the Hills of Home Park, where the Dr. Ralph Stanley Annual Hills of Home Memorial Weekend Bluegrass Festival takes place for almost five decades.

Pallbearers will be close family members, son Ralph Stanley II, grandsons Ralph Stanley III, Nathan Stanley, Evan Stout, son-in-laws Bryan Marshall and Jason Armes as well as Walter Carlton. 

Honorary pallbearers will be Ricky Skaggs, Josh Turner, Jim Lauderdale, Dewey Brown, Ralph Murphy, Bobby Hammons, and all Clinch Mountain Boys in attendance.

The funeral starts at 6pm (5pm CDT, 12am Central European Time) and will feature  a Masonic Service (Freimaurer), as Stanley was a member of the masons, Frank Newsome and Eva Murphy will be officiating the funeral and VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post 8979 will conduct a VFW graveside service to honor Stanley's service in the US Army during World War II.  

Clinch Mountain Boys member and former bassist (1951 - 1966), the late George Shuffler was quoted in the Bristol Herald Courier: 

“That little feller left the mountains and took this music all over the world,” Shuffler said. “But the mountains never left him.” 

The music videos below feature two of the honorary pallbearers together with Dr. Ralph Stanley, Jim Lauderdale in the first one doing "I Feel Like Singing Today" from Merlefest and fiddler Dewey Brown with the Clinch Mountain Boys doing "Orange Blossom Special" at Dewey Fest.

Sources: Bristol Herald Courier, YouTube, WYMT, Ralph Stanley Festival, Ralph Stanley FB

Bluegrass Patriarch Ralph Stanley Passes At 89

Bluegrass Music Patriarch - Ralph Stanley 2/25/27 - 6/23/16 -  -   - Photo © Michael Wilson / Webster PR

Ralph Stanley, a patriarch of Appalachian music who with his brother Carter helped expand and popularize the genre that became known as bluegrass, died Thursday from difficulties with skin cancer. He was 89.

Stanley was born and raised in southwest Virginia, a land of coal mines and deep forests where he and his brother formed the Stanley Brothers and their Clinch Mountain Boys in 1946. Their father would sing them old traditional songs like "Man of Constant Sorrow," while their mother, a banjo player, taught them the old-time clawhammer style, in which the player's fingers strike downward at the strings in a rhythmic style.

Heavily influenced by Grand Ole Opry star Bill Monroe, the brothers fused Monroe's rapid rhythms with the mountain folk songs from groups such as the Carter Family, who hailed from this same rocky corner of Virginia.

The Stanleys created a distinctive three-part harmony that combined the lead vocal of Carter with Ralph's tenor and an even higher part sung by bandmate Pee Wee Lambert. Carter's romantic songwriting professed a deep passion for the rural landscape, but also reflected on lonesomeness and personal losses.

Songs like "The Lonesome River," uses the imagery of the water to evoke the loss of a lover, and "White Dove," describes the mourning and suffering after the death of a mother and father. In 1951, they popularized "Man of Constant Sorrow," which was also later recorded by Bob Dylan in the '60s.

The brothers were swept into the burgeoning folk movement and they toured the country playing folk and bluegrass festivals during the '60s, including the Newport Folk Festival in 1959 and 1964.



But when Carter died of liver disease in 1966, Ralph wasn't sure he could continue. His brother had been the main songwriter, lead singer and front man, and Ralph, by his own account, was withdrawn and shy, although he had overcome some of his early reticence.

"Within weeks of his passing, I got phone calls and letters and telegrams and they all said don't quit. They said, 'We've always been behind you and Carter, but now we'll be behind you even more because we know you'll need us,'" Stanley told The Associated Press in 2006.

After Carter's death, Ralph drew even deeper from his Appalachian roots, adopting the a cappella singing style of the Primitive Baptist church where he was raised. He reformed the Clinch Mountain Boys band to include Ray Cline, vocalist Larry Sparks and Melvin Goins. He would change the lineup of the band over the years, later including Jack Cooke, and mentored younger artists like Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs, who also performed with him.

Dylan and Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia praised his work and, in the case of Dylan, joined him for a remake of the Stanley Brothers' "Lonesome River" in 1997.

He was given an honorary doctorate of music from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, in 1976, and he was often introduced as "Dr. Ralph Stanley." He performed at the inaugurations of U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, was given a "Living Legends" medal from the Library of Congress and a National Medal of Arts presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and President George W. Bush. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2000.

But at age 73, he was introduced to a new generation of fans in 2000 due to his chilling a cappella dirge "O Death" from the hit Coen Brothers' "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" movie soundtrack. The album was a runaway hit, topping the Billboard 200 chart, as well as the country albums and soundtrack charts, and sold millions of copies.

"O Death" - Live


He won a Grammy for best male country vocal performance in 2002 — beating out Tim McGraw, Ryan Adams, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Lyle Lovett — and was the focus of a successful tour and documentary inspired by the soundtrack. The soundtrack, produced by T Bone Burnett, also won a Grammy for album of the year. The following year he and Jim Lauderdale would win a Grammy for best bluegrass album for "Lost in the Lonesome Pines."

Fun moment at the Grand Ole Opry - Jim Lauderdale, Ralph Stanley - She's Lookin' At Me


He said in an interview with The Associated Press in 2002 that younger people were coming to see his shows and hear his "old time music," and was enjoying the belated recognition.

"I wish it had come 25 years sooner," he said. "I am still enjoying it, but I would have had longer to enjoy it."

Despite health problems, he continued to record and tour into his 80s, often performing with his son Ralph Stanley II on guitar and his grandson Nathan on mandolin.

Stanley was born in Big Spraddle, Virginia and lived in Sandy Ridge outside of Coeburn, Virginia. His mother was Lucy Jane Smith Stanley and his father was Lee Stanley. He is survived by his wife Jimmie Stanley – they were to celebrate their 48th wedding anniversary on July 2nd. He is also survived by his children: Lisa Stanley Marshall, Tonya Armes Stanley and Ralph Stanley II; His grandchildren: Nathan Stanley, Amber Meade Stanley, Evan Stout, Ashley Marshall, Alexis Marshall, Taylor Stanley, and Ralph Stanley III; and great grandchild Mckenzie Stanley. Memorial service details are pending and will be announced shortly.

Source: Kirt Webster, YouTube