DON RIGSBY
Doctor’s Orders: A Tribute To Ralph Stanley
Rebel 1841

www.rebelrecords.com
 

Even if Don Rigsby had not become captivated by the music of Ralph Stanley at the age of five (and met him a year later), the odds are pretty good that at some point in his career as an eminent bluegrass singer, instrumentalist, folklorist and producer he would have ended up doing a Stanley tribute album anyway. Rigsby’s hometown of Isonville, Kentucky, is no more than about 75 miles (albeit, very rugged miles) as the crow flies from Stanley’s Clinch Mountain homeland in the far western reaches of Virginia. Stanley’s music has always been of and about the remote Appalachian regions where arbitrary things like state borders are largely irrelevant, and the people carve out an existence that remains to the modern day difficult and demanding. Upon reaching adulthood, Rigsby entered the world of professional bluegrass music, gaining notice along the way as a sideman on mandolin and guitar for banjo legend J. D. Crowe among others. Throughout most of the 1990s he was part of the lineup of the Lonesome River Band (with Sammy Shelor, Ronnie Bowman and Kenny Smith) in what was widely regarded as the peak of that band’s long run. Rigsby has also been part of (and producer for) the four recorded projects of the bluegrass “supergroup” Longview. In short, when it comes to seriously traditional bluegrass, there are few with better creds than Don Rigsby.

And, of course, much of that traditional bluegrass stems directly from the career of Ralph Stanley. Returning from military service in 1946, Ralph was still a teenager when his brother Carter took him straight from the bus to a local radio station, beginning a career that nearly seven decades later would still be going (though Ralph has announced plans to fully retire after the 2014 festival season). Following Carter’s death in 1966 Ralph soldiered on, filling his band with future mainstream country stars like Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley as well as bluegrass icons like Larry Sparks. The “Doctor’s Orders” in the title of this tribute refers to the honorary doctorate Stanley received in the mid-1970s, and “Dr. Ralph” has long been an affectionate title among his fans.

Rigsby’s strong baritone is a natural fit for “Stanley music,” but he wisely recruited a number of current and former members of Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys to give this disc added vocal and instrumental authenticity: Skaggs makes an appearance, along with singer Charlie Sizemore, while sterling flatpick guitarist James Alan Shelton and banjo player Steve Sparkman add a heavy dose of the core Stanley sound. And Ralph himself adds vocals to a couple of tunes, “Geronimo’s Daughter” (which he co-wrote) and “Home In The Mountains” and plays banjo on “Traveling The Highway Home.” An additional remarkable aspect of the album is that while there are very familiar Stanley standards like “Little Maggie,” Rigsby has chosen to revisit some of the more obscure treasures from the 150+ albums Ralph Stanley has put out over these 70 years: “Wild Geese Cry Again,” “Sinner Man,” and the wonderfully done “The Water Lily.” Tribute albums can often be a disappointing mixed-bag, but Rigsby knows his subject well and hits the mark dead-on.

— John Lupton