Traveling the High Way Home: Ralph Stanley and the World of Traditional Bluegrass Music

by John Wright

John Wright's collection of interviews and stories about Ralph Stanley puts readers around a campfire at a bluegrass festival while old-timers weave yarns far into the night. Told by those who create, produce, stage, love, and virtually live for old-time mountain music, these tales come from the longtime coworkers, sidemen, promoters, friends, and others in the orbit of the music legend. The storytellers include a scholar who knew Stanley from the early days, the housewife who ran the Stanley Brothers Fan Club, and a souvenir seller for whom the discovery of Stanley's music was almost a religious experience. Wright also uses these invaluable oral histories as a foundation to describe and evaluate Stanley's long career with the Clinch Mountain Boys and the development of his music after the death of his brother Carter. An appendix covers Ralph's prolific recording activity through the mid-1990s, including a breathtaking forty-five albums compromising more than 550 songs and tunes.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. ^4

Reviews

[Randy Crouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like Ralph Stanley, you'll like this book and who doesn't like Ralph Stanley. A good history of a true ambassador of Old Time mountain music. A remarkable chronicle of a remarkable career of a humble and talented musician.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wright's opening overview of the first four decades of Ralph's career is brief but nearly perfect. The following oral history-styled interviews are only occasionally revelatory but essential for fans.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting stories and perspective on bluegrass music.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting to learn how and where musicians got there gigs.