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Man of Constant Sorrow: My Life and Times
A giant of American music opens the book on his wrenching professional and personal journeys, paying tribute to the vanishing Appalachian culture that gave him his voice.
He was there at the beginning of bluegrass. Yet his music, forged in the remote hills and hollows of Southwest Virginia, has even deeper roots. In Man of Constant Sorrow , Dr. Ralph Stanley gives a surprisingly candid look back on his long and incredible career as the patriarch of old-time mountain music.
Marked by Dr. Ralph Stanley?s banjo picking, his brother Carter?s guitar playing, and their haunting and distinctive harmonies, the Stanley Brothers began their career in 1946 and blessed the world of bluegrass with hundreds of classic songs, including ?White Dove,? ?Rank Stranger,? and what has become Dr. Ralph?s signature song, ?Man of Constant Sorrow.? Carter died in 1966 after years of alcohol abuse, but Dr. Ralph Stanley carried on and is still at the top of his game, playing to audiences across the country today at age eighty-one. Rarely giving interviews, he now grants fans the book they have been waiting for, filled with frank recollections, from his boyhood of dire poverty in the Appalachian coalfields to his early musical success with his brother, to years of hard traveling on the road with the Clinch Mountain Boys, to the recent, jubilant revival of a sound he helped create.
The story of how a musical art now popular around the world was crafted by two brothers from a dying mountain culture, Man of Constant Sorrow captures a life harmonized with equal measures of tragedy and triumph.
He was there at the beginning of bluegrass. Yet his music, forged in the remote hills and hollows of Southwest Virginia, has even deeper roots. In Man of Constant Sorrow , Dr. Ralph Stanley gives a surprisingly candid look back on his long and incredible career as the patriarch of old-time mountain music.
Marked by Dr. Ralph Stanley?s banjo picking, his brother Carter?s guitar playing, and their haunting and distinctive harmonies, the Stanley Brothers began their career in 1946 and blessed the world of bluegrass with hundreds of classic songs, including ?White Dove,? ?Rank Stranger,? and what has become Dr. Ralph?s signature song, ?Man of Constant Sorrow.? Carter died in 1966 after years of alcohol abuse, but Dr. Ralph Stanley carried on and is still at the top of his game, playing to audiences across the country today at age eighty-one. Rarely giving interviews, he now grants fans the book they have been waiting for, filled with frank recollections, from his boyhood of dire poverty in the Appalachian coalfields to his early musical success with his brother, to years of hard traveling on the road with the Clinch Mountain Boys, to the recent, jubilant revival of a sound he helped create.
The story of how a musical art now popular around the world was crafted by two brothers from a dying mountain culture, Man of Constant Sorrow captures a life harmonized with equal measures of tragedy and triumph.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2009
36 people are currently reading
542 people want to read
About the author
Ralph Stanley
9 books4 followersRalph Stanley, also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. Stanley began playing music in 1946, originally with his brother Carter as part of The Stanley Brothers.
Stanley received numerous accolades, including an honorary Doctorate of Music; induction into the International Music Bluegrass Hall of Honor and the Grand Ole Opry; and a Grammy for one of his contributions to O Brother, Where Art Thou? He
maintained an active touring schedule through 2014.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Stanley received numerous accolades, including an honorary Doctorate of Music; induction into the International Music Bluegrass Hall of Honor and the Grand Ole Opry; and a Grammy for one of his contributions to O Brother, Where Art Thou? He
maintained an active touring schedule through 2014.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
March 26, 2013
My daddy raised me on old-time music, and hearing the songs today makes me homesick for the mountains. I also remember hearing that Ralph was a big Dylan fan, and had recordings of his folk songs put to banjo. When this book came out, I knew I had to read it. I read this book with another Stanley Brother fan ... Mr. Garrett, a blind man the same age as Ralph. Reading the memoirs aloud, I noticed my voice began to take on a "hillbilly" twang. Ralph wrote his story the way he talks ... country, down-home. Mr. Garrett had something to say about all of the anecdotes and musical history. When reading about the boyhood days of Ralph and his older brother Carter, Mr. Garrett said "it was like we were raised on the same front porch."
I especially liked how Ralph Stanley honored his mother and kept Carter's memory alive. He included stories about his various band members and other bluegrass legends, such as Reno & Smiley and Bill Monroe. I thoroughly enjoyed "A Man of Constant Sorrow." After reading the book, I went out and got his CD "Cry From the Cross." Since he was a boy singing at the Primitive Baptist church on Clinch Mountain, he was said to have the "100-year-old voice." Ralph sings from the heart and can make me cry. He jokes that he has finally grown into his voice, and he still has several years to go. May the Stanley Sound live on!
I especially liked how Ralph Stanley honored his mother and kept Carter's memory alive. He included stories about his various band members and other bluegrass legends, such as Reno & Smiley and Bill Monroe. I thoroughly enjoyed "A Man of Constant Sorrow." After reading the book, I went out and got his CD "Cry From the Cross." Since he was a boy singing at the Primitive Baptist church on Clinch Mountain, he was said to have the "100-year-old voice." Ralph sings from the heart and can make me cry. He jokes that he has finally grown into his voice, and he still has several years to go. May the Stanley Sound live on!
July 24, 2016
Although Dr. Ralph Stanley describes himself as "a man who don't much like to talk unless he's got something to say", it turns out that he has a whole lot to say, as this book weighs in at 452 pages. Sure, there's a little repetition -- understandably, since the work is cast as a series of reminiscences -- but Stanley's easy conversational style (assisted by journalist Eddie Dean) works perfectly here.
Ralph Stanley is one of the original giants in bluegrass music (although he prefers other terms for the music that he makes). At age 82, he's been a professional musician for some 60 years, yet only recently with the release of O Brother, Where Art Thou? has he really attained the wide recognition and acclaim that he has long deserved. While not exactly chronological, Stanley's memoir traces his story from the most humble beginnings in Big Spraddle Creek, Virginia to a world stage where he is instantly recognizable to millions for his songs "O, Death" and "Man of Constant Sorrow".
Over his long career Ralph Stanley has hired a lot of musicians, and he has been friends with a lot of famous bluegrass pickers and promoters. He's not averse to offering amusing personal anecdotes about many of those folks, and he also acknowledges the darker sides of some of them. But although Stanley occasionally hints at some wayward moments in his own past, he doesn't really get into any specifics. A little more self-revelation would have produced a more rounded portrait.
All books typically go through a final editing process prior to publication, and this one appears to be no exception. For example, there were widespread pre-publication reports that Stanley had described country singer Tim McGraw as someone who "wouldn't know a real country song if it kicked him in the ass" -- a description that was excised from the published text. One wonders what other such tidbits might also have missed the final cut.
As good as it is, this autobiography would have been even better had it included some photographs and an index. But those are small quibbles; Man of Constant Sorrow is mandatory reading for anyone interested in the Stanley Brothers or the development of early country/bluegrass music. How nice it would be if Bill Monroe had managed to write a comparable work about his own life (notwithstanding Stanley's remark that "anything you really need to know about Bill Monroe, you can find in his songs").
Ralph Stanley is one of the original giants in bluegrass music (although he prefers other terms for the music that he makes). At age 82, he's been a professional musician for some 60 years, yet only recently with the release of O Brother, Where Art Thou? has he really attained the wide recognition and acclaim that he has long deserved. While not exactly chronological, Stanley's memoir traces his story from the most humble beginnings in Big Spraddle Creek, Virginia to a world stage where he is instantly recognizable to millions for his songs "O, Death" and "Man of Constant Sorrow".
Over his long career Ralph Stanley has hired a lot of musicians, and he has been friends with a lot of famous bluegrass pickers and promoters. He's not averse to offering amusing personal anecdotes about many of those folks, and he also acknowledges the darker sides of some of them. But although Stanley occasionally hints at some wayward moments in his own past, he doesn't really get into any specifics. A little more self-revelation would have produced a more rounded portrait.
All books typically go through a final editing process prior to publication, and this one appears to be no exception. For example, there were widespread pre-publication reports that Stanley had described country singer Tim McGraw as someone who "wouldn't know a real country song if it kicked him in the ass" -- a description that was excised from the published text. One wonders what other such tidbits might also have missed the final cut.
As good as it is, this autobiography would have been even better had it included some photographs and an index. But those are small quibbles; Man of Constant Sorrow is mandatory reading for anyone interested in the Stanley Brothers or the development of early country/bluegrass music. How nice it would be if Bill Monroe had managed to write a comparable work about his own life (notwithstanding Stanley's remark that "anything you really need to know about Bill Monroe, you can find in his songs").
February 22, 2010
So far this is a very interesting autobiography by one of the foremost bluegrass banjo experts. He tells about the trials and pleasures of growing up way back in the hills of Virginia during a time long gone. Good descriptions of family relationships and childhood occupations written as though he is speaking to you in his local accent.
This book is an amazing memoir of places and people from the 1930s on up to the very present time. It was written just last year. Dr. Stanley has kept up with the modern goings on in the music business and in the world, and yet he has stayed true to himself and to his musical style. the descriptions of his famous brother Carter who died in the 1960s and of the many other band members who have come and gone are wistfully interesting. The little tidbits that you learn about the long life of someone whom you only know as a musician are fascinating. The descriptions of home and other places known to this travelling musician are quirky, fun, and sometimes horrifying. Altogether a great read for someone who is interested in American musical history.
This book is an amazing memoir of places and people from the 1930s on up to the very present time. It was written just last year. Dr. Stanley has kept up with the modern goings on in the music business and in the world, and yet he has stayed true to himself and to his musical style. the descriptions of his famous brother Carter who died in the 1960s and of the many other band members who have come and gone are wistfully interesting. The little tidbits that you learn about the long life of someone whom you only know as a musician are fascinating. The descriptions of home and other places known to this travelling musician are quirky, fun, and sometimes horrifying. Altogether a great read for someone who is interested in American musical history.
March 8, 2010
A fascinating, matter of fact, smooth flowing autobiography of a man who truly can be called a living legend in American roots music. The style is in Mr. Stanleys own words and it is like he is sitting on the front porch with you on a warm summers evening relating all the major events and influences in a long life well-lived to an old friend. Family, place, and faith are the major influences in his life, but always, always it is the music. Born in 1929, and major figure in bluegrass music and clawhammer style banjo, Mr Stanley and his older brother Carter were the Stanley Brothers. After Carter's death in 1966 Mr. Stanley has continued on and gained his widest fame with the release of the film Oh, Brother Where Art Thou? which featured him singing the haunting Oh, Death and also used the Stanley Brothers recording Angel Band. A beautifully told unique American life.
October 30, 2018
Whether he was singing with his brother Carter in The Stanley Brothers, on his own with The Clinch Mountain Boys or working in a film soundtrack like "O Brother Where Art Thou," Ralph Stanley always stayed true to his way of singing and playing old-time mountain music. He lived long enough to become a legend in American music the same way Bill Monroe did. His memoir is as distinctive as his music and he tells his story his own way and in his own way of speaking with some help from music journalist Eddie Dean. He didn't have an easy time in a tough business but that's part of what makes him a legend - his grit and determination. It's a fine read and the reader learns about the music and the people who helped him become what he was. A fine tribute to a unique and talented man. - BH.
January 22, 2010
The NPR reviewer liked this book because Dr. Ralph Stanley talked about people way back in the history of country music, people who have long been forgotten. Yes, he did. I'm not sure that I was as interested in them as the reviewer was, though. Dr. Stanley announced up front that he was just going to talk to us as though we were all sitting around the kitchen table. He said that he could use good grammar, but he was going to talk country. And he did. And he did. After awhile, it became easier to follow. What I liked was that he also talked trash and named names. Whoa! He's very proud of having been given an honarary doctorate by Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN, a school that we're very familiar with, having had a church within five miles of it. He calls himself Dr. Stanley, as you can see in the fine print at the bottom of the picture of the cover. He spent an amazing number of years driving around the country in a sedan with all the band members crammed in with him. But he'd throw important things in as asides, like "I was married once before, but it didn't work out," as he was telling about marrying his wife of 40+ yrs. (I've returned the book to the library, and I don't remember her name. Sorry.) For the very short version, read the last pages, starting with the chapter "O Brother". That's when he really became famous. He also throws in somewhere near the end that his tour bus was a half million dollars. Whew! At the time of his writing, he already had a half million miles on it. But that meant that he'd had it for a long time, and when did he quit driving around the country himself? The book was very frustrating that way. Also, I got tired of his harping on how he stuck to the Stanley Sound, and how his band had to dress just so and act just so. I'm not sure that I'd like him in person, but I admire his stamina. And I'm glad that I perservered and finished the book. Now I know.
Addendum---after searching the internet, I find that Dr. Stanley not only had the wife who was barely mentioned, but he had THREE children by her: two daughters and a son. As I recall, that son was mentioned only once, also. In the book, he leaves us to deduce that the daughters were his and Jimmie's. I looked up her name, too. Ralph II was his and Jimmie's. Ralph II plays in his band. Also in searching, I found that he's very closed-mouthed about his home life, and I find that odd. Not much of an auto-biography, if he doesn't tell us the basics. I'm lowering my recommendation for this book to a **. I can't even find the name of his first wife on the web anywhere. And what does the barely-mentioned son do with himself these days? Is he a rocket scientist, in jail, a small business owner, a farmer, what? It embarrasses me for the children that he can mention only the one who plays music with him.
Addendum---after searching the internet, I find that Dr. Stanley not only had the wife who was barely mentioned, but he had THREE children by her: two daughters and a son. As I recall, that son was mentioned only once, also. In the book, he leaves us to deduce that the daughters were his and Jimmie's. I looked up her name, too. Ralph II was his and Jimmie's. Ralph II plays in his band. Also in searching, I found that he's very closed-mouthed about his home life, and I find that odd. Not much of an auto-biography, if he doesn't tell us the basics. I'm lowering my recommendation for this book to a **. I can't even find the name of his first wife on the web anywhere. And what does the barely-mentioned son do with himself these days? Is he a rocket scientist, in jail, a small business owner, a farmer, what? It embarrasses me for the children that he can mention only the one who plays music with him.
Read
July 18, 2020 I chose to read this book because I love the movie, "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou." I did not know much at all about the Stanley Brothers and country music. I did work at Lincoln Memorial University where Dr. Stanley was given his doctorate and where he has performed. The main part I liked about the book was the places in Dickinson County and surrounding parts of VA that I have traveled thru and seen signs for as we traveled.
It was hard for me to keep all of the names of singers and musicians straight. It got a bit long for me.
It was hard for me to keep all of the names of singers and musicians straight. It got a bit long for me.
July 7, 2016
Ralph Stanley died on June 24 of this year. I had the pleasure of seeing him in large venues and small over a couple of decades. I first saw him at the UCLA folk festival in the early 1960s and then McCabes in LA and then a couple of larger venues and even a roadhouse called Ruby's - which was very close to his home. Over a very long career he stuck to his roots. He was one of the best shape note singers and his bluegrass banjo was unparalleled. With Bill Monroe, he brought traditional mountain music to a couple of generations of listeners. He recorded more than 200 albums over a career that spanned almost 70 years.
This book is very personal. It just sounds like the performer I came to know from his records and from seeing him perform in so many venues. He details his early life, his beginnings in music with brother Carter (who died of complications of cirrhosis in 1966), and his stardom late in life with his role in O Brother. One of the things I appreciated about him was his constant dedication to professionalism. He worked very hard at getting his music right.
If you like bluegrass music; if you are at all interested in figuring out how tough the life of a musician is; or even if you want to read a good mix of personal story and philosophy - this book is worth the time.
This book is very personal. It just sounds like the performer I came to know from his records and from seeing him perform in so many venues. He details his early life, his beginnings in music with brother Carter (who died of complications of cirrhosis in 1966), and his stardom late in life with his role in O Brother. One of the things I appreciated about him was his constant dedication to professionalism. He worked very hard at getting his music right.
If you like bluegrass music; if you are at all interested in figuring out how tough the life of a musician is; or even if you want to read a good mix of personal story and philosophy - this book is worth the time.
November 9, 2010
There are many reasons to read this book (yet another autobiography of an iconic musician), not the least of which is my name appearing in the acknowledgements. :) Ralph Stanley's story and voice are of a type that is fast disappearing -- the story of a man who made music because he loved it and the voice that rode every mile along the way. No corporate America shaped the sound of The Stanley Brothers. If you want a clear vision of what simple-minded politicians call "the American Dream", you will find it here.
Eddie Dean has done an excellent job of capturing both the story and the voice. He is an artist.
Eddie Dean has done an excellent job of capturing both the story and the voice. He is an artist.
December 14, 2009
Eddie Dean was able to draw out the good Dr. Ralph like no one ever has. The quiet, reserved bluegrass legend has a quite a story to tell -- a funny, tragic, inspiring tale that takes the reader back to the mountains of Southwest Virginia and winds through eight decades before culminating at the Grammy Awards. The best parts are about his Depression-era Appalachian childhood and the early days of the Stanley Brothers during the dawn of recorded country and bluegrass music. Maybe too much bluegrass for the non-fan, but Ralph's life is still worth every page.
January 7, 2010
I was surprised at the strength of the writing here. I guess writing songs for 60 years gives you some skills that you can then transfer to writing books. This book would be notable for the way it makes the monotonous road life of an ever-touring band interesting, but it actually is most important for its portrayal of Depression-era culture in Appalachia. Dr. Stanley's home region survives today as a (the?) bastion of relatively strong regional identity in a morass of American corporate homogeneity, but just think of what it was like 80 years ago.
May 11, 2013
This book is an excellent read for fans of bluegrass music. Ralph and his brother Carter were pioneers of the genre of music. As most of the "old time" bluegrass There is now a third generation on Stanley and Ralph is now a Doctor. There will never be another Ralph Stanley when he goes to pick in the quartet up in heaven that has the beloved Carter waiting for him.
May 29, 2014
Much like Ralph Stanley and his music, this book is a treasure. It's just like getting to sit and talk to the grandfather you never had about his incredible life. Which means that all the repetition and dull parts are there, but you love it nonetheless because it's authentic, inspiring, and insightful.
July 16, 2010
Great book for anyone interested in old time music, the music business, or growing up in the Appalachian Mountains.
January 13, 2011
Gotta love bluegrass, but if you do, a must read. Very skilfully told in his own words, without making the dialect sound awkward.
January 31, 2016
This is a joyful, heaping helping of a great life and life story.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
August 26, 2020
I have known of and listened to the music of Ralph Stanley since my earliest memories as a result of family and friends playing bluegrass music on local radio, much of the time played by local legendary DJ Zeke Mullins on WPAY and later on WNXT in Portsmouth, Ohio. But I also heard him on radio stations out of West Virginia and Kentucky as I lived in Wheelersburg, just across the river from Kentucky and down the road from Huntington, West Virginia. Even in my "rock and roll" days, I listened to bluegrass and old country standards. After becoming a Christian, I lost my taste for rock music completely and have listened to an "ecclectic" mix of classical baroque, Big Band and bluegrass in addition to various forms of sacred hymns, psalms and spiritual songs.
My interest is mainly in the music but I love biography so I suppose it is only to be expected that I enjoy getting to know the musicians. And because I take our eternal destiny seriously, I read HOPING to find out that my favorite musicians are right with God and go into eternity with Jesus Christ and not to a Lake of Fire.
What made this autobiography downright difficult for me to read (even though I enjoyed much of it along the way) was the fact that Ralph Stanley's idea of Christianity, or "religion", is so HORRIBLY unbiblical. From seeming to endorse a Medium who was a family friend as legit and as her Satanic conjuring to be acceptable, to the point at the end of the book where Stanley describes being "saved" and it having NOTHING to do with forgiveness of sins or the Gospel message of "how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"
This matters even more since Stanley sang Gospel music for the entirety of his career, did full albums of Gospel numerous times and claimed to be a Christian. He puts himself forward as "a believer" only to admit that he is NOT a believer.
He described being baptized and that the water did something to him as he came out of the water "a new man". Yet, at no point did he confess faith in the shed blood of Jesus or the power of the bodily resurrection of Jesus for eternal life. He only described some emotional or mystical experience and announced his membership in the Primitive Baptist Universalist denomation: a group of about 1,000 people in the Appalachian region, also called "no Hellers" who say THIS life is Hell so no one REALLY goes to Hell for rejecting Jesus.
I won't belabor my point, but this stuff is splattered throughout the book and is just a shame knowing that Ralph died with such anti-Biblical, heretical views.
In the meantime, you will read some very interesting bluegrass history. Some very personal accounts regarding Ralph's family, his brother and original lead singer named Carter, other Clinch Mountain Boy singers including Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley, etc. And whether Ralph is telling us about his hangup on suits and hats, the issues some men had with farting, the many pranks through the years involving Ex-Lax, etc., or the tales of life in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Bristol, Virginia,... There is plenty to enjoy and learn from in this book.
I will always listen to and enjoy the Stanley sound. But I will never shake the bittersweet feeling that comes knowing that Ralph was a Bible-rejecting heretick who believes everyone goes to Heaven whether they believe the Gospel or not and that there is no Hell even though Jesus talked more about Hell than any other Biblical author. That's just my honest assessment of this book and it's author.
My interest is mainly in the music but I love biography so I suppose it is only to be expected that I enjoy getting to know the musicians. And because I take our eternal destiny seriously, I read HOPING to find out that my favorite musicians are right with God and go into eternity with Jesus Christ and not to a Lake of Fire.
What made this autobiography downright difficult for me to read (even though I enjoyed much of it along the way) was the fact that Ralph Stanley's idea of Christianity, or "religion", is so HORRIBLY unbiblical. From seeming to endorse a Medium who was a family friend as legit and as her Satanic conjuring to be acceptable, to the point at the end of the book where Stanley describes being "saved" and it having NOTHING to do with forgiveness of sins or the Gospel message of "how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"
This matters even more since Stanley sang Gospel music for the entirety of his career, did full albums of Gospel numerous times and claimed to be a Christian. He puts himself forward as "a believer" only to admit that he is NOT a believer.
He described being baptized and that the water did something to him as he came out of the water "a new man". Yet, at no point did he confess faith in the shed blood of Jesus or the power of the bodily resurrection of Jesus for eternal life. He only described some emotional or mystical experience and announced his membership in the Primitive Baptist Universalist denomation: a group of about 1,000 people in the Appalachian region, also called "no Hellers" who say THIS life is Hell so no one REALLY goes to Hell for rejecting Jesus.
I won't belabor my point, but this stuff is splattered throughout the book and is just a shame knowing that Ralph died with such anti-Biblical, heretical views.
In the meantime, you will read some very interesting bluegrass history. Some very personal accounts regarding Ralph's family, his brother and original lead singer named Carter, other Clinch Mountain Boy singers including Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley, etc. And whether Ralph is telling us about his hangup on suits and hats, the issues some men had with farting, the many pranks through the years involving Ex-Lax, etc., or the tales of life in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Bristol, Virginia,... There is plenty to enjoy and learn from in this book.
I will always listen to and enjoy the Stanley sound. But I will never shake the bittersweet feeling that comes knowing that Ralph was a Bible-rejecting heretick who believes everyone goes to Heaven whether they believe the Gospel or not and that there is no Hell even though Jesus talked more about Hell than any other Biblical author. That's just my honest assessment of this book and it's author.
April 29, 2021
Ralph Stanley and what he did for music means a lot to me. We are both from Southwest Virginia and he is one of the area’s most famous sons. He was from Dickenson County, near where all of my grandparents grew up and lived for most of their lives. One of my grandmothers went to school with him at Ervinton High School and could remember him playing his banjo in the school library before he and his brother went off to make a name for themselves.
This memoir is written in Appalachian English, which gives it a homey, down to earth feel. It’s written the way Ralph talked and how his music is written too. He says at the beginning that he knows how to speak proper English, but he prefers to write in the English dialect he knows best. Knowing that, you really get a feel for the man that he was and the music that he played.
His style of music is unique, it’s more than just bluegrass. I can recognize his lonesome a cappella voice anywhere. His clawhammer banjo style is unique, and he is without a doubt, the greatest banjoist of all time alongside Earl Scruggs. There will never be another like him, and it’s a blessing that his music has been preserved forever in many places, including the Library of Congress.
His music career spanned over sixty years, from the late 40s up until his death just a few years ago. He and his brother Carter started the Stanley Brothers and then formed their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys. Ralph states that over the decades there were close to a hundred members of the Clinch Mountain Boys. Among them were a young Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley, who Ralph discovered and would ultimately go on to become great country artists in their own rights.
Ralph’s brother Carter died from alcoholism in 1966, and it’s a shame because his best days as a singer were still before him. Carter was the big brother and the leader, and after his death Ralph had to find the strength to carry on and find his own sound.
I have a lot of respect for Ralph Stanley and his true Appalachian stubbornness. He never left the mountains and moved to Nashville and never changed his style like so many do. He didn’t even join the Grand Ole Opry until the 90s. He had his sound and wanted to play his music. There aren’t musicians like him anymore. Despite this, he traveled the world, even amassing fans for his music in Japan, Europe, and Australia.
Ralph’s relationships with music greats like Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, AP Carter, and Bob Dylan were interesting to read about, but probably the most interesting part of Ralph’s life was the revival of his music career in the 2000s.
“O Brother Where Art Thou?” made him more famous than ever before when the movie and soundtrack came out. Ralph was in his seventies and long past his best days, or so one would have thought. He ended up winning a Grammy for his song “O Death” and the movie kindled a rebirth in old time music. This shows that certain songs are timeless, and legends like Ralph Stanley are too. Great book.
This memoir is written in Appalachian English, which gives it a homey, down to earth feel. It’s written the way Ralph talked and how his music is written too. He says at the beginning that he knows how to speak proper English, but he prefers to write in the English dialect he knows best. Knowing that, you really get a feel for the man that he was and the music that he played.
His style of music is unique, it’s more than just bluegrass. I can recognize his lonesome a cappella voice anywhere. His clawhammer banjo style is unique, and he is without a doubt, the greatest banjoist of all time alongside Earl Scruggs. There will never be another like him, and it’s a blessing that his music has been preserved forever in many places, including the Library of Congress.
His music career spanned over sixty years, from the late 40s up until his death just a few years ago. He and his brother Carter started the Stanley Brothers and then formed their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys. Ralph states that over the decades there were close to a hundred members of the Clinch Mountain Boys. Among them were a young Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley, who Ralph discovered and would ultimately go on to become great country artists in their own rights.
Ralph’s brother Carter died from alcoholism in 1966, and it’s a shame because his best days as a singer were still before him. Carter was the big brother and the leader, and after his death Ralph had to find the strength to carry on and find his own sound.
I have a lot of respect for Ralph Stanley and his true Appalachian stubbornness. He never left the mountains and moved to Nashville and never changed his style like so many do. He didn’t even join the Grand Ole Opry until the 90s. He had his sound and wanted to play his music. There aren’t musicians like him anymore. Despite this, he traveled the world, even amassing fans for his music in Japan, Europe, and Australia.
Ralph’s relationships with music greats like Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, AP Carter, and Bob Dylan were interesting to read about, but probably the most interesting part of Ralph’s life was the revival of his music career in the 2000s.
“O Brother Where Art Thou?” made him more famous than ever before when the movie and soundtrack came out. Ralph was in his seventies and long past his best days, or so one would have thought. He ended up winning a Grammy for his song “O Death” and the movie kindled a rebirth in old time music. This shows that certain songs are timeless, and legends like Ralph Stanley are too. Great book.
July 28, 2022
This is one of the best and most honest autobiographies that you will ever read in the category of bluegrass music.
Ralph Stanley and his brother Carter Stanley helped write the bluegrass songbook along with The Carter Family , Bill Monroe, and Flatt and Scruggs. Without those four acts, there would be no genre known as Bluegrass music. Together those groups are responsible for more than 1000 compositions and re-writes of old mountain songs and melodies that are still played today at each and every festival held. The music is timeless and will last forever.
Ralph Stanley played the one nighters, festivals,and concert venues for more than 60 years and in the latter stages of his life was recognized and revered as the master that he was.
The book starts at the beginning when he and brother Carter were boys. It takes you through the war and army years and then to the very beginnings of a hand to mouth lean years of a musical work in progress. Things started to get better as Carter's songwriting progressed and got better. Bill Monroe was not pleased at the prospect of another group so similar to his, mining the same influences as his own. Monroe did not fully understand until the 1970's that the Stanley sound actually strengthened the music he created rather than weakened his own. When festivals started happening in the 60's all the groups started to benefit. The music spread and became stronger with the next generation,leaving Monroe and Ralph and the Stanley sound as the bedrock that others hoped to attain one day in their music.
The second half of the book deals with the years on the road and all the adventures that come with it; the changing of the musicians, the deaths of some ,the stardom of others, and the hardships.
My favorite parts of the book are the chapters where Ralph comes to terms with his own mortality, where he is walking through the cemetery seeing all of the names of people he knew in his lifetime and giving his opinion an perspective of a life well lived and the miles he has traveled in his time. These chapters strike me as the most honest an heartfelt chapters I have ever read in an autobiography of any kind.
This is a great life story told by someone who was there at the beginning of Bluegrass and the country music field in general and is told in honest prose of a man who at the time of the writing was somewhat wealthy, yet lived a simpler styed life of a man who knew where he came from. 4-1\2 stars for Man of Constant Sorrow. Music ?lovers should read this one.
Ralph Stanley and his brother Carter Stanley helped write the bluegrass songbook along with The Carter Family , Bill Monroe, and Flatt and Scruggs. Without those four acts, there would be no genre known as Bluegrass music. Together those groups are responsible for more than 1000 compositions and re-writes of old mountain songs and melodies that are still played today at each and every festival held. The music is timeless and will last forever.
Ralph Stanley played the one nighters, festivals,and concert venues for more than 60 years and in the latter stages of his life was recognized and revered as the master that he was.
The book starts at the beginning when he and brother Carter were boys. It takes you through the war and army years and then to the very beginnings of a hand to mouth lean years of a musical work in progress. Things started to get better as Carter's songwriting progressed and got better. Bill Monroe was not pleased at the prospect of another group so similar to his, mining the same influences as his own. Monroe did not fully understand until the 1970's that the Stanley sound actually strengthened the music he created rather than weakened his own. When festivals started happening in the 60's all the groups started to benefit. The music spread and became stronger with the next generation,leaving Monroe and Ralph and the Stanley sound as the bedrock that others hoped to attain one day in their music.
The second half of the book deals with the years on the road and all the adventures that come with it; the changing of the musicians, the deaths of some ,the stardom of others, and the hardships.
My favorite parts of the book are the chapters where Ralph comes to terms with his own mortality, where he is walking through the cemetery seeing all of the names of people he knew in his lifetime and giving his opinion an perspective of a life well lived and the miles he has traveled in his time. These chapters strike me as the most honest an heartfelt chapters I have ever read in an autobiography of any kind.
This is a great life story told by someone who was there at the beginning of Bluegrass and the country music field in general and is told in honest prose of a man who at the time of the writing was somewhat wealthy, yet lived a simpler styed life of a man who knew where he came from. 4-1\2 stars for Man of Constant Sorrow. Music ?lovers should read this one.
September 26, 2021
I've been going diligently through every bluegrass, early country, and old-time book, periodical, publishing, and biography I can find. I'd call this a NOTABLE favorite among the materials I've checked out.
I'd say the first half of the book is the strongest. It's probably the most widely appealing to all readers, too. Ralph Stanley describes his life in such depth that I felt transported into his experiences, the atmosphere of his early childhood in deep coal country hollers, the early aspirations he and his brother Carter had to make it into music, the highs and downs of the road, the excitement of new career breakthroughs or struggles through professional drought, the pained tragedy of losing Carter young. For me, as someone who wants to know the everyday ins-and-outs of someone's life in a biography, this book delivered, down to humorous stories of bandmate pranks or other misadventures. Ralph Stanley's voice is kept respectfully in dialect, allowing readers to hear him all the clearer, and can give us the vibe of reading an American, culture-rich, Huck Finn-esque account, but with the real human life of someone in the last century.
I hold an enormous respect for Dr. Stanley in that he chose to disclose this much honest detail about what he experienced and felt. Some of that could have been unpleasant to revisit.
Through all of his powerful and personal recounting, I grew a much deeper respect and a much closer understanding of who the Stanley Brothers were as people, and could attach to the humans behind the music I've loved.
The second half of the book is less chronological and more topical. Some chapters were dedicated to topics (Ralph's experiences with the Folk Revival, or his Christian faith) and others to people (a chapter honoring Bill Monroe). For readers who love bluegrass and are familiar with names like John Duffey and Curly Ray Cline, this is an interesting opportunity to better understand who their favorite musicians are as people. I imagine for readers who aren't as knowledgeable about the musicians driving bluegrass, this would be a less interesting read.
For me, all of it was enjoyable and valuable. The knowledge and experiences that were imparted is one of a kind. What a treasure of a book.
I'd say the first half of the book is the strongest. It's probably the most widely appealing to all readers, too. Ralph Stanley describes his life in such depth that I felt transported into his experiences, the atmosphere of his early childhood in deep coal country hollers, the early aspirations he and his brother Carter had to make it into music, the highs and downs of the road, the excitement of new career breakthroughs or struggles through professional drought, the pained tragedy of losing Carter young. For me, as someone who wants to know the everyday ins-and-outs of someone's life in a biography, this book delivered, down to humorous stories of bandmate pranks or other misadventures. Ralph Stanley's voice is kept respectfully in dialect, allowing readers to hear him all the clearer, and can give us the vibe of reading an American, culture-rich, Huck Finn-esque account, but with the real human life of someone in the last century.
I hold an enormous respect for Dr. Stanley in that he chose to disclose this much honest detail about what he experienced and felt. Some of that could have been unpleasant to revisit.
Through all of his powerful and personal recounting, I grew a much deeper respect and a much closer understanding of who the Stanley Brothers were as people, and could attach to the humans behind the music I've loved.
The second half of the book is less chronological and more topical. Some chapters were dedicated to topics (Ralph's experiences with the Folk Revival, or his Christian faith) and others to people (a chapter honoring Bill Monroe). For readers who love bluegrass and are familiar with names like John Duffey and Curly Ray Cline, this is an interesting opportunity to better understand who their favorite musicians are as people. I imagine for readers who aren't as knowledgeable about the musicians driving bluegrass, this would be a less interesting read.
For me, all of it was enjoyable and valuable. The knowledge and experiences that were imparted is one of a kind. What a treasure of a book.
April 6, 2021
I'll give the book this much...you get a lot of Ralph, which, to a large degree, is what most folks reading this probably want. That said, a little editing wouldn't have hurt. This is nothing if not rambling. There is an odd detour into Ralph's theories of how local politcal elections worked in his home county back in the fifties, digressions intot he merits of hunting dogs, as well as countless stories of seemingly every practical joke every pulled while on tour...most involving lsipping someone a bunch of Ex Lax in some form or another. Point being, this thing can become downright edious at times. Furthermore, when it comes down to it, Ralph isn't a terribly interesting person, which isn't exactly a bad thing. He'd probably have told you the same thing himself and followed it up with some homespun wisom about how "most of the interestin' folks I've known have led short and troubled lives, and I'd just as sure avoid that." The best parts were where Ralph talked in depth about music, and in particular about Carter and the Stanley Brother's earliest days, as well as some of the portraits he paints of some of the bluegrass and country greats he has been friends with over the years. It frequently drags when he starts talking about his religious beliefs or when he focuses too long on past members of the Clinch Mountain Boys who may have been great musicians and good friends, but often come as other wise dull and unremarkable people who really don't warrant dozens of pages about their eating habits or obsessions with fox hunting.
September 3, 2021
I’ve loved bluegrass music and the Stanly Brothers and Ralph Stanley most of my 30 years. I had a natural interest in this topic and recognized many of the names mentioned in the book. I also was loosely familiar with the history of bluegrass music. This book however, was a fascinating read and allowed for deeper insights into the bluegrass music scene. Rarely do you get to read about someone’s biography where they have seen their own music first released as a 78 and their later work released on MP3. The book heavily described life on the road, how tight knit yet catty the bluegrass scene was/is, and the struggles of being a traveling bluegrass artist and bandleader. He described in depth some of the more notable Clinch Mountain Boys. At times however I found Ralph to be a tad contradictory. For a man who prides himself as being a man of few words… he certainly had a lot to say. Most music biographies I have read have been chronological. This one discusses topic by chapter and many of the chapters overlap chronologically. Dr. Stanley sure spins a lot of humorous yarns.
While the book may have been boastful, jumped around, and contradicted itself a lot. It also proved to be gleaming evidence of Dr. Stanley’s convictions. The flaws I find in the book seem to make the work and the man more authentic.
While the book may have been boastful, jumped around, and contradicted itself a lot. It also proved to be gleaming evidence of Dr. Stanley’s convictions. The flaws I find in the book seem to make the work and the man more authentic.
October 24, 2019
This is one of the best musician/performer autobiographies I've read. He gives enough of the kind of detail that I'm interested in...how he got hooked on music, how music was a part of life at home growing up, early influences, etc. In a few places he goes on a little bit longer than I'm particularly interested in, but then I start to skim. Since he's been around for so long, it also ties with my other interest, history. How it was back in the day when radio was king, when your neighbors would walk over in the evening to listen to your radio...when music was mostly unamplified. Time to look for Stanley Brothers music on the internet.
December 27, 2024
This was a very long audiobook- but I loved hearing about this man’s life!! A friend gave me this to borrow because I am distantly related to Ralph, and my dad grew up in southwest VA and I was familiar with a lot of this history. It was really fun hearing his life story, I decided to listen to it on audio instead of physical copy because it was long and that was a good choice! The narrator sings a lot of the songs, and it gave me a good feel of that lonesome voice. Didn’t expect to cry at the end but I did.
November 22, 2025
Loved it!
This book reads like a transcription of words spoken into a recording device, which gives it the same type of feel as listening to grandparents or other elderly people tell stories of Once Upon a Time. The relative lack of polish makes it honest and real and shows that Dr Stanley's gift for storytelling was not limited to verse. If he were still alive, I would slap a "Ralph Stanley for President" bumper sticker on my car today.
This book reads like a transcription of words spoken into a recording device, which gives it the same type of feel as listening to grandparents or other elderly people tell stories of Once Upon a Time. The relative lack of polish makes it honest and real and shows that Dr Stanley's gift for storytelling was not limited to verse. If he were still alive, I would slap a "Ralph Stanley for President" bumper sticker on my car today.
October 2, 2019
Possibly my favorite musical biography of all time, and it is an autobiography to boot. Evokes such a sense of time and place, demonstrating how folk music emerges from a unique context of human experience.
December 18, 2024
Read this book because I love Ralph Stanley and needed to complete a history book review. An authentic immersion into the world of Appalachia. Part of this culture that I have had the blessing to experience in my own life. The greatest bluegrass artist of all time.
June 7, 2022
This book is like talking with your grandfather. It rambles a bit, is repetitive in parts, and Dr. Stanley comes off as stubborn and critical. But still worth the time to get through it.
November 8, 2022
Beautifully heart wrenching
June 28, 2023
Very good for a biography. I enjoyed his writing style- it was very much like I imagine he spoke.
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