To each his own - Bluegrass is the only music that I listen to - fell in love with it in 1944 and I never get tired of of it. Hard to top Ralph Stanley, Jack Cooke , Roy Lee Centers, Curly Ray Cline , and Ricky Skaggs . Nuff said 🙏 Ricky is carrying on the tradition. Rest of this band are singing in Heaven now.
Some monster vocal talents in that line up. Keith, Roy Lee and Jack are on another level as leads. Ricky can basically do anything in music including very capable singing. And Ralph is arguably the greatest old timey mountain tenor ever.
Possibly the greatest combination ever. I'm not sure because any group that included Ralph & Carter or any group that had Dave Evans & Larry Sparks are hard to beat.
Oh man there’s so many of my favorite Stanley songs in this footage talk about a great show I would’ve paid 200 dollars for a show like this especially with the talent on that stage at that time.
Ralph, Curly Ray, Jack, Roy Lee, Keith and Ricky. What a great band. Thank you so much for posting this. I can't imagine anyone giving this a "thumbs down" vote. It's fantastic being able to see these guys performing.
Thanks for sharing! I'm a huge Keith Whitley fan and I've lived in Pound all my life. From what I can tell I think they are on the sidewalk between what is now the iga and the dollar general
I just stumbled across this treasure of a video tonight and I agree with all the prior commenters about how awesome this performance was and how sad it is that all but Ricky have no departed this world. I especially like seeing a young Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley picking and singing. Keith's singing and guitar work on "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" is out of this world good and frankly, brought a tear to my eyes. He was so good! I believe this is my first time seeing Roy Lee Centers singing - he was such a good addition to Ralph's band. And, of course, what can I say about Ralph - my all time favorite bluegrass singers and pickers - absolutely no one like him and no one near as good. Thanks so much to Kris for posting this historic and great performance whereas very little video is available of this group as constituted here as shown.
There's a lot of choreography involved in getting the right person in front of the microphone at the right time, but they never seem to miss a beat. I love Ralph's "Little Maggie."
Thanks a whole bunch for posting ! Great Keith Whitley guitar solos especially on "Will You Miss Me" ....i like how he works with the timing as well as his terrific cross picking. Wonderful lineup showcasing the best of bluegrass.
Thanks for sharing this. Great to see the footage of Roy Lee Centers. Ralph had a number of great lead singers but in my opinion, Roy lee was the closest thing to Carter that ever stood beside him.
I was there that day. I was 14 yo. My uncle, William Mullins, hired Ralph to play at the grand opening of his store, Wilco. Later it was sold to Singleton’s. I recall Ralph introducing two young guys but many years later realized they were Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley. There’s sure a lot of talent playing on that flatbed truck!
Ralph ran a pretty rigid band, the lead guitarist sang little, the lead singer played only rhythm. In Keith's 2nd stint he was promoted to lead singer after Roy Lee's tragic passing. From then he concentrated on vocals leaving the guitar chops to capable folks like Renfro Proffit. In subsequent bands Keith continued this; I never again saw him pick exuberantly, though he could if needed. He had it all, fabulous vocal skills and great guitar chops.
I love how Ralph Stanley just played exactly like he knew what he was doing. I don’t think he was arrogant, as I’ve heard some call him, but the aura I get from him is he just knew he “had it”.
Ralph is my all time favorite bluegrass musician.Got to one of his concerts before he passed away. I had a chance to meet him but for some reason stood there and didnt say anything. I regret that deeply.
Wow! What a treat. This has to be some of the best bluegrass footage ever put up on TH-cam. Skaggs strutting about, Whitley with a huge grin on his face, Roy Lee Centers' superb singing. And as for Whitley's crosspicking on 'Will You Miss Me'. I think I'll be playing this again and again (in Norfolk, UK).
Maybe its just me, but anybody notice at 1:05 Roy Lee flubbed the chorus of 'Midnight Train' kinda like Carter used to do to get Ralph to crack up and smile. And just my opinion, but Ralph looked like he got a tad bit nervous. He knew he had found a gem when he hired Roy Lee Centers, the closest there ever was to his late brother Carter. He always seems like kinda a live wire on stage and his vocals and guitar is always on point. I've heard Ralph had said even the way Roy Lee drank a cup of coffee and smoked a cigarette was reminiscent of Carter. I wonder how it would've been if he hadn't died so young? He would've went far I believe. Man, I'd damn near kill to have seen this show in person. Anybody have any thoughts?
Spent most of my early childhood in Pound. Found out later in life that my great mamaw’s 2nd husband was Sam Stanley, Ralph’s uncle. Many fond memories of Sam. Sure wish I I had met Ralph.
Keith so young here. It looks like they had not yet discovered his super powers, that wailing old hillbilly voice yet! All the singers are excellent, and the famed unmatchable Ralph Stanley, of course, but when Ralph gave Keith more songs to sing lead in later years, those are some of my favorites.
I first saw Ralph in 1971 but didn't know who was playing with him, may have been some o the same people. I know he had Curly Ray Cline and Jack Cook when I saw him more frequently around 1977.
Imagine to bump into Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys playing on a supermarket parking lot - this is like Michael Jackson, Freddy Mercury or Bob Dylan playing in a Pedestrian Zone.
Do you know who happen to film this and when and where in Norton was this recorded? Id love to know the name of the store that they were singing infront of and if it still exists to this day? Im from Pikeville and really enjoy Ralphs music, along with Curly Ray, Keith, Ricky and the rest of the boys... I always enjoyed going to see Ralph when he'd have shows close by.. Hope that you might know and answer my questions. Thanks so much for posting this, takes me way back
Kris, any chance you have any family from Haysi? My grandfather was a Barton. The Stanley Brothers covered a song that he wrote called Old Richmond Prison.
I remember seeing them do this in Mount Airy NC at a Hecks dept store. Around this same time period. We left school and went over there that afternoon.
Jim Britton I had it on a dvdr I got from a friend. Somebody on Facebook was asking if anybody had a copy of it so I just decided to upload it. I figured there were other people that would like to see it that hadn’t had the chance too.
This is priceless to any true fan of the old time mountain and bluegrass music. Great band, the young Keith Whitley is especially outstanding.
To each his own - Bluegrass is the only music that I listen to - fell in love with it in 1944 and I never get tired of of it. Hard to top Ralph Stanley, Jack Cooke , Roy Lee Centers, Curly Ray Cline , and Ricky Skaggs . Nuff said 🙏 Ricky is carrying on the tradition. Rest of this band are singing in Heaven now.
Some monster vocal talents in that line up. Keith, Roy Lee and Jack are on another level as leads. Ricky can basically do anything in music including very capable singing. And Ralph is arguably the greatest old timey mountain tenor ever.
Possibly the greatest combination ever. I'm not sure because any group that included Ralph & Carter or any group that had Dave Evans & Larry Sparks are hard to beat.
Awesome
Well said!!
A national treasure. His voice and style of picking just can't be replaced. I was sad to hear of his passing. Tom J.
Oh man there’s so many of my favorite Stanley songs in this footage talk about a great show I would’ve paid 200 dollars for a show like this especially with the talent on that stage at that time.
Oh man I really enjoyed this video! 😊 Great Mountain Style Blue Grass being played here. Thanks so much for sharing! 👍🏻
Ralph, Curly Ray, Jack, Roy Lee, Keith and Ricky. What a great band. Thank you so much for posting this. I can't imagine anyone giving this a "thumbs down" vote. It's fantastic being able to see these guys performing.
Ralph Stanley and all the Clinch Mountain Boys in their prime. Thank you for making this available. Such great musicianship.
nimkii4444 Roy lee center's is an angel
Thanks for sharing! I'm a huge Keith Whitley fan and I've lived in Pound all my life. From what I can tell I think they are on the sidewalk between what is now the iga and the dollar general
My grand daddy actually saw this performance. He was a Pound native and told me about seeing these guys back in the day.
@amandasuehoops Pound Virginia. Currently there's an IGA store there. Very near where the VFW is.
I was there that day. My uncle, William Mullins, hired Ralph to play at the grand opening of his store, Wilco.
That looks so old timey. I played right there 30 years later. Even now 22 years after that, it seems like yesterday. Time flys !
Ralph really had a God given talent!
I just stumbled across this treasure of a video tonight and I agree with all the prior commenters about how awesome this performance was and how sad it is that all but Ricky have no departed this world. I especially like seeing a young Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley picking and singing. Keith's singing and guitar work on "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" is out of this world good and frankly, brought a tear to my eyes. He was so good! I believe this is my first time seeing Roy Lee Centers singing - he was such a good addition to Ralph's band. And, of course, what can I say about Ralph - my all time favorite bluegrass singers and pickers - absolutely no one like him and no one near as good. Thanks so much to Kris for posting this historic and great performance whereas very little video is available of this group as constituted here as shown.
Thanks so much for posting this! This was such a classic lineup! A real treasure!
You’ll never know how much this means to me to see this. Thanks a bunch!!
Jason Pope glad you enjoyed it.
@@krisrasnake2521
%
Classic Curly Ray Cline , Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Roy Lee Centers Pickin!! My all time favorite
Keith Whitley
Roy Lee Centers is an was the best
My great uncle
There's a lot of choreography involved in getting the right person in front of the microphone at the right time, but they never seem to miss a beat. I love Ralph's "Little Maggie."
The lead singer in Ralph's band was Roy Lee Centers. He was one of the greatest voices in Bluegrass Music.
Absolutely!
This is just fkn incredible
What amazing footage. Thank you for posting it!
Thanks a whole bunch for posting ! Great Keith Whitley guitar solos especially on "Will You Miss Me" ....i like how he works with the timing as well as his terrific cross picking. Wonderful lineup showcasing the best of bluegrass.
This is a true gem.
Keith whitley was probably the greatest bluegrass voice that wasn't monroe flatt or a stanley brother pure magic thank you for uploading this magic
The fella singing lead on video was mighty good.... Roy Lee had a lot of Carters sound to him
Thanks for sharing this. Great to see the footage of Roy Lee Centers. Ralph had a number of great lead singers but in my opinion, Roy lee was the closest thing to Carter that ever stood beside him.
Agreed.
Brings back so many memories... thanks for sharing.
Outstanding! What a treat.. thought Curly was gonna shake down the stage on Sally Gooden!
Great video of some giants in bluegrass music! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for sharing the gem!
I was there that day. I was 14 yo. My uncle, William Mullins, hired Ralph to play at the grand opening of his store, Wilco. Later it was sold to Singleton’s. I recall Ralph introducing two young guys but many years later realized they were Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley. There’s sure a lot of talent playing on that flatbed truck!
Love this
Wow!!!! I’ve never seen footage of Roy lee with Ralph I e been looking. Thanks for the upload awesome!!!!!!!!!!
At his peak, it was said around Coburn that "Roy Lee sounded more like Carter than Carter sounded like Carter."
I thoroughly enjoyed this!..Thanks for sharing!
It's a shame Keith Whitley didn't play more lead bluegrass guitar. He was exceptional.
Ralph ran a pretty rigid band, the lead guitarist sang little, the lead singer played only rhythm.
In Keith's 2nd stint he was promoted to lead singer after Roy Lee's tragic passing. From then he concentrated on vocals leaving the guitar chops to capable folks like Renfro Proffit. In subsequent bands Keith continued this; I never again saw him pick exuberantly, though he could if needed. He had it all, fabulous vocal skills and great guitar chops.
Hard to beat Roy lee centers on lead.
Yes he was
Thanks for posting this history. Awesome my friend.
I had no idea Keith Whitley could play guitar like that. As a guitar player I know that right there was some impressive flatpicking!
Keith could do anything, I loved his music.
Ricky was 18 and Keith 17 years old at the time. Prodigies. Ricky Skaggs is the only one of the band still living. :(
yep , they were doing weekends only at this time. Singing, and flatpicking mandolin and guitar, great harmonizing and picking
They both were born July 1954. Keith was actually 17 days older than Ricky according to wiki.
So thankful someone had the presents of mind to record this on film .A real treasure the real deal 🫶
My grandaddy was from Pound and he remembers seeing this concert. PS.....it's where the Sears and Singleton's stores were.
Was this in Pounding Mill Va?
@@lysashimmer5977 Pound Virginia in Wise County
Thank you for posting. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a video of this band from that era!
Thank you so much for the upload. My family is from pound
Kris this is Fantastic! If you have any more like this please post it. Thanks so much. It is great to see this snapshot from the past.
Ralph Stanley, pre-"Oh Brother, Where Art Thou." One of the two hardest working men in Bluegrass.
Things will never be the same. God bless
I love how Ralph Stanley just played exactly like he knew what he was doing. I don’t think he was arrogant, as I’ve heard some call him, but the aura I get from him is he just knew he “had it”.
Ralph is my all time favorite bluegrass musician.Got to one of his concerts before he passed away. I had a chance to meet him but for some reason stood there and didnt say anything. I regret that deeply.
Wow! What a treat. This has to be some of the best bluegrass footage ever put up on TH-cam. Skaggs strutting about, Whitley with a huge grin on his face, Roy Lee Centers' superb singing. And as for Whitley's crosspicking on 'Will You Miss Me'. I think I'll be playing this again and again (in Norfolk, UK).
WOW!! They were smokin !
Maybe its just me, but anybody notice at 1:05 Roy Lee flubbed the chorus of 'Midnight Train' kinda like Carter used to do to get Ralph to crack up and smile. And just my opinion, but Ralph looked like he got a tad bit nervous. He knew he had found a gem when he hired Roy Lee Centers, the closest there ever was to his late brother Carter. He always seems like kinda a live wire on stage and his vocals and guitar is always on point. I've heard Ralph had said even the way Roy Lee drank a cup of coffee and smoked a cigarette was reminiscent of Carter. I wonder how it would've been if he hadn't died so young? He would've went far I believe. Man, I'd damn near kill to have seen this show in person. Anybody have any thoughts?
Thank you so much for posting!
AWESOME!!!! THANKS!!!
Spent most of my early childhood in Pound. Found out later in life that my great mamaw’s 2nd husband was Sam Stanley, Ralph’s uncle. Many fond memories of Sam. Sure wish I I had met Ralph.
Thanks for sharing really enjoyed it
This is amazing thank you
Thanks for uploading!
Keith so young here. It looks like they had not yet discovered his super powers, that wailing old hillbilly voice yet! All the singers are excellent, and the famed unmatchable Ralph Stanley, of course, but when Ralph gave Keith more songs to sing lead in later years, those are some of my favorites.
Priceless
At 12:17 sends chills up my spine
Wonderful!
Amazing!
Awesome I truly loved this video, also wondering if anyone had an idea of how old Keith was at this time.
It's interesting that Ralph and the guitar pickers are capoed for a high pitched sound to go with their high pitched singing.
Seeing young KW & RS.. good as it gets
Gotta love Curley Ray Cline
Here because of billy strings!
❤my true love
I first saw Ralph in 1971 but didn't know who was playing with him, may have been some o the same people. I know he had Curly Ray Cline and Jack Cook when I saw him more frequently around 1977.
Imagine to bump into Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys playing on a supermarket parking lot - this is like Michael Jackson, Freddy Mercury or Bob Dylan playing in a Pedestrian Zone.
Centers was the perfect Carter substitute. I also liked Sizemore as well.
Superb.
Awesome
I knew Keith was a good guitar player, but I didn't know he was THAT GOOD. Lightning picking.
The best
Ralph was from Virginia.
Most of the other guys were from Ky
Bluegrass just doesn't get anymore real than this. If you don't like this, turn in your bluegrass membership card.
yes indeed thanks
Do you know who happen to film this and when and where in Norton was this recorded? Id love to know the name of the store that they were singing infront of and if it still exists to this day? Im from Pikeville and really enjoy Ralphs music, along with Curly Ray, Keith, Ricky and the rest of the boys... I always enjoyed going to see Ralph when he'd have shows close by.. Hope that you might know and answer my questions. Thanks so much for posting this, takes me way back
Finally !!
Kris, any chance you have any family from Haysi? My grandfather was a Barton. The Stanley Brothers covered a song that he wrote called Old Richmond Prison.
Roy lee ,,,,,sings like carter soooo much
Which would you rather hear?
Masters
I'm still amazed Ralph let RIcky Skaggs chew gum on stage. Not proper Clinch Mountain Boy behavior.
they got 8 track stereo tapes!
Fun to see young Ricky Skaggs
Sadly, Ricky is the only one up there who is still with us.
Somebody needs to move there car lol.. love it
Dang . Two coats got cut off !
Ricky was barely 18, Keith too.
baby Keith and Ricky
Ricky Skaggs on mandolin!
Does anyone know what store it was???
I remember seeing them do this in Mount Airy NC at a Hecks dept store. Around this same time period. We left school and went over there that afternoon.
It was the grand opening of Wilco. It was later sold to Singleton’s.
It was the grand opening of Wilco. It was later sold to Singleton’s.
Cousin Ralph.
Roy Lee centers!!
If this is 1972 Keith Whitley must be a teenager
Keith Whitley was the best!!!
Kris, Did this footage just "surface"?
Jim Britton I had it on a dvdr I got from a friend. Somebody on Facebook was asking if anybody had a copy of it so I just decided to upload it. I figured there were other people that would like to see it that hadn’t had the chance too.
Kris Rasnake I see. Is Keith playing Carter’s D-45?
Jim Britton I am not sure. I’ve heard that it is the guitar Robert Hale of Wildfire currently owns but I don’t know that for fact.
@@krisrasnake2521 I m from there. But I never this
This is my people
14:06
Was Ralph playing his ball bearing here? It sure sounds like it.
Appears to be his Style 5. Wreath inlays...
i thunk he wuz just playin wid hisin balls.
THIS is bluegrass!
The real deal
Coolbeans y’all
.
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