Autographed by Dr. Ralph Stanley at the county fair in Castlewood, Va. 2006. Carter died in 1966 just a month after this album was released by the official fan club. No official statement of the cause of death was ever made public even though Ralph …
Autographed by Dr. Ralph Stanley at the county fair in Castlewood, Va. 2006. Carter died in 1966 just a month after this album was released by the official fan club. No official statement of the cause of death was ever made public even though Ralph continued performing until his death in 2015. My Cousin was one of the officiating ministers at Carter's funeral at an old high school near Trammel, on the slopes of Big Sandy Ridge. He recalled that Bill Monroe arrived by helicopter and sang "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" a'cappella and then left to continue his tour. He told me the death was due to "...an exploded liver from years of alcoholism."
In the 2000's I was a certified organic farmer, community activist, and folklorist and a regular on the local Castlewood, Va. AM radio station performing ancient ballads and banjo tunes with Slick Mullins, a talented guitarist and slap-stand up bassist, who had graduated from high school with Ralph's son. Every year Ralph would give a free concert at the Russell County fairgrounds and greet the local people (perhaps an effort to escape the prestige he had experienced since his participation in the 2000 blockbuster "Oh Brother Where Art Thou).
I Had attended the county fair every year and watched him play. Finnally one time I got over my shyness and waited in line for over an hour after the concert to get to talk to Ralph (and hopefully have him autograph a record of him and his brother). I also had my banjo with me as Me and Slick had been jamming in the shade of the trees that afternoon. Before I got close to him, Ralph stood up and walked away to his bus and got ready to go. Slick saw my frustration, and signaled Ralph's son who waved him up to an open window on the bus. I don't know what they said as I was too far away but Slick ran up to me and grabbed the record and as he turned away asked," Would you like him to sign your banjo too?" Stunned I said "sure" and handed it off to him. He rushed onto the bus and I saw him go up to Ralph sitting by the window. There was some conversation, and he pointed to me in the crowd and Ralph opened the window and looked out towards me and waved. Slick ran back to me and told me that he told Mr. Stanley that he had a friend who had every Stanley Brothers record and was a hell of a banjo player, and got him to sign both items.
Just an interesting back story.
