The Ralph Stanley Story

I suspect that most people never heard of Ralph Stanley until they saw O Brother Where Art Thou. He never went the route of the Buck Trents and Roy Clarks -- not that I am complaining, because I respect both of then and enjoy their work. What I am saying is Ralph stayed on the less lucrative, more obscure trail and stayed faithful to his roots and fans. People familiar with bluegrass festivals have known him forever as the king of the banjo and the guy with the voice that could serve at the encyclopedia example of how a mountain music voice should sound. One of my friends had met the Stanley brothers on occasion at festivals and remarked on how different they were. Carter had a terrible habit of getting totally smashed with fans out in the crowd before and after playing. Bottomline is the bottle killed him. That is why Ralph bans alcohol from his band and has fired some fairly prominent people over the years. This movie is a great bio and full of new information for just about anyone. It is also beautiful to watch. I give it an 8/10 within its genre.