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Portrait of Ralph Stanley

Ralph Stanley

(1927–2016) Singer-songwriter United States

28 quotes in 179 categories

Ralph Stanley was a singer-songwriter from the United States, best known for Man of constant sorrow: the life & times of a music legend.

Quick Facts About Ralph Stanley

Born: February 25, 1927
Died: June 23, 2016
Nationality: United States
Profession: Singer-songwriter
Notable works: Man of constant sorrow: the life & times of a music legend
Spouse: Peggy Stanley

About Ralph Stanley

Ralph Edmund Stanley was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. He began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of the Stanley Brothers, and most often as the leader of his band, the Clinch Mountain Boys. He was also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Awards & Honors

National Medal of Arts Library of Congress Living Legend Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences honorary doctor of Yale University

Quotes by Ralph Stanley

I don't listen to the radio too much, but usually I listen to Stanley Brothers and Ralph Stanley more than I do…

Radio

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I live about six miles from where I was born and raised.

Born

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I think - I really think my voice has gotten better in the last two or three years. I don't know why.…

Agree

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My father was a logger. He cut timber and hauled it out of the woods and had a sawmill. They sawed it…

Collars

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Well, I don't let anyone record with me that is not a fan of mine or believe in my music. Everybody that…

Believe

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You know, if you use instrument, why, you have to stay on perfect time - timing. And if you do a cappella…

Ifs

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I think Bob [Dylan] told me that he turned down twenty interviews that year, and I was the only one that he…

Bob

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I always enjoyed playing around Washington, because we always have a good crowd. I've never had a bad crowd in this vicinity…

Alexandria

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My first banjo? My mother's sister, my aunt, lived about a mile from where we did, and she raised some hogs. And…

Agriculture

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No pleasure here on earth I find For in this world I'm bound to ramble.

Bounds

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I believe in my music.

Believe

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You give out the words and then sing them. You give out the words, you know, and the people can hear what…

Giving

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I like for it to be mountain music or old-time country music or traditional bluegrass. Either one will fit me. It's traditional,…

Bluegrass

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I have plenty of good friends that I think the world of - and Bob [Dylan] is one of them, and I…

Bob

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I am a man of constant sorrow. I've seen trouble all my days.

Constant

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I don't see any harm in brining an instrument into the church itself.

Church

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Speaking of WAMU, [bluegrass and old time music DJ] Ray Davis did a lot of work there. I've know Ray, I guess…

Bluegrass

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I don't - I don't like that style, myself. I never did like Elvis's singing, but there was millions that did.

Millions

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I guess the first time I played around Washington, D.C. was at a place called The Famous. That was the first place…

Believe

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[Regarding President Obama] Yeah, yeah, yeah, I talked to him. I sorta, I guess, helped him get elected.

President

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I would have quit before I went rock-n-roll. I know one way, and that's natural, and when I can't make it, I'll…

Believe

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I'm a member of the Primitive Baptist Church, and they will buy every CD that I have released, but they don't me…

Baptists

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I grew up down in the hills of Virginia. I can be in Kentucky in 20 minutes, Tennessee in 20 minutes or…

Coal

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The soundtrack of O Brother is the most publicity I've gotten. I don't feel that I have lost any of my old…

Brother

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My mother played a little bit of the old time clawhammer. She tuned the banjo up and picked one tune for me,…

Banjos

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