- Carter Stanley
Carter Glen Stanley (
August 27 ,1925 –December 1 ,1966 ) was abluegrass music lead singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitar player. He formed the Stanley Brothers together with his brother Ralph.The Stanley Brothers are generally acknowledged as the first band afterBill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys to play in the bluegrass genre. According to some historians, their recording of "Molly and Tenbrooks " (aka "The Racehorse Song") marked the beginning of bluegrass as a genre.Stanley was born in Big Spraddle Creek, part of Dickenson County,
Virginia . The son of Lucy and Lee Stanley, Carter grew up inrural southwestern Virginia. Along with his brotherRalph Stanley , he formedThe Stanley Brothers , one of the most revered brother act in bluegrass. Carter played guitar and sang lead while Ralph playedbanjo and sang with a strong, high tenor voice. Their harmonies are much admired, and many consider Carter Stanley to be one of the greatest singers in the history ofcountry music . Carter also wrote many of their songs, several of which have become standards of the bluegrass genre, and had a particular knack for deceptively simple lyrics that portrayed strong emotion.Carter Stanley also played guitar for Bill Monroe until 1951, when he left the band and was replaced for a time by
Thomas Edd Mayfield ofWest Texas .The Stanleys stayed together as one of the last great brother acts until the end, when Carter coughed up blood during a performance at a school auditorium in
Hazel Green, Kentucky . Six weeks later, onDecember 1 1966 , he was dead ofcirrhosis of theliver at forty-one, after years of chronicalcoholism . He was buried, as per his final wish, on Smith Ridge, near Coeburn, Virginia.In 1992 he was posthumously inducted into the
International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor .Carter's daughter
Jeanie Stanley is also a professional singer. Her debut album was titled "Baby Girl: A Tribute to My Father, Carter Stanley" onCMH Records .External links
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:10q5g4abtvnz Carter Stanley at Allmusic.com] .
* [http://jeaniestanley.com/ Jeanie Stanley website]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.