Man of Constant Sorrow was released on 19 January 2015 by Red River Entertainment (RRE-CD161), credited to Ralph Stanley and Friends. Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale produced it, and Stanley wrote the liner notes. Most of the thirteen tracks pair him with a different guest: Josh Turner on “We Shall Rise,” Dierks Bentley on “I Only Exist,” Ricky Skaggs on “Sweethearts in Heaven,” Nathan Stanley on “Rank Stranger,” Miller and Lauderdale on “I Am the Man, Thomas,” Lee Ann Womack on “White Dove,” Elvis Costello on “Red Wicked Wine,” Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on “Pig in a Pen,” Robert Plant on “Two Coats” and Del McCoury on “Brand New Tennessee Waltz.” Old Crow Medicine Show backs Stanley on “Short Life of Trouble,” and he is the only vocalist on “Hills of Home” and the title song.
The Clinch Mountain Boys play on the rest of the album: Junior Blankenship and Nathan Stanley on guitars, Mitchell Van Dyke on banjo, Dewey Brown on fiddle and Randall Hibbitts on bass. Most of the album was recorded in 2014 at Buddy’s House, and two tracks were recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York and New Air Studios in London. Stanley won a 2002 Grammy for “O Death,” which he sang in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?. He died in June 2016, at 89.
Tracklist
- 1 We Shall Rise 2:47
- 2 I Only Exist alt version 3:31
- 3 Sweethearts in Heaven 2:57
- 4 Rank Stranger alt version 3:08
- 5 I Am the Man Thomas alt version 2:23
- 6 The White Dove alt version 3:00
- 7 Red Wicked Wine 2:23
- 8 I Got a Pig in a Pen 1:59
- 9 Two Coats alt version 2:40
- 10 Brand New Tennessee Waltz alt version 3:45
- 11 Short Life of Trouble alt version 2:21
- 12 Hills of Home 2:16
- 13 I’m a Man of Constant Sorrow alt version 2:55
