Short Life of Trouble: The Songs of Grayson and Whitter cover

Short Life of Trouble: The Songs of Grayson and Whitter

Ralph Stanley

Album · 1996 · Rebel REB-CS 1735

Short Life of Trouble: The Songs of Grayson & Whitter was released by Rebel on 8 October 1996 (REB-CS 1735). G. B. Grayson, a fiddler who had been mostly blind since infancy, and the guitarist Henry Whitter recorded together between 1927 and 1930, and their songs were later taken up by the Stanley Brothers, Mac Wiseman and others. Ralph Stanley recorded twelve of them with his band in November 1995 at Maggard Sound Studio in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

The program is “Train 45,” “Rose Conley,” “Joking Henry,” “Nobody’s Darling,” “I’ve Always Been a Rambler,” “Short Life of Trouble,” “Nine Pound Hammer,” “Handsome Molly,” “Shout Lula,” “He’s Coming to Us Dead,” “A Dark Road Is a Hard Road to Travel” and “On the Banks of the Old Tennessee.” The band was Ralph Stanley II and James Shelton on guitars, John Rigsby on mandolin, James Price on fiddle and Jack Cooke on bass. Ralph Stanley plays banjo on six tracks (“Train 45,” “Rose Conley,” “Short Life of Trouble,” “Nine Pound Hammer,” “Handsome Molly” and “Shout Lula”), and Steve Sparkman plays it on the other six.

Tracklist

  1. 1 Reuben alt version 2:53
  2. 2 Down in the Willow Garden alt version 4:46
  3. 3 Joking Henry 1:54
  4. 4 Nobody's Darling 3:08
  5. 5 I’ve Always Been a Rambler Source Recording Traditional · key F · 107 bpm 2:47
  6. 6 Short Life of Trouble Source Recording G.B. Grayson · key G · 193 bpm · 3/4 2:21
  7. 7 Nine Pound Hammer alt version 2:55
  8. 8 Handsome Molly Source Recording Traditional · key B · 125 bpm 2:03
  9. 9 Shout Lula 1:48
  10. 10 He's Coming Back To Us Dead 2:10
  11. 11 A Dark Road Is A Hard Road To Travel 3:03
  12. 12 On The Banks Of Old Tennessee 2:09

Share Playlist