Curley Lambert
Recording Artist · Active 1950–1982
Classic Bluegrass
Curley Lambert (born Richard Edward Lambert) was a longtime Stanley Brothers mandolinist, baritone singer, and session player — a Mecklenburg County, Virginia native with four separate stints in the Stanley Brothers across the 1950s and 1960s, plus extensive work with Bill Clifton, Bill and Mary Reid, Flatt and Scruggs, and his own regional bands.
- Born Richard Edward Lambert in Brodnax, Virginia, in rural Mecklenburg County.
- Served in the U.S. Army; listed as PFC on his military headstone.
- First joined the Stanley Brothers in 1953, succeeding Pee Wee Lambert (no relation) and Jim Williams on mandolin. Appeared on Mercury Records sides with Carter and Ralph Stanley.
- Had four separate stints with the Stanley Brothers over the band's lifetime, and rejoined Ralph Stanley's reformed Clinch Mountain Boys twice after Carter's 1966 death.
- Featured on the 1959 Stanley Brothers album Mountain Song Favorites (King) and numerous other Stanley recordings from the Mercury, Starday, and King years.
- Recorded extensively with Bill Clifton, Bill & Mary Reid, and Flatt and Scruggs as a session mandolinist outside his Stanley Brothers commitments.
- His playing is captured on the Stanley Brothers' Mercury sessions — particularly “Ralph's Banjo Special” (aka “Daybreak in Dixie”) and Angel Band.
- Traditional mandolin style influenced by Pee Wee Lambert and Bill Monroe — characterized by clean, traditional ornamentation and steady rhythmic chop.
- Died in his native Brodnax, Virginia on October 22, 1982 at age 52. Buried in Canaan Cemetery.
- Considered a direct link between Pee Wee Lambert's early Stanley Brothers mandolin tradition and the later classic Stanley sound.
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Buddy GriffinPlayed on recording with Curley Lambert
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Conley GoinsPlayed on recording with Curley Lambert
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Melvin GoinsPlayed on recording with Curley Lambert
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Ray GoinsPlayed on recording with Curley Lambert
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William "Curley" LambertPlayed on recording with Curley Lambert