RARE Willow Branch Quartet 78 Bristol VA - Rank Strangers - Stanley Brothers
$
50
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Description
RARE 1950's Gospel 78 Willow Branch Quartet - Bristol, VA Rank Strangers / Dear Lord I'll Not Be Able Condition: VG+, but I am not a record expert, but I am basing in on the Goldmine standard.
Wilda Dillon Ettie Dillon J. C. Leonard Harold Shaffer
This record was the inspiration for the Stanley Brothers to record one of their most loved songs. See below for Ralph's quote on how they "found" the Rank Strangers song.
Unbelievable find for the Gospel / Bluegrass / Stanley Brothers collector.
Extra special care will be taken in shipping preparation.
Please see my other auctions, as I have an additional Willow Branch Quartet 78 from 50's for sale.
Quote from Ralph Stanley's Autobiography - "Man Of Constant Sorrow" (p. 384)
"I remember back in the fifties we heard a gospel group called the Willow Branch Quartet. They played around the Bristol area, and they were like a lot of gospel groups that only played at church programs and on Sunday morning radio shows and never made any records. These little quartets had some of the prettiest singing you'd hear and they never wanted to make any money at it. All they wanted to do was sing to glorify God."
"We were driving to a show, listening to the radio, when we heard the Willow Branch Quartet doing a song called 'Rank Stranger'. There was something there that grabbed Carter and me. We'd never heard that term 'Rank Stranger' before. The song was all about feeling a stranger in this world, even with your own family and friends and neighbors, and how the next world would make all that right."
"The Willow Branch Quartet did a good job on that, but we wanted to make it different. Carter and me worked out a whole new arrangement that had my tenor coming in solo out of nowhere on the chorus. A lot of people tell me when my voice comes in that first time, they get chills running up and down their spine. We wanted it to be like somebody surprising you from behind. Like somebody waking you up and everything seems different and you don't know if you're awake or still dreaming."
"I reckon it became the most popular song the Stanley Brothers ever sung. They holler for it everywhere I've ever played, with Carter and without Carter. I don't care where we've been in the world, if I mention 'Rank Stranger' on the stage, you're going to hear from the crowd."
"I never heard a thing about the Willow Branch Quartet since we heard them sing that Sunday morning, but 'Rank Stranger' keeps on going. It's one of those songs you know will always be sung somewhere, by somebody. I'm proud Carter and me somehow helped it from dying out. I know for a fact the song has helped many people when they've been down and hurting"
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