Dickenson County in far Southwest Virginia is known for many things, including its wealth-producing coal deposits and mining industry.
But for a lot of people, the mention of Dickenson County conjures the sound of its two most well-known sons: the Stanley Brothers.
Their musical legacy will be celebrated Thursday during a special event at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol.
Carter and Ralph Stanley, born on a Dickenson County farm, recorded dozens of bluegrass and gospel records between 1947 and Carter’s death in 1966. Ralph, known locally as “Dr. Ralph” after receiving an honorary doctorate in music from Lincoln Memorial University, carried on with their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, for several decades until his passing in 2016. Dan Tyminski’s recording of the Stanley Brothers’ standard “Man of Constant Sorrow” was featured in the hit Coen brothers film “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” introducing the music to a new generation of fans.
The May 1 event is a listening party that will feature a restored live recording of the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys performing on the legendary “Farm and Fun Time” show, produced in Bristol by WCYB Radio during the 1940s and ’50s. The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the museum’s performance theater.
Admission is free, but space is limited. Those who wish to attend are encouraged to RSVP on the Events page.
The audio was recovered from a fragile, damaged disc donated in 2017 by Glen Harlow, owner of Bristol-based WZAP-AM.
The Thursday audience will hear selected tracks from the disc and learn more about its discovery and preservation, along with hearing about the legacy of “Farm and Fun Time” from Radio Bristol Program Director Kris Truelsen.
“Our listening party program will be a wonderful opportunity to see historic preservation in action — from the rescue of the original radio transcription disc and its donation to the museum in 2017 to the final outcome where a broken and delaminated disc’s musical treasures were revealed through technology and expertise,” museum director Rene Rodgers said in an email.
“When we first received the donated disc, we thought it would just be a display object in the museum, but through the Virginia Association of Museums’ 10 Most Endangered Artifacts program, we were given the chance to recover a wonderful piece of musical history — the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys on the original Farm and Fun Time,” she wrote. “Now the museum is able to share both the object and its restored audio with our audiences. The listening party will provide attendees with the chance to see the transcription disc and hear about its preservation and listen to the songs that were recovered, while also exploring the wider context of the Stanley Brothers and Farm and Fun Time.”
Gary Reid of Roanoke, a bluegrass and old-time musician, is also a scholar on the Stanley Brothers’ music and has, since 2009, toured his one-man theatrical biography of Carter Stanley, “A Life of Sorrow.”
Reid shared his written chronicle of the exact recording that will be highlighted.
According to Reid’s research, the performance was recorded around November 1950 and included the songs “We’ll Be Sweethearts in Heaven,” “Little Maggie,” “Nine Pound Hammer,” “Are You Waiting Just For Me,” “That Lonesome River,” “Pike County Breakdown,” “Lee Highway Blues,” “I’ll Have A New Life” and “The Prisoner’s Song.”
Carter played guitar, Ralph played banjo, Pee Wee Lambert played mandolin, Lester Woodie played fiddle and the bass player’s name is not known, according to Reid.
“The transcription discs deteriorated with use and after being played several times were thrown in the trash,” Reid writes. “As such, it is a rare occurrence to find a transcription disc today, especially one that is in playable condition.”
Harlow located the damaged disc, which was at WZAP, because the original owners of WCYB sold the radio station in 1969 and the new owners changed the call letters to WZAP, according to Reid.
The Birthplace of Country Music Museum took part in a Virginia Association of Museums contest to award prizes for historical artifacts. Winning the $5,000 grand prize for restoration was the Stanley Brothers disc, Reid writes. With help from the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Massachusetts, a special 3D camera was used to photograph the grooves, then software was used to convert the images to audio sound waves.
The Birthplace of Country Music Museum is located at 101 Country Music Way in Bristol, just one block off the main drag of State Street. More information can be found here.