Clinch Mountain Boys

The Stanley Brothers named their band the Clinch Mountain Boys for the most prominent natural feature of their Southwest Virginia home community. Ralph Stanley continued to use the name after he began his solo career. Some of the musicians who went through the Stanley Brothers version of the Clinch Mountain Boys were fiddlers, Art Wooten, Art Stamper, Lester Woodie, Ralph Mayo, and Chubby Anthony. Mandolin players included Pee Wee Lambert, Curley Lambert, and Bill Napier (who also played lead guitar). George Shuffler (also featured on lead guitar) and Chick Stripling were a couple of the bass players. Ralph used a lot of lead singers over the years: Larry Sparks, Roy Lee Centers, Charlie Sizemore, Keith Whitley, Sammy Adkins, Ralph Stanley II, Nathan Stanley, and others. George Shuffler, Melvin Goins, and Jack Cooke were some of the bass players. Curly Ray Cline was the fiddle player for many years, and Ricky Skaggs played fiddle and mandolin in the early 1970s. Lead guitar players have included Ricky Lee, Junior Blankenship and James Allen Shelton.

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