A Posthumous Tribute to Mountain Roots
Dolly Parton's recording of the traditional song 'Bound to Ride' has been released as her first posthumous single, just two weeks after her death at age 80. The track appears on the tribute album 'Where the Soul Never Dies: Celebrating 80 Years of The Stanley Brothers,' due out Oct. 16. Parton recorded her vocal alone at her own studio during a Covid surge around 2022, while the all-female band First Ladies of Bluegrass laid down the backing track separately.[S1]
The album was produced by Alison Brown and Garry West, the husband-and-wife team behind Compass Records. It celebrates the Stanley Brothers, Carter and Ralph, who from the mid-1940s blended Bill Monroe's string-band music with mountain ballads and church singing from southwestern Virginia. The project also coincides with the duo's long-delayed induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.[S1]
An All-Star Lineup Honors the Stanley Brothers
The album features a wide range of artists, including Willie Nelson and Sierra Ferrell on 'I'll Fly Away,' Jamey Johnson and Shawn Camp on 'Rank Strangers to Me,' and Dierks Bentley with Della Mae on 'How Mountain Girls Can Love.' Other contributors include Rhiannon Giddens, Dirk Powell, Ralph Stanley II, Tim O'Brien, and the group I'm With Her. Steve Martin and Ed Helms also reimagine a Stanley Brothers comedy routine.[S1]
For Parton's track, the First Ladies of Bluegrass rearranged 'Bound to Ride,' adding a newly written eight-bar bridge from an obscure verse. The band worked on the new version while masked around a coffee table, with Becky Buller singing a scratch vocal in Parton's key. West said they were shocked by Parton's performance, calling it 'the full Dolly' and noting she over-delivered.[S1]
Producers Hope to Revive the Stanley Brothers' Legacy
West expressed hope that the album reminds listeners of the Stanley Brothers' immense contributions to country, bluegrass, and Americana, noting that many musicians may not realize the origins of these classic songs. He said the music is 'just in the ether' and often taken for granted. The producers also hope younger players will pick up the music and keep reinventing it.[S1]
A live tribute concert is planned for Oct. 28 at Nashville's CMA Theater, featuring many of the album's artists, though the lineup has not been announced. The project was conceived by J. Tayloe Emery and Ralph Stanley II, and recorded live at Compass Records' Nashville headquarters, the former Glaser Brothers studio.[S1]
