Clinch Mountain is a mountain ridge in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Virginia, lying in the ridge-and-valley section of the Appalachian Mountains. From its southern terminus at Signal Point peak, which lies at the intersection of Knox, Union and Grainger counties near Blaine, Tennessee, it runs in a generally east-northeasterly direction to Garden Mountain near Burke's Garden, Virginia. It separates the Clinch River basin, to the north, and the Holston River basin, to the south.

Geography[link]

US-25E descending the south slope of Clinch Mountain

Clinch Mountain is a long ridge, about 150 miles (240 km) in length. It runs generally southwest-northeast, with numerous curves. Its north-south extent is 97 miles (156 km), and east-west 172 miles (277 km). Due to its size it is sometimes called a mountain range or complex. According to peakbagger.com, the Clinch Mountain Complex includes the sub-range of Knob Mountain, as well as four high point summits above 4,000 feet (Beartown Mountain, Flattop Mountain, Morris Knob, and Chimney Rock Peak).

For its entire length, Clinch Mountain only has two true gaps during which the ridge is completely sliced in half and continues as Clinch Mountain on either side, divided by a creek. One of those is Moccasin Gap at Weber City, Virginia (the Norfolk Southern Railway and U.S. Highways 23-58-421 utilize that crossing because there is no elevation in the division of the mountain). Moccasin Gap is currently planned to undergo major mountain removal to accommodate a planned highway project. The natural appearance of the gap will be altered significantly. The second true gap in Clinch Mountain is Little Moccasin Gap, 30 miles northeast of Moccasin Gap, where U.S. Highway 58 Alternate crosses between Hansonville and Abingdon, Virginia.

All other transportation crossings, as noted below, require an elevation climb to the top of the Clinch Mountain.

When U.S. Highway 25E was realigned into a four-lane highway northwest of Bean Station, Tennessee in the 1980s, it was necessary to cut a new gap into the top of Clinch Mountain, which lowered the original gap elevation by 200 feet. That realignment, along with the lowering of Interstate 26-U.S. Highway 23 at Sams Gap on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, are the only instances of a highway gap in Tennessee actually lowering an original gap where a state or federal highway was built through. (Sams Gap was lowered by 150 feet to accommodate the new Interstate 26 highway).

History[link]

Clinch Mountain is named after the Clinch River, which was named after an unknown pioneer. The earliest known reference to the name is in the journal of Dr. Thomas Walker: "Clinch's River, from one Clinch a hunter" (Stewart, 1967:146).

The Wilderness Road to the Cumberland Gap crossed Clinch Mountain at Moccasin Gap, which Moccasin Creek flows through to join the Holston River to the south.

Signal Point peak at the southern terminus of Clinch Mountain was used to signal troops during the Civil War. The mountains along the Clinch Mountain Ridge also played an important role in the Battle of Bean's Station. Apart from battles, the mountains in Grainger County, Tennessee had prominence in the late 1800s when the mineral springs in the area drew notable visitors from around the globe. Tate Springs, as the town and resort were named, included an enormous hotel, golf course and mineral baths. The seasonal resort even had its own spur on the railroad, so visitors could easily make the trip from all over the country. Notable guests included the Fords, Studebakers, Mellons, Firestones and Rockefellers. Because of a devastating fire and the Great Depression, only a few buildings survive today.

Music[link]

The Carter Family immortalized the mountain in their 1928 song "My Clinch Mountain Home." A fiddle tune called "Clinch Mountain Backstep" (attributed to Ralph Stanley[1]) is in the Appalachian folk repertoire. Also, the first line of the classic folk song "Rye Whiskey" begins, "Way up on Clinch Mountain I wandered alone - I'm drunk as a devil and a long way from home."

Transportation crossings[link]

The following crossings of Clinch Mountain can be made, from southwest to northeast:

Tennessee

• Joppa Mountain Road connects Joppa and Powder Springs via Powder Spring Gap.
• U.S. Highway 25E (State Route 32) connects Rock Haven and Thorn Hill via Beans Gap.
• State Route 31 connects Spruce Pine and the settlement of Flat Gap via Flat Gap.
• State Route 66 connects Klondike and Lee Valley via Big War Gap.
• State Route 70 connects Alumwell and Frog Level via Little War Gap.

Virginia

• The CSX Kingsport Subdivision connects Kermit and Speers Ferry via the Clinch Mountain Tunnel.
• U.S. Route 23/U.S. Route 58/U.S. Route 421 and the Norfolk Southern Railway Appalachia Division connect Weber City and Gate City via Moccasin Gap.
• State Route 612 connects Mendota and Collinwood via Fugate Gap.
• U.S. Route 19/U.S. Route 58 Alternate connects Holston and Hansonville via Little Moccasin Gap.
• State Route 80 connects the settlement of Hayters Gap and Rockdell via Hayters Gap.
• State Route 91 connects Tannersville and Maiden Spring via an unnamed crossing.
• State Route 16 connects Asberrys and Benbow via an unnamed crossing.

See also[link]

• Clinch Mountain Boys
• Clinch Mountain Wildlife Management Area

References[link]

• "Clinch Mountain". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1269472. 
• "Clinch Mountain Complex". Peakbagger.com. http://www.peakbagger.com/range.aspx?rid=16322. 
• Stewart, George R. (1967). Names on the Land. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Ralph Stanley (born February 25, 1927), also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, is an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing.

Biography[link]

Ralph Edmond Stanley was born, grew up, and lives today in rural southwestern Virginia—"in a little town called McClure at a place called Big Spraddle, just up the holler" from where he moved in 1936 and has lived ever since in Dickenson County.^[1] The son of Lee and Lucy Stanley, Ralph did not grow up around a lot of music in his home. As he says, his "daddy didn't play an instrument, but sometimes he would sing church music. And I'd hear him sing songs like 'Man of Constant Sorrow,' 'Pretty Polly' and 'Omie Wise.'"^[1]

"I got my first banjo when I was a teenager. I guess I was 15, 16 years old. My aunt had this old banjo, and Mother bought it for me . . . paid $5 for it, which back then was probably like $5,000. (My parents) had a little store, and I remember my aunt took it out in groceries."^[1]

He learned to play the banjo, clawhammer style, from his mother:

"She had 11 brothers and sisters, and all of them could play the five-string banjo. She played gatherings around the neighborhood, like bean stringin's. She tuned it up for me and played this tune, 'Shout Little Luly,' and I tried to play it like she did. But I think I developed my own style of the banjo."^[1]

He graduated from high school on May 2, 1945 and was inducted into the Army on May 16, serving "little more than a year." He immediately began performing when he got home:

". . . my daddy and Carter picked me up from the (station), and Carter was playing with another group, Roy Sykes and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys, and they had a personal appearance that night. So I sung a song with Carter on the radio before I even got home."^[2]

Clinch Mountain Boys[link]

After initially considering a course in "veterinary," he decided to throw in with his older guitar-playing brother, Carter, and form the Clinch Mountain Boys, in 1946. Drawing heavily on the musical traditions of the area, which included the unique minor-key singing style of the Primitive Baptist Universalist church and the sweet down-home family harmonies of the Carter Family, the Stanleys began playing on local radio stations. They first performed at Norton, Virginia's WNVA, but didn't stay long there, moving on instead to Bristol, Virginia and WCYB to start the show Farm and Fun Time where they stayed "off and on for 12 years."^[2]

Initially covering "a lot of Bill Monroe music", they soon "found out that didn't pay off—we needed something of our own. So we started writing songs in 1947, 1948. I guess I wrote 20 or so banjo tunes, but Carter was a better writer than me."^[2] When Columbia Records signed the Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe left in protest and joined Decca. Later, the Stanleys split up and Carter went to sing for the "Father of Bluegrass." Asked how Monroe could be mad at the Stanley Brothers at one point and then hire Carter for his band, Ralph explained: "He knew Carter would make him a good singer. . . Bill Monroe loved our music and loved our singing."^[2]

The Stanley Brothers joined King Records in the late '50s, a record company so eclectic it included James Brown at the time. In fact he and his band were in the studio when the brothers recorded "Finger Poppin' Time." "James and his band were poppin' their fingers on that" according to Ralph.^[2] It was at King Records that they "went to a more 'Stanley style,' the sound that people most know today."^[2]

Ralph and Carter performed as The Stanley Brothers with their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys from 1946 to 1966.

Solo[link]

After Carter died of complications of cirrhosis in 1966, after failing for "a year or so,"^[2] Ralph faced a hard decision on whether to continue performing on his own. "I was worried, I didn't know if I could do it by myself. But boy, I got letters, 3,000 of 'em, and phone calls . . . I went to Syd Nathan at King and asked him if he wanted me to go on, and he said, 'Hell yes! You might be better than both of them.'"^[3]

Dr. Ralph Stanley in 2006
Image by Larry Miller

He decided to go it alone, eventually reviving the Clinch Mountain Boys. Larry Sparks, Roy Lee Centers, and Charlie Sizemore were among those with whom he played in the revived band. He encountered Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley arriving late to his own show: "They were about 16 or 17, and they were holding the crowd 'til we got there. . . They sounded just exactly like (the Stanley Brothers)."^[4] Seeing their potential, he hired them "to give 'em a chance", even though that meant a seven-member band.^[2] Eventually, his son Ralph Stanley II, took over as lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the Clinch Mountain Boys.^[5]

Political career[link]

Around 1970, he ran for Clerk of Court and Commissioner of Revenue in Dickenson County only to state this:

"What happened is, somebody traded me off--they used my popularity and money to elect somebody else. I was done dirty. And I'm so proud that I was done dirty, because if I had been elected . . . I woulda had a job to do . . . maybe woulda finally quit (music). So that's one time I was done dirty and I want to thank them for it now."^[4]

[edit] O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Stanley's work was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, in which he sings the Appalachian dirge "O Death." The soundtrack's producer was T-Bone Burnett. Stanley said the following about working with Burnett:

"T-Bone Burnett had several auditions for that song. He wanted it in the Dock Boggs style. So I got my banjo and learned it the way he did it. You see, I had recorded 'O Death' three times, done it with Carter. So I went down with my banjo to Nashville and I said, 'T-Bone, let me sing it the way I want to sing it,' and I laid my banjo down and sung it a cappella. After two or three verses, he stopped me and said, 'That's it.'"^[4]

With that song, Stanley won a 2002 Grammy Award in the category of Best Male Country Vocal Performance. "That put the icing on the cake for me," he says. "It put me in a different category."^[4]

Today[link]

Known in the world of bluegrass music by the popular title, "Dr. Ralph Stanley" (after being awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee in 1976), Stanley was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1992 and in 2000, and became the first person to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in the third millennium.

He joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the In the Heat of the Night (TV Series) cast CD “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” performing "Christmas Time's A Comin'" with the cast on the CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA for one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers.

He is featured in the Josh Turner hit song "Me and God," released in 2006.

John and Elizabeth Edwards with Ralph Stanley and Clinch Mountain Boys, July 18, 2007.

In 2006 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. On November 10, 2007, Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys performed at a rally for presidential candidate John Edwards in Des Moines, Iowa, just prior to the Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner. Between renditions of "Man of Constant Sorrow" and "Orange Blossom Special," Stanley told the crowd that he had cast his first vote for Harry S. Truman in 1948 and would cast his next for John Edwards in 2008—but after Edwards fell by the wayside, Stanley endorsed Barack Obama on September 9, 2008.^[6] In October 2008, the Obama campaign aired a radio ad in Virginia featuring Stanley.^[7]

Stanley maintains an extensive touring schedule.

Country singer Dwight Yoakam has stated that Ralph Stanley is one of his "musical heroes."^[8]

Stanley's autobiography, Man of Constant Sorrow, coauthored with the music journalist Eddie Dean, was released by Gotham Books on October 15, 2009.^[9]

Musical style[link]

Ralph created a unique style of banjo playing, sometimes called "Stanley Style". It evolved from Scruggs style, which is a three finger technique. "Stanley style" is distinguished by incredibly fast "forward rolls," led by the index finger, sometimes in the higher registers utilizing a capo. In "Stanley Style", the rolls of the banjo are continuous, while being picked fairly close the bridge on the banjo, giving the tone of the instrument a very crisp, articulate snap to the strings as the player would strike them.

Selected discography[link]

^{[10] [11]}

Other contributions[link]

• Lifted: Songs of the Spirit (2002, Sony/Hear Music) - "Listen to the Shepherd"
• Re:Generation Music Project soundtrack (2012) - "Wayfaring Stranger" ^[12]

Honors, awards, distinctions[link]

• He's known in the world of bluegrass music by the popular title, "Dr. Ralph Stanley" after being awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, in 1976.
• He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1992 and in 2000.
• He became the first person to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in the third millennium.
• His work was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, in which he sings the Appalachian dirge "O Death."
  • That song won him a 2002 Grammy Award in the category of Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
• The Virginia Press Association made him their Distinguished Virginian of the Year in 2004.
• The Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Music Center opened in Clintwood, Virginia in 2004.
• He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2006, the nation's highest honor for artistic excellence.
• The Virginia legislature designated him the Outstanding Virginian of 2008.
• He was awarded the Key to the City of Garner, North Carolina on November 15, 2008
• He was named a Library of Congress Living Legend in April 2000^[13]

See also[link]

• The Stanley Brothers
• George Shuffler
• Dickenson County, Virginia
• Bluegrass music
• Old-time music
• Banjo
• International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor
• Grand Ole Opry
• O Brother, Where Art Thou?
• Grammy Awards
• National Medal of Arts

References[link]

• "Old-Time Man" interview June 2008 Virginia Living pp 55–57.
• Stanley, Ralph (2009). Man of Constant Sorrow. New York: Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1-59240-425-4. http://www.amazon.com/Man-Constant-Sorrow-Life-Times/dp/1592404251/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qisbn=1224098250&sr=1-2. 

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• American legends: Ralph Stanley - The Guardian
• http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/countryartists/stanley.html
• http://www.drralphstanley.com/index.shtml
• Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center
• Ralph Stanley Interview
• Allmusic with audio
• A capella performance of 'Me and God'
• http://www.ralphstanley.net/
• Ralph Stanley plays the Tiny Desk for NPR Music
• The Ralph Stanley "Twine"

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2011)

Ronald Franklin "Ron" Block (born July 30, 1964) is an American bluegrass and alternative country musician, mainly playing the banjo and the guitar, singing, and writing gospel music.

Biography[link]

Block was born in 1964 in Inglewood, California. He received his first guitar at 11. He first became interested in banjo at 13, after seeing Earl Scruggs play on television. His interest in guitars and singing grew after seeing The Stanley Brothers and Larry Sparks. He is best known for his participation in the Grammy Award winning band, Alison Krauss & Union Station.

For the past twenty years, Ron Block has been the spiritual touchstone of Alison Krauss and Union Station, contributing sterling musicianship on banjo, guitar, vocals, and songwriting.

Alison Krauss and Union Station have recorded 10 of Block’s songs since 1992, including There Is A Reason," "In The Palm of Your Hand," "Jesus Help Me To Stand," and "A Living Prayer, which received a 2006 Gospel Music Association Dove award. His songs have also been recorded and performed by Rhonda Vincent (“You’re In My Heart”), Randy Travis (“Which Way Will You Choose”), Dan Tyminski (“Be Assured,” “The One You Lean On,” and “It All Comes Down To You”), Michael W. Smith (“Loving You Eternally”), Rhonda Vincent (“You’re In My Heart”), the Cox Family, and the Forbes Family.

Block’s first solo album, Faraway Land (Rounder, 2001), met with great critical acclaim and raised the bar for Block as an artist for his Rounder Records follow-up, DoorWay. Boasting an all-star lineup featuring Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Jerry Douglas, Barry Bales, Adam Steffey, Stuart Duncan, Viktor Krauss, Suzanne and Sidney Cox, Andy Hubbard (Little Big Town) and Homer, Lisa, and Lori Forbes, among others. Billboard Magazine/All Music Guide says, “Ron Block is best known to bluegrass lovers as the banjo player with Union Station, Alison Krauss’ backing band. But he’s also an excellent singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and on his second solo album he expands his stylistic parameters to very winning effect…” Barnes and Noble: “His Union Station mates Jerry Douglas and Dan Tyminski may be better known, but Ron Block levels the playing field with his second solo album, an assertive exploration of his Christian faith…”

Ron has also produced The Forbes Family’s In the Shadow of Your Wings," a classic of contemporary bluegrass gospel, and co-produced and played on Sierra Hull’s debut recording, Secrets.

Block has also recorded with Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Fernando Ortega, Andrew Peterson, Susan Ashton, Vince Gill, the Cox Family, Clint Black, Dan Tyminski, Bill Frisell, Josh Turner, Billy Dean, Michael Johnson, Ronnie Bowman, Dailey and Vincent, Bradley Walker, Twila Paris, McBride and the Ride, and many other country, bluegrass, and Christian artists, and received an Album of the Year Grammy Award for his work on the "O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack.

Discography[link]

Quotation[link]

This section is a candidate to be copied to Wikiquote using the Transwiki process.

They (Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs) took the existing forms of music of the day, and radically innovated a new music form. So the spirit of that is happening today. It's taking the roots and turning it into a new thing that's uniquely your own.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official homepage
• Bio from AlisonKrauss.com
• CMT bio
• BanjoNews bio

Sierra Hull
Background information
Born	(1991-09-27) September 27, 1991 (age 20)
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, Mandolin, Guitar
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Rounder
Associated acts	Alison Krauss, Barry Bales, Ron Block, Chris Thile
Website	http://www.sierralhull.com Sierra Hull discography at MusicBrainz

Sierra Hull (born September 27, 1991) is an American bluegrass singer and mandolinist and guitarist.

Hull was signed to Rounder Records at the age of 13^[1] and released her debut album, Secrets, in 2008 at the age of 16. The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums chart.^[2] Her second album, Daybreak, was released on March 8, 2011.^[3]

Biography[link]

Sierra Hull was born and raised in Byrdstown, Tennessee and attended Pickett County High School before accepting a Presidential Scholarship^[4] to study at the Berklee College of Music.

Hull began playing the mandolin at the age of eight and put out the album Angel Mountain at 10. Hull was soon playing jam sessions with other musicians in her family, and by 2001 she was entering local talent contests. Her parents, Stacy and Brenda, took her to numerous bluegrass festivals and it was during an International Bluegrass Music Association festival that she came to the attention of Rounder Records chief talent scout Ken Irwin.^[5] At age 11 she was mentored and befriended by Alison Krauss, herself once a child prodigy on the fiddle.^[6]

She has a brother, Cody, and is a distant cousin of former United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull.^[7] Hull has already received five International Bluegrass Music Association nominations in the past three years.

Music career[link]

[edit] Secrets

Hull's debut album on Rounder Records, released in May 2008, was co-produced by Alison Krauss and Ron Block which follows a self-released CD Angel Mountain, in 2002. The production by Hull and Ron Block paid tribute and honored the tradition and style of bluegrass music. The album contained 3 original songs penned by Hull. She was just 15 when she recorded the album and released at just 16.

[edit] Daybreak

On her 2011 second release on Rounder Records, the 20-year-old has composed seven of the 12 songs and it was produced by Alison Krauss & Union Station bassist Barry Bales. The album features collaborations with Bryan Sutton on guitar and Randy Kohrs on dobro. Guest singers include Dan Tyminski, Shawn Lane and Ronnie Bowman.

The themes on Daybreak are largely relationship oriented and surround universal subjects like love won and lost.^[8]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Other singles[link]

Music videos[link]

References[link]

Jackie Keith Whitley^[1] (July 1, 1954^[1][2] — May 9, 1989), known professionally as Keith Whitley, was an American country music singer. Whitley's brief career in mainstream country music lasted from 1984 until his death in 1989, but he continues to influence an entire generation of singers and songwriters. He charted 19 singles on the Billboard country charts, including five consecutive Number Ones: "Don't Close Your Eyes", "When You Say Nothing at All", "I'm No Stranger to the Rain", "I Wonder Do You Think of Me" and "It Ain't Nothin'" (the last two posthumously).

Early life[link]

Whitley was born to Faye (editor of The Elliott County News) and Elmer Whitley (an electrician) in Ashland, Kentucky, but grew up 46 miles away in Sandy Hook, and attended Sandy Hook High School.^[3][4] He had two brothers, Randy and Dwight, and a sister, Mary.^[5][6] The Whitley family has lived in the Elliot County area since the 1840s.

As a teenager in Sandy Hook, Whitley and his friends would pass the time drinking bootleg bourbon and racing their cars down mountain roads at dangerous speeds. Whitley was once in a car whose driver attempted to round a curve at 120 mph. The car wrecked, killing his friend and almost breaking Whitley's neck. In another incident, he drove his car off a 120 foot cliff into a frozen river, escaping with only a broken collar bone.^[7]

Musical career[link]

In 1969 he performed in a musical contest in Ezel, Kentucky, with brother Dwight on five-string banjo. Future country-music star Ricky Skaggs was also in the contest. Skaggs and Whitley hit it off right away and became fast friends.^[8]

As teenagers, Whitley (15) and Skaggs (16) were discovered by Ralph Stanley while they were singing Stanley Brothers' songs as an opening act for the Clinch Mountain Boys. The two soon joined Ralph's band. Whitley also played with J.D. Crowe & the New South in the mid-seventies.^[7] During this period, he established himself as one of the most versatile and talented lead singers in bluegrass. His singing was heavily influenced by Carter Stanley and Lefty Frizzell. He moved to Nashville in 1983 to pursue a country music career and soon signed a record deal with RCA Records.^[7] Whitley's first solo album, A Hard Act to Follow, was released in 1984, and featured a more mainstream country style. While Whitley was working hard to achieve his own style, the songs he produced were inconsistent. Critics regarded the album as too erratic. Whitley honed his sound within the next few years for his next album, L.A. to Miami.

L.A. to Miami, released in 1986, would give him his first Top 20 country hit single, "Miami, My Amy". The song was followed by three more hit songs: "Ten Feet Away", "Homecoming '63", and "Hard Livin'", The album also included "On the Other Hand" and "Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her". "On the Other Hand" was pitched to Whitley before Randy Travis released the song as a single and when Whitley's version wasn't released as a single, Travis released his in 1986, as did George Strait with "Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her".

During his tour to promote L.A. to Miami, he met and began a romantic relationship with country singer Lorrie Morgan. The pair were married in November 1986, and they had their only child, a son, Jesse Keith Whitley, in June 1987. Whitley also adopted Lorrie's daughter, Morgan, from her first marriage.

During the new recording sessions in 1987, Whitley started feeling that the songs he was doing were not up to his standards, so he approached RCA and asked if the project of 15 songs could be shelved. He asked if he could assert himself more with the songs and production. The new album, titled Don't Close Your Eyes, was released in 1988, and the album sold extremely well. The album contained one of the many songs that Whitley had a hand in writing in his years at Tree Publishing, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." Also on the album was a remake of Lefty Frizzell's classic standard "I Never Go Around Mirrors," and the song became a huge hit at Whitley's concerts. The first three singles from the album—"When You Say Nothing at All," "I'm No Stranger to the Rain," and the title cut—all reached number 1 on Billboard Magazine's country charts during the fall of 1988 and the winter of 1989, with the title track "Don't Close Your Eyes" being ranked as Billboard's No. 1 Country song of 1988. Shortly thereafter, "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" also earned Whitley his first and only Country Music Association award as a solo artist.

In early 1989, Whitley approached Sony Music Nashville chairman Joe Galante with the intention of releasing I Never Go Around Mirrors as a single. Galante approved of the musical flexibility that Whitley achieved with the song; however, he suggested that Whitley record something new and more upbeat. The result was a song Whitley had optioned for his previous album called I Wonder, Do You Think of Me?, and was to result in his next album release.

Alcoholism and death[link]

Whitley was a longtime alcoholic, who started drinking early in his career at bluegrass gigs, long before he was legally allowed to drink alcohol. Many times he had tried to overcome his alcoholism, but failed. Whitley preferred to drink alone, making it difficult for anyone to detect that he had a problem. According to Lorrie Morgan, she tried to conceal all alcoholic beverages from him, even going as far as binding their legs together before going to bed so as to make it impossible for Whitley to wake up in the middle of the night to consume a drink without her knowledge - only to discover that he would drink things such as perfume and nail polish remover to get intoxicated.

Whitley had lost both his father Elmer and his brother Randy (October 1983 motorcycle accident), in the five years preceding his death.^[3][5]

On the morning of May 9, 1989, after a weekend of drinking and partying, Whitley awoke and spoke with his mother briefly on the phone. He was then visited by his brother-in-law Lane Palmer, and the two had coffee and they were planning a day of golf and having lunch, after which Whitley had planned to start writing songs for he and Lorrie Morgan to record when she returned from her tour. Palmer departed at approximately 8:30 a.m.,^[9] informing Whitley to be ready to leave within an hour. Upon returning, Palmer found Whitley face down on his bed, fully clothed.

The cause of death was determined to be acute ethanolism (alcohol poisoning),^[4] and Davidson County Medical Examiner Charles Harlan stated that his blood alcohol level was .477 (the equivalent of 20 1-ounce shots of 100-proof whiskey^[10] and almost five times over the then Tennessee level of 0.1 legal intoxication limit, and nearly six times over the current .08 legal limit to drive).^{[11][12][12][13][14]} Whitley was 34 years old.^[1][2]

The day after his death, Music Row was lined with black ribbons in memory of Whitley. He is buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

Death controversy[link]

It has long been speculated that Whitley's death may not have been directly caused by his recklessness or alcoholism, but that he may have been a victim of premeditated misconduct. In 2009, Forensic Pathologist and then-chief Medical Examiner Charles W. Harlan stood trial for several cases of forensic fraud which led to the misdiagnoses of several deceased patients, and possibly the conviction of innocent people under suspicion of murder. Subsequently, the man who originally lay claim that Whitley's death was solely by alcohol poisoning has been released of his license to practice pathology. ^{[15] [16]} Whitley's death certificate and autopsy results had once been sealed from public access, but have since been made public record.

Posthumous career[link]

Although Whitley's voice was silenced, his influence on country music has persisted long after his death. At the time of his death, he had just finished work on his fourth and final studio album, I Wonder Do You Think of Me. The album was released three months after his death, on August 1, 1989. The album produced two more #1 hits, with the title track and "It Ain't Nothin'." "I'm Over You" also saw the Top 5 in early 1990, reaching No. 3.

Two new songs were added to "Greatest Hits": The first, "Tell Lorrie I Love Her" was written and recorded at home by Whitley for Morgan, originally intended as a work tape for Whitley's friend Curtis 'Mr. Harmony' Young to sing at Whitley's wedding. The second was "'Til a Tear Becomes a Rose", a 1987 demo taken from Tree that originally featured harmony vocals by childhood friend Ricky Skaggs. Lorrie Morgan, with creative control and license to Whitley's namesake, recorded her voice alongside Whitley's, and released it as a single, which rose to No. 13 and won them 1990's CMA award for Best Vocal Collaboration.

RCA also released a compilation of performance clips (from his days in the Ralph Stanley-Fronted Clinch Mountain Boys), interviews, and some previously unreleased material under the title "Kentucky Bluebird". The album produced hits for Whitley as well, including a duet with Earl Thomas Conley, named "Brotherly Love," which peaked at No. 2 in late 1991.

In 1994, Whitley's widow, Lorrie Morgan, organized several of Whitley's friends in bluegrass and some of the big names in country at the time to record a tribute album to Whitley. The album included covers of Whitley's songs from artists such as Alan Jackson, Diamond Rio, and Ricky Skaggs. The album also included several previously unreleased tracks recorded by Whitley in 1987. One of the songs was a duet that Morgan and Whitley did in 1987 called "I Just Want You". The tribute album credited Whitley with another award for reaching more than 500,000 copies. However, the hit single to come from the tribute album was Alison Krauss & Union Station's rendition of "When You Say Nothing at All", which was a #3 hit for her that year.

In 1995, the album Wherever You Are Tonight was released, produced by Lorrie Morgan, featuring restored demos of 1986-1988, with crisper 1990s recording techniques and a full orchestra. The album and single of the same name both did very well on the Billboard and R&R charts and brought "Super Hits" and "The Essential Keith Whitley" in 1996. "The Essential" contained the remastered and long since unavailable LP and Whitley's debut, the 6-Track "A Hard Act to Follow", and a scrapped song from 1986's "LA to Miami", "I Wonder Where You Are Tonight".

In 2004, songwriter Jeff Swope began writing a film treatment for a biopic concerning Whitley's life and death that was shelved in 2006. On April 13, 2010, he announced that pre-production was set to begin again, pending investors.^[17]

In the last 10 years, several film projects depicting Whitley's life were slated. One idea was a film version of the George Vescey-Lorrie Morgan-penned "Forever Yours, Faithfully". While Morgan's book was a benchmark in piecing together Whitley's final moments, perhaps the most research went into a project titled "Kentucky Bluebird", which was to star writer/actor/director David Keith. This project has been in development hell for several years, and was halted in late 2006 also, after difficulties with casting and funding.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

References[link]

• Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. - Keith Whitley: Biography. - Allmusic.
• Skinker, Chris (1998). - "Keith Whitley". - The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music. - First Edition. - Paul Kingsbury, editor. - New York: Oxford University Press. - pp. 583–584. ISBN 978-0-19-511671-7

Notes[link]