Dean Barnett (July 13, 1967 – October 27, 2008) was an American columnist and blogger and occasional fill-in radio host for Hugh Hewitt.

Early life[link]

Barnett was born in Boston and grew up in Newton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in government, and a J.D. from Boston University Law School in 1992.^[1]

Career[link]

Barnett ran for state representative from Newton as a Republican in 1992, and later started a legal recruiting company. In January 1994 Barnett was one of the first volunteers for Mitt Romney's Senate campaign, during which Barnett often drove Romney to campaign events.^[1][2] Barnett was a declared supporter of Romney's 2008 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

In 2004, Barnett created SoxBlog, a weblog focused on conservative politics, social issues, golf and the Boston Red Sox. Barnett's popularity led radio talk show host and blogger Hugh Hewitt to invite him on as co-blogger, which he did until joining the Weekly Standard in 2007.

Barnett was known for his thick Boston accent (earning him the nickname "Chowdah") when he filled in on Hewitt's radio show. Barnett's writings appeared in National Review Online, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe, and Townhall.com.^[1]

Illness[link]

Barnett suffered from cystic fibrosis, a fact he discussed in numerous blog posts.^[3] On October 8, 2008, he was admitted to the hospital with a severe infection, from which he died on October 27, 2008.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Soxblog
• Hugh Hewitt blog
• The Weekly Standard

This article about a blog, vlog, or other internet publication is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article related to politics in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

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"

Dean Fraser
Background information
Birth name	Dean Ivanhoe Fraser
Born	c.1955, Kingston, Jamaica
Genres	Reggae, Jazz
Occupations	Saxophonist
Instruments	Saxophone, Vocals
Years active	mid 1970s – present
Labels	Joe Gibbs, Germain, Island, Greensleeves, Shanachie, VP, RAS
Associated acts	We The People Band, Sly & Robbie, Luciano, Tarrus Riley

Dean Fraser (sometimes appearing as Dean Frazer) (b. Dean Ivanhoe Fraser, Kingston, Jamaica c.1955)^[1] is a Jamaican saxophonist who has contributed to hundreds of reggae recordings since the mid-1970s. He was awarded the Musgrave Medal by the Jamaican government in 1993 in recognition of his services to music.^[2]

Biography[link]

Fraser started to play the clarinet at the age of 12. Around this time he met Ronald 'Nambo' Robinson and Junior 'Chico' Chinn at a youthclub in Jonestown and the three boys would eventually form a brass section.^[2] Fraser took up saxophone at the age of 15.^[1] The trio became the foremost horn section in Jamaica in the 1980s. In 1977 he joined Lloyd Parks' We The People Band, backing Dennis Brown on several of his recordings for Joe Gibbs.^[2] Fraser's first album, 1978's Black Horn Man was produced by Gibbs. This was followed in 1979 by Pure Horns and Double Dynamite, and in 1980 by Revolutionary Sounds for producer Donovan Germain. Fraser provided horns for Sly & Robbie in the 1980s, both on record and on tour.^[2] Fraser appeared at the 1981 Reggae Sunsplash, performing an instrumental version of the recently-deceased Bob Marley's "Redemption Song", which led to the 1984 album Pumping Air on Island Records' Mango label.^[2] Fraser went on to record two albums of Marley covers, Dean Plays Bob and Dean Plays Bob volume II.^[1]

The digital era of reggae, which is defined by the use of computers and drum machines to create the backing track, did not affect his output since acoustic instruments such as the saxophone were still in demand. Fraser has released several more albums since and he is recognized as one of Jamaica's top musicians. He toured extensively with Luciano from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s,^[3] as well as performing on and adding production to several of the singer's albums, including A New Day, Serious Times and Jah Is My Navigator.^[4][5] More recently, Fraser has been recording, producing and touring with singers Tarrus Riley and Duane Stephenson.^[6][7] Also, Dean Fraser has redone 16 tracks on CD 2 of "We Remember Gregory Isaacs" which was recorded in 2011 on VP Records.

He is Uncle to Hip Hop Mc Reggiimental.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

• RAS Records artist profile
• Dean Fraser at Roots Archives
• Dean Fraser album discography

Cedric "Im" Brooks (born 1943 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican saxophonist and flautist known for his solo recordings and as a member of The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, The Light of Saba, and The Skatalites.

Biography[link]

Brooks became a pupil at the renowned Alpha Boys School aged 11, where he learned music theory and clarinet.^[1][2] In his late teens he took up tenor saxophone and flute.^[2]

Brooks was a member of groups such as The Vagabonds and the Granville Williams Band in the early 1960s, but it would be the late 1960s when he would find his first major commercial success, as part of a duo with trumpeter David Madden, Im & David.^[2] The duo released a series of instrumental singles for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One label. Brooks also became a regular studio musician at the Brentford Road studio, playing on many recording sessions, and released several solo singles in the early 1970s.^[2][3]

In 1970 he first teamed up with Rastafarian drummer Count Ossie, releasing tracks such as "So Long Rastafari Calling", "Black is Black", and "Give Me Back My Language and Culture" as Im and Count Ossie. The pair would later form The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, with Brooks acting as musical director and leader of the horn section. From this collaboration resulted the triple LP-Set Grounation. Brooks left in 1974 to form a new band, the Divine Light (later called The Light of Saba). After a single, "Demauungwani", the group recorded their first album for the Institute of Jamaica, From Mento to Reggae to Third World Music, a collection exploring the history of Jamaican music, incorporating mento, junkunoo, ska, rocksteady, and reggae.^[2] The band made two further albums of jazz-influenced Rastafarian reggae,^[4] The Light of Saba and The Light of Saba in Reggae, before Brooks left, again going solo with his 1977 album, Im Flash Forward, featuring Studio One rhythms from the early 1970s, and regarded as one of the greatest Jamaican instrumental albums.^[2][3] The following year, Brooks assembled a new band of musicians to record the United Africa album.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Brooks released a few singles but largely worked as a session musician. In particular, he worked with Carlos Malcolm in San Diego, California, in 1998 as part of a 20-piece ska and mento orchestra known as "Zimbobway's King Kingston Orchestra." These albums featured Im both on saxophone and percussion in many of the 24 recordings. In 1999, after the death of Rolando Alphonso, former saxophonist of the Skatalites, Brooks joined the band.^[4]

Selected discography[link]

Solo[link]

• Im Flash Forward (1977) Studio One
• United Africa (1978) ARCO

Im & Dave[link]

• Money Maker (1970) Coxsone (sometimes credited to Various Artists)

With Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari[link]

• Grounation (1973) MRR/Vulcan/Ashanti
• Tales of Mozambique (1975)
• One Truth

With The Light of Saba[link]

• The Light Of Saba (1974) Total Sounds
• From Mento to Reggae to Third World Music (1975) Doctor Bird
• The Light Of Saba in Reggae (197?) Total Sounds

Compilations

• Cedric Im Brooks & The Light Of Saba (2003) Honest Jon's

With the Skatalites[link]

• Bashaka (2000)
• From Paris With Love (2002)
• The Skatalites In Orbit, Vol. 1 (2005)
• On The Right Track (2007)

Session Work[link]

• Negril (LP, 1975. Micron Music Ltd.) (CD, 2003. 3D Japan)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Cedric Brooks at Roots Archives