Rebel Records To Resume Issuing Classic Releases for Digital Download‏

Campaign Kicks Off with Two Ralph Stanley LPs Oct. 19th




Select recordings from County Records to be featured as well


This fall Rebel Records recommences its efforts to make its extensive catalog of yet-to-be reissued recordings available for digital download. The label will be releasing two albums per month for purchase through major online retailers including iTunes and Amazon.com. Releases from both Rebel Records and its sister label County Records will be counted in the campaign and will include classics from artists such as Ralph Stanley, Del McCoury and Kenny Baker among many others. Radio DJ's that receive releases from Rebel via digital download will be sent all these recordings as per usual. Unfortunately, as no physical CD's will be manufactured, DJ's serviced by mail will not receive them.

The campaign starts off with a bang October 19th with the release of two Ralph Stanley albums: Old Country Church (1972) and Lonesome and Blue (1987). Old Country Church features Dr. Ralph in what many bluegrass fans consider his best-ever lineup: Roy Lee Centers on guitar and lead vocals, Curly Ray Cline on fiddle, Keith Whitley on lead guitar, Ricky Skaggs on mandolin and Jack Cooke on bass. The album was Ralph's second gospel release for Rebel Records following his seminal Cry From the Cross LP. While Old Country Church did not yield as many hits as its predecessor, it is still filled with gems such as the upbeat classic "Honey in the Rock" as well as two a cappella hymns: "Village Church Yard" and "When I Get Home."

Lonesome and Blue is a secular album and features Ralph with his mid-1980s lineup: Charlie Sizemore on guitar and lead vocals, Junior Blankenship on lead guitar and the durable Curly Ray Cline and Jack Cooke on fiddle and bass, respectively. Having gone nearly a decade without a personnel change and with nine albums to their credit, Ralph and The Clinch Mountain Boys were a well-oiled machine by the time this record was released in early 1987. In what would be his last recording with the band, Charlie Sizemore is in peak form on lead vocals. Notable tracks include two Randall Hylton-penned numbers, the oft-requested "Room at the Top of the Stairs" and "It's a Hot Night in August," "Old Richmond Prison" (now a latter day standard for Ralph) and remakes of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and the title track, a Stanley Brothers classic originally cut for Mercury.

Stay tuned - upcoming digital exclusive releases include Del McCoury's self-titled first recording for Rebel and Bluegrass Memories, a late 1980s release from Dave Evans.