Clinch Mountain Backstep: A Song History

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"Clinch Mountain Backstep" is a banjo instrumental associated with Ralph Stanley. The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys recorded it at King's studio in Cincinnati on October 1, 1958. Ralph played banjo and Carter played guitar, with Bill Napier on mandolin, Ralph Mayo on fiddle and Al Elliot on bass.[1][2] It was released in March 1959 on the LP The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys (King 615).[1][2] The record credited the tune to "Ruby Rakes," which is reported to be a pen name used for Stanley compositions.[1][3] Modern listings differ on authorship. Some list Ralph and Carter Stanley as co-writers, while others attribute it to Ralph alone.[4][5]

Photograph of an older fiddler and a banjo player performing at a microphone on a festival stage

R. J. Boyd (fiddle) and Millard Garrett (banjo) of Sandy Mush, North Carolina, at the Mountain Music Festival, Asheville, photograph. Lomax Collection, Library of Congress. No known restrictions.

The title refers to Clinch Mountain, a mountain range that runs some 150 miles through Virginia and Tennessee.[6] According to the Traditional Tune Archive, the "backstep" is a hitch in the second strain, where a short two-beat bar is added to the regular four-beat bars.[6] One mandolin lesson also describes the melody as modal, using the flatted seventh and shifting between minor and major thirds.[5]

The tune became a bluegrass standard.[2][5] Ralph Stanley and members of his bands recorded it about a dozen times. One Stanley discography calls it part of “the bluegrass DNA.”[2] When Stanley died in 2016, Bluegrass Today counted it among the songs that would always be tied to his name, and recalled his banjo opening it as something fans would miss.[7] The SecondHandSongs database lists later versions by other musicians, among them Douglas Dillard and Clarence White,[4] and the tune has also been recorded by old-time players.[6]

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Sources

  1. Bluegrass Discography (ibiblio): "Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys" (King 615).
  2. Clinch Mountain Echo: "The Stanley Brothers And The Clinch Mountain Boys" (King KLP-615).
  3. Wikipedia: "Carter Stanley".
  4. SecondHandSongs: "Clinch Mountain Backstep".
  5. Peghead Nation: "Clinch Mountain Backstep, Part 1".
  6. The Traditional Tune Archive: "Annotation:Clinch Mountain Backstep".
  7. Bluegrass Today: "Ralph Stanley passes".