On This Day #35 – Introducing James King

ralph_jamesOn this Day ……….

On December 8, 1985, James King recorded tracks for his album Introducing James King.

In sessions that took place over two days – December 8 and December 9, 1985 – James King, with the help of Ralph Stanley & Clinch Mountain Boys and a guest fiddle player, recorded tracks for his Wango album Introducing James King.

The sessions took place at a studio in Glenn Burnie, Maryland. The producer was the late Ray Davis.

The full line-up was James King [lead vocals and guitar], Ralph Stanley [vocals and banjo], Charlie Sizemore [vocals and guitar], Junior Blankenship [vocals and guitar], Jack Cooke [vocals and bass], Curly Ray Cline [fiddle] and Eddie Stubbs [fiddle].

The sessions produced a dozen recordings – Don’t Go Out Tonight, Another Night, Our Last Goodbye, It’s Never Too Late, Let Me Be Your Friend, Poison Lies, Loving You Too Well’ Baby Girl, Lonesome Without You, Trust Each Other, Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine and What About You.

Ten titles were released on Wango LP, Introducing James King, LP-118 in 1986. Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine and What About You are the missing songs.

All 12 titles are included in a CD release from 1997, Introducing James King, Wango CD-103.

James King remembers the sessions vividly …

It was lot of fun and an honor to record with the legendary Ralph Stanley.

This feature was planned before Ray Davis passed away. The sessions exemplified the type of traditional bluegrass music that Davis loved so dearly. 

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About the Author

Richard Thompson

Richard F. Thompson is a long-standing free-lance writer specialising in bluegrass music topics. A two-time Editor of British Bluegrass News, he has been seriously interested in bluegrass music since about 1970. As well as contributing to that magazine, he has, in the past 30 plus years, had articles published by Country Music World, International Country Music News, Country Music People, Bluegrass Unlimited, MoonShiner (the Japanese bluegrass music journal) and Bluegrass Europe. He wrote the annotated series I'm On My Way Back To Old Kentucky, a daily memorial to Bill Monroe that culminated with an acknowledgement of what would have been his 100th birthday, on September 13, 2011.