The Stanley Brothers’ Rank Stranger added to National Recording Register

The Stanley Brothers’ classic 1960 recording of Rank Stranger has been chosen by The Librarian of Congress as one of the culturally-significant audio recordings to be added to their National Recording Registry for preservation. Each year 25 new pieces of audio are added to the archive - some from commercial recordings, others from radio broadcasts or field recordings.

This archive was created in 2000 and now contains 275 audio files, some dating from the late 19th century, though not all are actually housed at the Library of Congress. You can see the complete list, presented in chronological order on the National Recording Preservation Board web site.

The Victor Talking Machine Company's 1927 Bristol Sessions were among the inaugural 50 recordings added to the registry in 2002.

The Stanley Brothers began their career playing on WCYB radio in Bristol.  Ralph Stanleycurrentlyserves as a member of Birthplace of Country Music Cultural Heritage Center Artistic Council.

For more information, including a video clip of the Stanley Brother's perfomring Rank Stranger, visit the Bluegrass Blog .