Rank Strangers

The back story of Rank Stranger goes something like this-A man leaves home to seek his good fortune and see his friends. He says a friendly farewell to his mother and father in hopes they'll return. When he tires of life on the road and the lonely chords of fame, the Rank Stranger goes back home in the mountains and coal mines of Appalachia. When he returns home, a deep sadness hangs over him. The Rank Stranger finds out that his friends and family are all but vanished and gone from his life -never to return again. What he only knows now in his heart and soul are an absolute loneliness and spiritual dislocation. He knows "the bright chrystal sea" is heaven but unfortunately, he knows it's nothing but an illusion and a foregone conclusion-he's trapped in a virtual, internal and existential hell on Earth he can't get out of. Carter and Ralph knew this isolation firsthand. Then again so did the late Country Guy Keith Whitley-who was a victim of a sad loneliness and Demon Alcohol. More recently, it has been none other than Madonna who has done beautiful treatises on her own sadness-specifically the songs-Live to Tell, Take a Bow and Masterpiece about her mother's death. Last but not least, in the years before Rank Stranger, songs such as Dark Was the Night-Cold Was the Ground, How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?, Country Blues and What Would You Give in Exchange for Your Soul? were said song's template. In any event, listening to Rank Stranger is a chilling and unforgettable experience and a must for any Country Fan with a Heart of Soul and a Rock