The Lost Kentuckians (with Joe Meadows) - S/T

(Old Homestead OHS-90143) 1981

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The Lost Kentuckians were a family band from Viola, Illinois, formed by Curt & Hope Randolph, along with their two daughters, Darith & Candace.

This was, I think, their second album to be released, and the first to feature former CMB, Ralph 'Joe' Meadows on fiddle.

Hope Maynard was born in the little coal mining town of Inez, Ky. but moved to Illinois whilst she was still little. Like many transplanted appalachian families, music and singing were an important part of family life: "We sang a lot of Les Paul and Mary Ford or Patty Paige songs. We also sang a lot of Gospel songs at church".

Hope married her high school sweetheart Curt Randolph, and they lived for a time in Peoria, Il. where Curt worked as a welder. In the late 50s / early 60s they had two daughters Darith and Candace.

I'm not sure when the family decided to form the band, but in a July 1984 'Rock Island Argus' newspaper article, Hope mentions "Our first family show was in 1969 in Monticello, when Candie was six years old. When they called me on the phone and wanted to know our band name, immediately The Lost Kentuckians came out of my mouth because I always wanted to live there."

Hope had discovered that Darith and Candace could sing harmony, whilst doing the school run in the car.

By 1971, the family had moved to a 340-acre farm in Viola, Il, and Curt began constuction of a log home.

Sometime around 1972/3 the family went to Bean Blossom for one of Bill Monroe's festivals. Encouraged by Monroe, the Lost Kentuckians first performed there in 1975. Hope:- "We had been playing for three of four years and began feeling we were at a low place with our family band. But our good friend, Bill Monroe, had faith in us and gave us confidence, whereas before, we didn't think we belonged"

1975 also saw the first of their 'Land of Lincoln' bluegrass festivals held on their farm in Viola. This ran annually until 1983 or 84^[1], with Ralph appearing in 1981 - a fine recording by Ralph from 10 Jul 1981 can be heard on youtube.

Their first LP 'Body And Soul' (Lemco LEM-053) 1976, featured liner notes by Ralph Stanley, who wrote: "The Lost Kentuckians is a fairly new group to me, but what I have heard, I like. I think this album has good sound and some good vocals as well as some fine fiddle playing. I would recommend that you take it home with you for some good listening." The LP featured Blaine Sprouse on fiddle, and Dwight Dillman on banjo. Their version of Train 45 from this album was later used as a theme song for the National Rodeo Circuit.^[2]

By the time of this second album Candace had taken over on banjo, and the general absence of any picking during the vocal parts, suggests she may have sang the majority of the lead vocals. Eight of the 14 songs were also original compositions by Candace. Two:- Jealousy and Worries And Trouble (aka Your Worries And Troubles Are Mine), were also recorded by Ralph on his The Stanley Sound Today in Feb 1981 (along with two other excellent songs by Candace - How Could I Dream Such A Dream and The Letter I Never Mailed, neither of which were released by The Lost Kentuckians).

Hope:- "Candi has written over 100 sweet, soft country songs, and always writes about something real to her life, even her own love stories"

Side one opens with three of Candace's waltzes: Oh Another Year, I Didn't Even Get The Chance and Just What I'm Looking For; followed by Worries And Trouble which was reportedly written when Candace was just 10 or 11; and then two more waltzes: Little Boy In Grey and The Tears I've Cried. Most of the 3/4 time songs vary little in tempo and theme, which detracts from the quality of the individual songs, but side one does end on a nice rendition of Bill Monroe's That Home Above with Curt on lead & backing vocal by the band (inc. I presume Joe Meadows).

Side two fares better however, with two more uptempo numbers by Candace, and better song arrangements. You Don't Mean It & Jealousy are in a faster 4/4 tempo, with some Stanley-influenced banjo work. How Can I Explain (What I Can't Understand), the old Del McCoury (Dick Staber) song, is also quite a powerful number, which suits the 'Kentuckians vocal. The final five cuts include, Sweet Thing, (I Don't Want Your) Rambling Letters from the Stanley's catalogue, and I Only Exist from Ralph's; and Sinner You Better Get Ready, which was popularised by the Monroe Brothers. These are all decent versions, with the addition of fiddle to Sweet Thing, sounding especially nice.

The original material, and the family harmony singing are the main strengths of this album. Instrumentally however, with the exception of Ralph 'Joe' Meadows fiddle, the playing is at times fairly rudimentary. It's also a shame that the track order isn't a bit more mixed up, or that an instrumental or a more light-hearted song wasn't included, to provide more balance / contrast to the material being offered.

The band went on to to release a third album, 'No One To Welcome Me Home', which included Dana Cupp Jr on bass and Eddie Carroll on guitar. This one was recorded by Old Homestead's studios in Brighton, Michgan in Jan. 1981 and Darith Randolph's absence was temporary. In 1982 the band was one of many bluegrass acts to perform at the World's Fair in Knoxville, and they continued to perform at least until 1985.

Candace married banjo player & future 'Earl of Leicester' Charlie Cushman in Nashville on 19 May 1983. Bill Monroe was one of the witnesses for the ceremony and claimed the first dance with Candace at the reception.^[2]

In June 1983, it was reported that Curt had reached an agreement to place all their farmland in one of the Government's special programs so that he could devote more time to the band's music.^[3] With both of their daughters now married, it looks like the Lost Kentuckians, stopped performing sometime in 1985.

Hope Randolph's painting of Ralph was used on the original cover to his 1976 Old Home Place LP, and she was also active in the Ralph Stanley fan club. Curly Ray Cline's Boar Hog from 1979 also sports a photo taken by Curt of Curly riding one of his hogs at their farm in Viola.

Candace later wrote Who's In Your Heart for Ralph's 1986 Lonesome And Blue LP, and co-wrote three tracks for the Ralph / Jim Lauderdale CD Lost In The Lonesome Pines; in 2005 she released a fine country CD 'Whose Heart Is This?' (Neverrun 501), which also uses a painting by Hope for it's cover. Jim Lauderdale's 2009 CD 'Could We Get Any Closer?' also includes two of Candace's songs: All She Wrote and Lead Me, with the latter also featuring her on harmony vocal. Charlie Cushman plays banjo on a few tracks on the album too.

Most of un-attributed info in this piece has been taken from a 11 Jul 1984 newspaper article in the 'Rock Island Argus' (p.13). Tantalisingly this mentions that in addition to their three released albums, they had "two more on master tapes ready to be cut".

• Joe Meadows: fiddle
• Candace Randolph: banjo, vocals
• Curt Randolph: mandolin, vocals
• Darith Randolph: bass
• Hope Randolph: guitar, vocals

Other artwork / related images:

[1] Adverts for the 1982 'Land of Lincoln' festival mention it's the 7th Annual event. The 1984 festival was listed in Bluegrass Unlimited in the annual Spring round-up of upcoming festivals, and was listed in the June 1984 edition but with just one band named. The July edition however did not list the festival. The Lost Kentuckians were still listed in the Bluegrass Unlimited Talent Directory in Dec 1984, but weren't listed in the Dec 1985 edition.
[2] 'General Store' Oct. 1983 edition of 'Bluegrass Unlimted'.
[3] 'General Store' Jun. 1983 edition of 'Bluegrass Unlimted'.