Jack Cooke, the Norton Flash, RIP
jack Cooke, longtime bass player for Ralph Stanley, has died:
We have just learned that Jack Cooke, long-time member of Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, passed away last night (12/1) after suffering a massive heart attack.
Cooke performed with The Stanley Brothers in the 1950s before going to work for Bill Monroe from 1956-1960. He returned to perform with Ralph Stanley in 1970 not long after Ralph reformed his band following brother Carter’s passing in 1966.
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys was one of the first bluegrass bands I ever saw. I remember it as if it was yesterday: the 1997 Winterhawk Bluegrass Festival (now known as Grey Fox). I was just getting into bluegrass and was such a newbie I was actually there to see Alison Krauss. She was a total disappointment, one of the most boring performances I’ve ever seen.
Stanley’s band, with the legendary Jack Cooke on bass, was anything but. The band was on fire, just blazing through songs. Cooke wasn’t just a solid bass player, he had a wonderful baritone and a great sense of humor. I’d like to post a couple of the songs he sang, but i didn’t find much on youtube. So here’s the Clinch Mountain Boys doing some of the great a capella gospel they’re known for. A fitting tribute to a legend of bluegrass.
RIP Jack.
