Mountain Song Favorites Featuring 5 String Banjo, released on Starday in 1959, is one of the Stanley Brothers' earliest banjo-forward LPs and a showcase for Ralph Stanley's three-finger picking at the moment it was hardening into its mature shape. The Stanleys recorded the sessions that summer at their then-radio home in Live Oak, Florida, where they were broadcasting daily and rebuilding a working band after a thin late-1950s stretch. The program leans heavily on traditional mountain material — fiddle-tune standbys and old ballads — arranged to put Ralph's banjo at the center of every track. It marks the start of his transition from Carter's accompanist into the genre's most distinctive solo banjo voice.
Tracklist
- 1 Ridin’ That Midnight Train alt version 2:02
- 2 Another Night alt version 2:58
- 3 Beneath The Maple 2:44
- 4 Ralph’s Banjo Special Source Recording 1:58
- 5 Trust Each Other 2:29
- 6 Gonna Paint the Town alt version 1:49
- 7 Highway of Regret alt version 2:02
- 8 A Little At A Time 2:26
- 9 Choo Choo Comin’ alt version 2:32
- 10 Holiday Pickin' (Instrumental) 2:10
- 11 Carolina Mountain Home alt version 2:15
- 12 That Happy Night 2:14
