The Mountain Music Sound of the Stanley Brothers was issued by Starday as SLP 201 on 1 December 1962. Despite the title it is a sampler: six of its fourteen tracks are by the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys, and the other eight are by other Starday artists.
The Stanley Brothers tracks were recorded in the spring and summer of 1960 at Magnum Studio in Jacksonville, Florida, and, for one, in Cincinnati. At Magnum, Carter Stanley (guitar) and Ralph Stanley (banjo) were joined by Curley Lambert, Ralph Mayo and Audie Webster on bass for “Little Maggie” (with Ralph on lead), “God Gave You to Me,” “Rank Stranger,” “If I Lose” and “Don’t Go Out Tonight.” “Come All You Tenderhearted,” recorded on 11 July 1960 in Cincinnati, features Carter on guitar with Lambert and George Shuffler.
The rest of the album comes from other sessions. Red Allen and the Kentuckians, with Frank Wakefield on mandolin, Don Reno on banjo, Chubby Wise on fiddle and John Palmer on bass, recorded three tracks in Nashville in November 1961, including the Allen–Wakefield instrumental “Mountain Strings.” Hylo Brown’s “Handsome Molly” dates from April 1962, and the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers’ “Little Glass of Wine” from May 1962. The Country Gentlemen’s “Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow,” with John Duffey on lead, was recorded in January 1960 in Washington, D.C. by Duffey, Charlie Waller, Eddie Adcock and Jim Cox. The album also carries Ronnie Stoneman’s banjo instrumental “Lonesome Banjo” and “Bluegrass Style” by Vern & Ray.
Tracklist
- 1 Little Maggie alt version 2:44
- 2 Come All You Tenderhearted 3:21
- 3 Blue Grass Style 1:43
- 4 Handsome Molly alt version 2:03
- 5 God Gave You To Me 2:04
- 6 Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow Source Recording 2:08
- 7 Will the Circle be Unbroken alt version 5:38
- 8 Rank Stranger alt version 3:08
- 9 Mountain Strings (Instrumental) 3:19
- 10 Little Glass of Wine alt version 2:56
- 11 If I Lose alt version 2:09
- 12 Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes 2:38
- 13 Lonesome Banjo (Instrumental) 1:38
- 14 Don't Go Out Tonight 2:31
