“My Deceitful Heart” was written by Shorty Long and Johnny Speca and published by Sage and Sand. Long (1923–1991) was a country singer who had been making records since 1946, first with the Santa Fe Rangers and then for Decca and RCA Victor. He cut his own sides for King in Cincinnati in 1950 and 1951, with Syd Nathan producing, and in 1956 he went to Broadway to play Herman in the original production of The Most Happy Fella.
The Stanley Brothers recorded the song at the King studio on Brewster Avenue in Cincinnati on 4 May 1962. It is a duet, Carter Stanley singing lead and playing guitar, Ralph Stanley singing tenor and playing banjo, with George Shuffler on second guitar and Ralph Mayo on fiddle. The same session produced “I Just Came from Your Wedding” and “Mama Don’t Allow,” which became the band’s next single. King coupled “My Deceitful Heart” with Carter’s “Drunkard’s Dream” on 45-5674, issued in the summer of 1962. The song was not put on a Stanley Brothers album at the time. Its first LP appearance was King’s various-artists set Nashville Bandstand, Vol. 1 (King 813) in March 1963, and Gusto later included it in 1983 Collector’s Edition, Vol. 4.
Most of the later recordings came from musicians close to Ralph Stanley. Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs recorded it on 29 June 1971 at R. D. Homer Studio in Clinton, Maryland, for their Rebel album Second Generation Bluegrass, with Roy Lee Centers on banjo, Curly Ray Cline on fiddle and Jack Cooke on bass. Ralph recorded it himself on 16 February 1976 for Old Home Place (Rebel SLP 1562), this time with Whitley singing lead and Ralph the tenor. On Clinch Mountain Country (Rebel, 1998), Ralph’s son Ralph Stanley II took the lead, with his father again on tenor and John Rigsby singing baritone. Outside that circle, the Bluegrass Tarheels recorded it as “Deceitful Heart” on their 1975 album for Vetco.
