The Stanley Brothers: Carter Stanley (vocals, guitar); Ralph Stanley (vocals, banjo).
Additional personnel: George Shuffler (vocals, acoustic bass); Curley Lambert (guitar, mandolin); Ralph Mayo (guitar, fiddle); Bill Napier (mandolin); Al Elliot (fiddle, bass); Vernon Derrick, Chubby Anthony (fiddle); Henry Dockery (acoustic bass).
Recorded between 1958 and 1960. Includes liner notes by Chuck Young.
The Stanley Brothers began recording for King Records in 1958 and released an impressive string of 15 albums for King and its subsidiary Starday Records in the next six years, and while serious fans might prefer the Stanley Brothers material from their earlier stint from 1948 to 1951 with Columbia Records, there really isn't a noticeable falloff between the two recording periods. This brief set cherry-picks ten tracks from the King/Starday years, including "Rank Stranger to Me," "I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow," and "Little Maggie," and has the same exact sequence (but with different cover art) as the 1998 release that carries the same title. ~ Steve Leggett
