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The Stanley Brothers - The Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys 1953 - 1958 & 1959

(Bear BCD-15681) 1993

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This 2xCD German compilation includes all the tracks the Stanley Brothers cut for Mercury, along with the two tracks from their 1962 Blue Ridge 45 (which was recorded in the Summer of 1959). The album also includes an alternate take of Our Last Goodbye and was the first time the Mercury version of A Lonesome Night was released.

The 'alternate' take of Our Last Goodbye was apparently the version used for release on single (Mercury 70270) in Dec 1963, whereas the Nov 1963 Hard Times collection and subsequent compilations seem to use the 'regular' version. On the single/alt. take Carter starts by singing "The nights are lonely here without you" whereas on the Hard Times LP Carter sings "Oh the nights are...".^[1]

The package comes with discography and notes by Gary B. Reid.

The Mercury cuts (plus two licenced from Starday) are also on The Complete Mercury Recordings release, and the Blue Ridge 45 is also on the 3xCD The Definitive Collection (1947 - 1966) set. Take 4 of Our Last Goodbye appears to be unique to this release...

Thanks to Chris Wing for the CD scans.

For detailed information on these sessions, check Gary B. Reid's The Music Of The Stanley Brothers book, pages 40-51, 57-58, 60-64, 66-69, 71-85, 98-99 and 141.

^{[1] Letter by Walt Saunders in the 1967 'Carter Stanley Memorial Issue' of the 'Stanley Standard' fan club newsletter. (p. 71)}