The Stanley Brothers - Stone Walls And Steel Bars / Lonesome Night
(King 5809) Sep 1963
This 7" was recorded at the sessions for the Country Folk Music Spotlight LP, which was released a couple of months later.
Stone Walls And Steel Bars was given 4 stars out of 5 by Billboard magazine (9th Nov 1963)[1] and is one of the Stanley's absolute classics. The flip side, Carter's mournful Lonesome Night also garnered 3 out of 5, and is another excellent cut. Oddly, the Stanley's had recorded Lonesome Night previously for Mercury in 1956, but it wasn't released until the 1993 2xCD set, The Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys 1953 - 1958 & 1959.
I love Ralph's banjo work on Stone Walls... which often jumps to the next chord one beat ahead of the songs chord changes.[2]
Both sides of the single can be found on The King Years, 1961-1965 4xCD box set.
For a detailed breakdown and background to the Stanley's sessions, check Gary B. Reid's The Music Of The Stanley Brothers book, pages 171-172 and 203.
| Track: |
Title: |
Time: |
Date: |
Original Release: |
Guitar: |
Banjo: |
Fiddle: |
Mandolin: |
Bass: |
Lead Guitar: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-1 |
Stone Walls And Steel Bars |
02:07 |
14 Aug 1963 |
King 5809 | Carter Stanley |
Ralph Stanley |
Ralph Mayo |
Henry Dockery |
George Shuffler |
|
| Ray Pennington / Roy E. Marcum |
||||||||||
| B-1 |
Lonesome Night |
02:19 |
14 Aug 1963 |
King 5809 | Carter Stanley |
Ralph Stanley |
Ralph Mayo |
Henry Dockery |
George Shuffler |
|
| C. Stanley |
[1] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TwsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=king+5809+stanley+brothers+billboard&source=bl&ots=fPD1bg-XRm&sig=uQvFAc7z4JPb0zEeXM70Nb7W6jM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_xr-09pTUAhWKDsAKHZUnBJwQ6AEINTAC#v=onepage&q&f=false[2] See Gary Bates (aka 'Stanleytone') meticulous tab on the banjo hangout:- http://www.banjohangout.org/myhangout/photos.asp?id=13373