The Stanley Brothers - Bully Of The Town / How Bad Do I Feel
(King 5920) Sep 1964
This 7" was recorded at the Jul. 1964 sessions for the Remarkable Stanley Brothers Play And Sing Bluegrass Songs For You LP.
I'm not sure whether Bully Of The Town was the 'A' side, but it was listed as a 'Programming Special' in the 5th Sept 1964 edition of 'Billboard', and How Bad I Do Feel wasn't.
Bully... is performed as an instrumental, although it seems to have originally been written as a song for a stage show in 1895 by Charles E. Trevathan.[1]
How Bad I Do Feel is credited as Traditional / P.D. on both the single and LP labels, but is also credited to Carter Stanley on the BMI website, and in the liner notes to The King Years, 1961-1965. The song is quite unusual featuring Earl Taylor on harmonica, and a hypnotic marching-drum-like rhythm/percussive feel.
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 183-184 and 213.
| Track: |
Title: |
Time: |
Date: |
Original Release: |
Guitar: |
Banjo: |
Fiddle: |
Mandolin: |
Bass: |
Lead guitar: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-1 |
Bully Of The Town |
03:02 |
16 Jul 1964 |
King 5920 | Carter Stanley |
Ralph Stanley |
Art Stamper |
Earl Taylor |
Chick Stripling |
George Shuffler |
| Charles E. Trevathan |
||||||||||
| B-1 |
How Bad I Do Feel |
02:59 |
16 Jul 1964 |
King 5920 | Carter Stanley |
Ralph Stanley |
Art Stamper |
Earl Taylor |
Chick Stripling |
George Shuffler |
| P.D. |
[1] The song "Bully of the Town" was originally written by Charles E. Trevathan (a southern sports writer, horse judge and amateur musician) in 1895 for the stage show "The Widow Jones" which opened at the Bijou Theater, New York City that September. It was sung in the production by Trevathan's girl-friend, May Irwin. See:- http://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Bully_of_the_Town