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The Stanley Brothers - America's Finest Five-String Banjo Hootenanny

(King KLP-872) Jan 1964

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This is another one I don't have an original 'King' copy of... but being a huge fan of 'Stanley-style' banjo, and Ralph's instrumentals, I hope to rectify that soon! The album was recorded at two sessions on 13th Aug and 16-17th Sep 1963, and features some of Ralph's unique, and to my mind under-rated banjo instrumentals.

One single was taken from the album: Five String Drag / Shout Little Lulie (King 5934) Sep 1964; and Train 45 from the session was also released coupled with I Just Stood There (King 5916) Jul 1964.

It seems that this album has been reissued several times. There was a version with the Starday logo on the front cover, and with the yellow brown Starday King labels (which I think date from late '60s?). There there's a version with plain blue labels, with the same 'Starday' cover. My copy of the latter is pressed slightly off centre and consequently sounds dire... and then there's a Gusto reissue re-titled as 'Banjo In The Hills' (Gusto SK-872) circa 1977. Presumably the term 'Hootenanny', which the Oxford English dictionary defines as "an informal gathering with folk music" was deemed too passé by the late '70s.

More recently, all the material has been compiled on the Complete Starday And King Instrumentals 2xCD set, and the The King Years, 1961-1965 4xCD box set.

For detailed information on these songs / sessions, check Gary B. Reid's The Music Of The Stanley Brothers book, pages 169-170, 172-173, 202-203.