The Stanley Brothers - Gonna Paint The Town / That Happy Night
(Starday 406) Oct 1958
This 7" was recorded in the Summer of 1958 and released a few months later around Sept/Oct.
Gonna Paint The Town was a re-vamped version of Carter's Going To The Races, a song he'd written and given to the Country Gentlemen. The 'Gents recorded the song on their first single sometime around Oct. 1957 and their version can now be heard on youtube.[1] The Stanley Brothers also performed Going To The Races live, and two versions have re-surfaced from Front Royal, Va. 30 Aug 1957 (on Shadows Of The Past); and Sunset Park, West Grove, Pa. 4th May 1958 (Stanley Series, Vol. 3 No. 3).
Both songs overlap significantly, with two of the three verses being the same (They say we can't get married... and Now when you see me coming...). The revamped Gonna Paint The Town starts with a new verse (She's from the hills Of kentucky...) and omits the final one Now when you go a courtin'... from 'Races.
The chorus to Going To The Races: "I'm goin' to the races, To see my pony run, And if I win any greenback(s), We're sure(ly) gonna have some fun", also crops up as a verse in the Louvin Brother's version of Let Her Go, God Bless Her which they recorded on their 1956 album 'Tragic Songs Of Life' (Capitol T-769) LP. (You can also find it on youtube). This in turn seems to have been based on the 1935 recording of Let Her Go God Bless Her by J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers, although the latter omits the I'm goin' to the races verse.[2]
It may be more likely that the single came out in Sept rather than Oct 1958 as the recording from New River Ranch 7th Sept. 1958 (Stanley Series, Vol. 3 #4) includes Carter announcing: "Right here is a song that's coming out this week on record, we'd like to try it for you here, it's called 'We're Gonna Paint Up the Town'.
That Happy Night was later re-recorded by Ralph on his Singing Sixteen Years album and the Larry Efaw & Ralph Stanley - I Worship You cassette. Ralph also later re-recorded a truncated version of Gonna Paint The Town on The Stanley Sound Around The World in 1973, and a more complete rendition with Ernie Thacker on their Holdin' On cassette.
Both sides of the single can be found on The Early Starday/King Years, 1958-1961 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 86-88 and 137.
| Track: |
Title: |
Time: |
Date: |
Original Release: |
Guitar: |
Banjo: |
Fiddle: |
Mandolin: |
Bass: |
Lead Guitar: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |
Gonna Paint The Town |
02:21 |
Summer 1958 |
Starday 406 | Carter Stanley |
Ralph Stanley |
Joe Meadows |
Bill Napier |
Al Elliot |
Gene Meadows |
| R. Stanley |
||||||||||
| 3 |
That Happy Night |
02:18 |
Summer 1958 |
Starday 406 | Carter Stanley |
Ralph Stanley |
Joe Meadows |
Bill Napier |
Al Elliot |
Gene Meadows |
| R. Stanley |
[1] Going To The Races / Heavenward Bound (Dixie no #) 1957. http://www.ibiblio.org/hillwilliam/BGdiscography/?v=fullrecord&albumid=15642[2] See: https://www.discogs.com/JE-Mainers-Mountaineers-Let-Her-Go-God-Bless-Her-New-Curly-Headed-Baby/release/9380789
J.E. Mainer's version of Let Her Go... can also be heard on youtube:- https://youtu.be/inX1An7LedE