(King 5708) Nov 1962
Gospel single from the Good Old Camp Meeting Songs album, which was recorded 2-4 May 1962.
Who Will Sing For Me is based on a hymn by John Thomas Ely. Compared to the lyrics from a 1922 Baptist songbook,[1] Carter's version makes use of the 1st verse and chorus & adds a new verse of his own, where he imagines the scene at his own funeral:-
"When crowds shall gather round, and look down on me
Will they turn and walk away,
Or will they sing one song for me"
Flatt & Scruggs also cut their studio version in 1956 that wasn't released until 1966, and can be seen performing the hymn on a July 1961 TV show.[2] Their version sticks more closely to John Thomas Ely's original making use of the 1st and 4th verses.
Ralph later re-cut Who Will Sing For Me on The Stanley Sound Around The World, with a live version appearing on the 2xCD Classic Stanley; and collaborative versions on: I Feel Like Singing Today (Jim Lauderdale), Baby Girl (Jeanie Stanley) and a Buddy Moore cassette.
Drinking From The Fountain also has it's roots in old hymns with elements drawn from "I've Just Come From The Fountain", "Fountain That Never Runs Dry", "O Drink Of The Fountain" and presumably others.[3] Here's it's credited to Ralph, who later re-recorded it for his 1997 CD My All And All. The same year, Ralph sang lead on the Goins brothers version from their Run Satan, Run CD. A Dec 1963 version by the Stanley Brothers can also be heard on the Ray Davis' Radio Series Vol. 2 and Radio Series Vol. 5 CDs.
Thanks to Bill Sanguinetti for the 45 label photographs!
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Original Release: |
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A-1 |
Who Will Sing For Me |
02:08 |
02 May 1962 |
Good Old Camp Meeting Songs |
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John Thomas Ely / Carter Stanley |
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Ld Vcl - Gtr | Tn Vcl - Bjo | Bt Vcl - Fid | Bs | Bs Vcl - Ld Gtr | |||||||||||||||||
Carter Stanley |
Ralph Stanley |
Ralph Mayo |
Chick Stripling |
George Shuffler |
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B-1 |
Drinking From The Fountain |
02:43 |
02 May 1962 |
Good Old Camp Meeting Songs |
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R. Stanley |
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Ld Vcl (c) - Gtr | Ld Vcl (v) & Tn (c) | Bt Vcl - Fid | Bs | Bs Vcl - Ld Gtr | |||||||||||||||||
Carter Stanley |
Ralph Stanley |
Ralph Mayo |
Chick Stripling |
George Shuffler |
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[1] https://hymnary.org/text/oft_i_sing_for_my_friends
[2] Who Will Sing For Me appears on the July 1961 'Flatt & Scruggs TV Show' on the DVD 'Best Of The Flatt & Scruggs TV Show: Vol. 5' (Shanachie SH615) 2008. It can also be found on youtube Flatt & Scruggs recorded the song 06 May 1956 where it was credited to "J. Organ-Certain-Stacey". It wasn't released however until 1966 when it appeared on their 'When The Saints Go Marching In' LP (Columbia CS9313). It can be found on the Bear 4xCD box set 'Flatt & Scruggs 1948-1959' (Bear Family BCD-15472 DH) 1991.
[3] eg see: https://hymnary.org/hymn/OIF2014/513, https://hymnary.org/text/many_weary_years_i_vainly_sought_a_sprin and https://hymnary.org/hymn/HPGS1904/page/198