The Stanley Brothers - Six Months Ain't Long / Old And In The Way

(King 5732) Mar 1963

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This 7" was taken from the sessions for the Folk Concert LP, which was recorded 28-29th Jan 1963.

The single was listed in the Singles Reviews in 'Billboard' magazine (4th May 1963), and given four stars for Six Months... and three for Old And In The Way.

The Stanley's may have gotten Six Month's Ain't Long from the Monroe Brothers 78, although it was apparently popularised much earlier by Dick Burnett (who also probably wrote Man Of Constant Sorrow) and Leonard Rutherford. In Neil Rosenberg & Charles K. Wolfe's "The Music Of Bill Monroe" (p.10) it says:- "'Six Months' had been popularized by a team of wandering musicians from Monticello, Kentucky, named Dick Burnett and Leonard Rutherford. The duo had travelled the South long before the recording era, busking and selling their song sheets on street corners and courthouse lawns and at railway stations. Bill Monroe recalled hearing them as a boy and especially remembered the smooth, long-bow fiddling of Leonard Rutherford." Emry Arthur, who is usually credited as the first to record Man Of Constant Sorrow also recorded Six Months... as Six Months In Jail Ain't Long in 1935.^[1]

On the flip side, Old And In The Way features a recitation by Carter, which the liner notes to Folk Concert describe as: "Another narration which comes from a song that Carter learned back in the early days in Virginia... and is a real 'throat lumper'."

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 165-169 and 201-202.

Other artwork / related images:

[1] https://www.discogs.com/Emry-Arthur-Six-Months-In-Jail-Aint-Long/release/7024159