The Stanley Brothers - Beneath The Maple / Choo Choo Comin' // Carolina Mountain Home / Trust Each Other

(Starday SEP-107) Jun 1959

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This 7" EP features the Beneath The Maple / Trust Each Other (Starday 438) single that seems to have been released just prior,^[1] combined with Choo Choo Comin and Carolina Mountain Home. Some copies of the EP were pressed on clear red wax, others in the bog standard black vinyl.

All four tracks were later released on the Mountain Song Favorites LP the following November.

In 'Billboard' the EP was reviewed on 29th June 1959 who gave it 3 stars out of 5 and said: "A fine package. The Brothers have the true hill sound - both in the vocals and in the picking - which includes five-string banjo. Lovers of authentic mountain music will find this hard to turn down."^[2]

Carolina Mountain Home was originally recorded by the Wright Brothers from Beech Mountain, North Carolina and released on the 'Excellent' label, before getting reissued by Starday in 1957. Co-composer Len Wright, also wrote I Just Came From Your Wedding which the Stanley's also later recorded and released on the King 5688 single.^[3] The Wright Brothers version of Carolina Mountain Home (released as Harlin and Stanley & The Wright Brothers) can also be heard on youtube.

Choo Choo Coming was originally recorded by eastern Kentucky outfit (Estill Stewart &) The Flat Mountain Boys - Choo Choo Coming / I Could Love You (All The Time) (Arrow 2530) c1954. It was later picked up by Starday who reissued it on 45 in 1957, and can also found on youtube. Incidentally, The Flat Mountain Boys included Kenny Baker on fiddle and a certain Jack Cooke on guitar.

All four tracks can now 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 96-98 and 141.

Other artwork / related images:

[1] The 'Starday 438' single was reviewed in 'Billboard' on 15th June 1959, a fortnight before the 'Starday SEP-107' EP.
[2] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wB4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=Starday+SEP-107+stanley+brothers&source=bl&ots=PSQQEGzj8u&sig=EGBgGDp2EUNSxB3Dz9D4yn-F9Mk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHn82hzZnUAhVHDsAKHVArCtEQ6AEIRDAG#v=onepage&q=Starday%20SEP-107%20stanley%20brothers&f=false
[3] Liner notes to the Various Artists - 'The Best Of King And Starday Bluegrass' 4xCD set (Gusto/King KG-0952-4-2) 2004. (p.13)