Search - Stanley Brothers :: Stanley Brothers - 16 Greatest Hits

The Stanley Sound at its best!

W. David Ferrell | West Virginia | 02/26/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love these songs so much because, for one thing, I remember sitting in front of my grandmother's record player when I was just a boy and listening to them over and over. Amazon.Com only lists three of the songs on this collection, but there are many more... thirteen more, in fact. Just look at some of what's here. "There Is A Trap", "Little Maggie", Stone Walls and Steel Bars", "How Far To Little Rock", "How Mountain Girls Can Love", "Little Birdie", and "Hills Of Roan County" are Stanley Brother Classics. Unfortunately, Starday cut "Hills Of Roan County" short which takes away from the dramatic ending, and while the sound quality of these songs is ok, many of these recordings were originally in stereo and are mono here. This CD does have it's weak points. Two of which being that the novelty song "Mountain Dew" is sung with such serious harmony that it sounds more like a love song, and their version of Sunny Side Of The Mountain just doesn't match up to Jimmy Martin's classic original. This CD, however, is classic Bluegrass Music in the style that only The Stanley Brothers could sing it and it's well worth the money. Buy it, listen and enjoy!"

Take a chance, you may like it.

Gerald M. Vrooman | Chenango Forks, NY USA | 06/03/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After the Stanley Brothers left Mecury in the late 50's they recorded for Starday Records for a brief period of time. They then moved on to King records where they were over-recorded and badly produced. Collecting the Stanley Brother's work from this period is an adventure made hazardous by Starday's marketing tactics and their acquisition of King. It generally means buying a lot of mediocore bluegrass albums and duplicate material just to get a few exceptional tracks. If you have the time and the money, buy all the Starday, Gusto, Hollywood, Deluxe, Nashville and King albums you can find. Then fire up your tape recorder and start editing. You will eventually end up with an hour or two of unforgettable bluegrass. Amazon only lists three tracks from the above CD so I can't really tell if it is identical to my old Starday LP with the same title, but it probably is. Starday actually thought enough of the LP to issue it on good vinyl with a nice label. The Stanley's cover of Jimmy Martin's Sunny Side of The Mountain is so-so, but How Mountain Girls Can Love is a Stanley classic. Roan County is a haunting bluegrass folk ballad with roots as old as the hills. If the rest of the CD follows suit you will get a fun version of How Far To Little Rock, and Ralph plays some fantastic clawhammer on Little Birdy. You may also get a version of Little Maggie that is even harder and more biting than the Mercury version. I can't guarantee this but, what the heck, eight dollars is beer money."