Stanley Brothers – The Definitive Collection: 1947-1966

Definitive? Really? The answer is an ever-so-slightly qualified “yes” — only because when you get down to it, 60 tracks simply isn’t enough to get all the really good Stanley Brothers stuff in. Not even when you’re the first, as Time Life is here, to gather up material from virtually every label Carter and Ralph recorded for, across almost 20 years; and not even when you draw on the expertise of Stanley historian Gary Reid. There’s just too much that has to be left out.

That aside, The Definitive Collection is an outstanding survey. From the sublime beauty of trios such as “The Lonesome River” and “Cry From The Cross”, to “How Far To Little Rock” (the comedy sketch that constituted their only Billboard charting single), to radio shows and festival appearances and even a Bill Monroe side from the brief period Carter Stanley was a Blue Grass Boy, no aspect of the Brothers’ career is left unrepresented. If one notices the absence of songs such as “Harbor Of Love” or “She’s More To Be Pitied”, well, their inclusion would have meant the omission of something no less crucial. As it is, there’s not a weak choice in the set.

For fans more familiar with Ralph Stanley — and especially his recent work — than with the Stanley Brothers, the collection may come as something of a shock, especially with its crafty sequencing. The duo’s earliest and least sophisticated recordings for the regional label Rich-R-Tone are moved back to the start of the final disc; the set begins with the more professional and polished Columbia (1949-1952) and Mercury (1953-1958) sides that take up virtually all of disc one, followed by the King and Starday (1959-1965) material of disc two. So while the sound is quintessentially mournful and energetic, full of the keen “mountain soul” that Ricky Skaggs names in his brief intro to the package, it’s also relatively modern. The effect is to highlight the difference between the Brothers’ mature sound and the deliberately archaic style Ralph adopted in the years after Carter’s death in 1966.

Whether recording in Nashville in the ’50s, in Florida and Cincinnati in the ’60s, or in even more rough-and-ready sessions for smaller indie labels, the Brothers highlighted Carter’s heart-wrenching blend of the mellow and the melancholy more than Ralph’s craggier vocal style. “Mountain” they may have been, but they were hardly back-porch pickers; rather, they were thoughtful, musically disciplined entertainers and artists.