Old Country Church

• Artist: The Stanley Brothers
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1961
• Genre: Country

Review

A 1961 release of traditional gospel songs, this is among the Stanley Brothers' finest albums. The brothers were born and raised in the Clinch Mountain area of Virginia (also home to the similarly pioneering Carter Family), one of the most fiercely traditional areas of the Bible Belt, and the pair performed gospel music throughout their career. However, this album just has something special about it. Recorded in one brief session with Carter Stanley on guitar and lead vocals, Ralph Stanley on banjo and tenor harmonies, Curley Lambert on mandolin, Vernon Derrick on fiddle, and Chuck Stripling on bass, these ten simple, powerful songs are delivered with the righteous passion and enthusiastic sense of community of a real church service, where joy and devotion are inextricably intertwined. Even the most mawkish songs, like the ultra-maudlin "Mother's Only Sleeping," are delivered with sincerity and grace. The best tracks, like the title song, "My Sinful Past" and the closing "Kneel at the Cross," are as good as traditional gospel gets. Unusually for the Stanley Brothers, about half of the songs are sung in four-square harmony in the traditional gospel quartet style, with Lambert and Derrick filling in the vocal sound. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Old Country Church	W.S. Stevenson, Traditional	The Stanley Brothers	(2:12)
Campin' in Canaan Land	Traditional	The Stanley Brothers	(2:12)
My Sinful Past	Carter Stanley	The Stanley Brothers	(2:15)
Village Church Yard	Ralph Stanley	The Stanley Brothers	(2:33)
Little Bessie	Traditional	The Stanley Brothers	(4:05)
A Few More Years	Lance Cosgrove, Ralph Stanley	The Stanley Brothers	(2:57)
Mother Call My Name in Prayer	Webb Pierce, Jimmie Davis	The Stanley Brothers	(2:45)
Working on a Building		The Stanley Brothers	(2:31)
Mother's Only Sleeping	Bill Monroe	The Stanley Brothers	(2:49)
Kneel at the Cross	C.E. Moody	The Stanley Brothers	(2:15)

Credits

Moe Lytle (Producer), Moe Lytle (Reissue Producer), Chuck Young (Art Direction), Randall Merryman (Digital Remastering)