Marty Stuart Albums (14)
'Live at the Ryman'
Release Date 2/7/2006
Tracks 15
Label Superlatone
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
After two killer, groundbreaking studio recordings in 2005 -- Souls' Chapel and Badlands -- about the last thing one would expect from Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives was a live bluegrass LP recorded at the historic Ryman Auditorium. To be accurate, Live at the Ryman was recorded in July of 2003. In addition to his regular band -- which includes guitarist Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson on snare drum, and Brian Glenn on bass (all of whom sing) -- guests that night are in the stratospheric category: fiddler Stuart Duncan, banjo master Charlie Cushman, and pioneering dobro boss Uncle Josh Graves. According to Stuart's liner notes, there was a 20-minute rehearsal before the gig to agree on tunes to play. That was it.. If he's not jiving, this is an even more astonishing record than its sound and contents give up. The set opens with a rollicking "Orange Blossom Special," with Duncan literally tearing up the middle, improvising on the theme with reckless abandon. Stuart then throws a curveball, letting his mandolin dig deep into the blues and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" riff on "No Hard Times." It slows down a bit for the wonderful old hillbilly blues tune "Homesick," with killer vocal harmonies. "Shuckin' the Corn" is a vehicle for Charlie Cushman, who tears it up from the inside and quotes "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" as Duncan kicks into high gear with a solo and Cushman comes back right at him turning the mode inside out. There is no stopping this band, who follow the twists and turns of the tune like jazzmen. Honky Tonk gets a nod here as well with "The Whiskey Ain't Workin' Anymore," though done in proper bluegrass fashion -- Jimmy Martin would be proud of the treatment of this tune. The read of "Train 45" has Josh Graves' signature technique all over it, and his sense of humor, as well. When it all comes to a romping close with Stuart's own "Hillbilly Rock, done in hardcore bluegrass fashion that unearths the true roots of the savage rockabilly played by Johnny Burnette, Gene Vincent, and Elvis in his earliest incarnation. Something special has happened in that these musicians have brought everything from the Mississippi Delta to the Carter Family to the Monroe Brothers and the Stanley Brothers to rock and roll out in rough-and-tumble display from the heart of mountain music. This one smokes. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Intention is everything. In the heart of an artist it stands where cynical, critical notice can cast aspersion. Marty Stuart has made an aesthetic life of living and creating from the heart of intention. Badlands: Ballads of the Lakota is his second album in 2005. His first, Souls' Chapel, was a rollicking, hard country record filtered through gospel music and sacred song. Badlands is no less a sacred endeavor, though it is a far more historical one, and these ballads of the great Lakota tribe are his own. He was guided by the Lakota people and their elders through the true, official record of their existence, not the account in the revisionist American textbooks, and this record has the tribe's blessing. He wrote these songs after being guided through the Lakota lands for a period of years by John L. Smith and the elders of this noble and persecuted tribe who adopted Stuart as family. History, spirituality, legend, the lineage of memory, shame, guilt, and transcendence pass through these songs in equal measure. Produced by Stuart with John Carter Cash, the set begins with elder Everette Helper's prayer song, and then jolts into the reeling crunch of the title track where country, rockabilly, and folk music meld together into an anthem that reveals both continuity and contradiction and top those whose views are short sighted. "Trip To Little Big Horn" is the story of Custer's Last Stand with a twist: presented as a dialogue with a ghost. Mandolins, acoustic guitars, and bass are tightly knit together to offer a story that is raw, yet elegant and pure. "Old Man's Vision" is a spoken word tale backed with spare, haunting guitar and drum atmospherics. The minor key shuffle that is "Wounded Knee" is as heartbreaking a song as Stuart has ever written; there is no cheap sloganeering or paltry politics here--this song is a prayer. Great pains were taken to make every line, every word, accurate historically, though the songwriter's craft remains intact. Check the track named for the great chief Big Foot, who died at Wounded Knee, with great backing vocals from Connie Smith. And on it goes through the "Broken Promise Land," the sad, folk tale "Hotchkiss Gunner's Lament," to the hard rocking "Broken Promise Land," and the sparse, ballad of outrage that is "Casino." "So You Want To BeAn Indian," is every bit as biting as Bob Dylan's "Hattie Carroll." The field recording that opens "Walking Through Prayers" is every bit as holy and moving a tune as anything on Souls' Chapel, but far more eerie and rooted in a world that is both seen and unseen. The fusing of Christian and Indian spirituality on the nine-plus minute "Three Chiefs" (Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse) may piss some off due to its unabashed view of the songwriter at the crossroads between the two. But it's in an opinion; a belief not in fundamentalist religiosity, but in the large vision of a God bigger than human understanding who loves outside the division of creed, color, or religion. The set essentially closes with "Listen To The Children," a sprawling rock anthem with Native overtones, strings, and screaming guitars. It's a fitting end, but it's not officially finished until the Lakota medicine man prays over the entire proceeding, blessing, closing, and sending it into the silence of the human soul and to the ears of those who have passed and hear on the wind. Badlands: Ballads of the Lakota is a milestone, a career achievement for Stuart, and an album that is unsettling, provocative, morally instructive, and deeply satisfying musically as a country record that sets the bar higher than it has been set in a long, long time. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
On the surface, Marty Stuart's Soul's Chapel is a gospel album -- but only on the surface. Certainly all of the tracks here, whether covers or originals -- and the album is divided neatly between the two -- the topical considerations come from the Southern church. Stuart has always been adventurous in reinterpreting the music he holds most dear, from bluegrass to honky tonk to rockabilly. His take on gospel is no less ambitious. Here, blues, soul, R&B, hard country, and early country-rockabilly -- along with gorgeous four-part harmony -- wend and wind around one another to create a tapestry so rich, so utterly full of honest emotion and joy, that it transcends the intended genre; not by subverting or bastardizing it, but by showing how gospel music is inherent in all of the other traditions that Stuart employs. The album opens with Pops Staples' "Somebody Saved Me." The song is reverent, and contains gorgeous backing vocals provided by the Fabulous Superlatives (Harry Stinson, Brian Glenn, and Kenny Vaughn), while Stuart apes that snaky, spooky guitar Pops played. But this is no mere cover job -- Stuart and friends bring out some of the bluesy wildness in the song without revving it up. And speaking of blues, Stuart's cover of Albert Brumley's "Lord, Give Me Just a Little More Time" contains the trademark guitar riff from "Baby Please Don't Go." Another high point is "Come into the House of the Lord," written by Stuart and Vaughn, which is just a stomping gospel rocker with swirling B3, twin guitars, and a snapping trap kit. "It's Time to Go Home" is a rollicking rockabilly stomper that is equal parts Tommy Dorsey's gospel-vocal and Johnny Burnette's salacious wildness! "Move Along Train," written by Pops, includes a smoking guest appearance by Mavis Staples. and the read of Steve Cropper and William Bell's "Slow Train" is a soul masterpiece with a killer vocal by Stinson, supported by Barry Beckett's Hammond B3. Stuart stands up to the classic material; he writes in the idiom, but with his own strengths at the fore -- especially notable is "There's a Rainbow (At the End of Every Storm)." This is one of, if not the, strongest outing of Stuart's career, and it not only pays homage to gospel music's rich and varied tradition, but adds to it. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Marty Stuart's Country Music is not, as some have said, a radical departure from his already eclectic body of work. As to whether it's "the album of his life," is also up for debate, since he doesn't sound here like he's slowing down. Stuart has given us one of the most consistent catalogues in the country genre since 1980, and has few peers in terms of quality -- George Strait, Dwight Yoakam, and a few others are in his league. But Country Music is different and may be the finest recording he's ever issued. This is his first full-on country-rock record and, teamed with grand master engineer/producer Justin Niebank (Widespread Panic, the Subdudes, etc.), Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives turn old nuggets such as "A Satisfied Mind" and Johnny Cash's "Walls of a Prison" (the tracks which open and close the album, respectively) into wooly country-rockers with killer three- and four-part harmonies and burning guitars, Hammond B3s, mandolins, pedal-steel guitars, and rocking drums. On the other hand, newer songs by the performer and a handful of others are already revved up and cut to fly. This is a rock & roll record cut from the man vein of honky tonk country, and the country that it comes from is pure. Listen to "Farmer's Blues," a sweet, slow, two-step drenched in pedal steel with a duet vocal by Merle Haggard, or the burning-down blues-rock with dobro and banjo of "Tip Your Hat" with Uncle Josh Graves and Earl Scruggs. But even straight-up rockers such as "Sundown in Nashville," "By George" (which has dumb lyrics but still kicks ass), "Wishful Thinkin'," and "Too Much Month" feel as if they could have been played by a rowdier version of Rockpile, while the mid-tempo tracks ("Fool for Love," "Here I Am," "If You Wanted Me Around") only serve to underscore the influences of Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. Ultimately, this album is relentless in both its attack and in the pleasure it provides to the listener. There are hot licks everywhere, with great songs, vocals, and a tapestry of moods, textures, and shades that serve to leave one impression: Stuart's radical experimentation of the last ten years has resulted in his finest moment thus far. He offers a prolonged look at how inseparable country and rock & roll are from one another. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Hillbilly Rock is the epitome of what the adult Marty Stuart is all about. With a new groove that runs just left of center, while still retaining a classic country & western-bluegrass flair, Hillbilly Rock is a wild ride to what surely must be honky tonk heaven. On par with Dwight Yoakam's debut, Hillbilly Rock sets the tone for a whole new faction of neo-traditionalists. Opening with the title cut, an infectious romp that demands your attention, and ending on a high note with a love song, "Since I Don't Have You," crafted by Stuart and another tragically overlooked supernova, Mark Collie, this is one heck of an album. "Western Girls," a favorite of the numerous cowgirls who follow his career, and the Merle Kilgore-Tillman Franks tune "The Wild One" all demonstrate how effective Marty Stuart is. "Cry, Cry, Cry," a Johnny Cash hit, is made new again. While this release displays more of Stuart's own songwriting skills, it also displays how deeply involved he is with the music he plays. ~ Jana Pendragon, All Music Guide
'Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best'
Release Date 6/18/1996
Tracks 11
Label MCA
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The title is a little mis-leading -- honky tonkin' may be what Marty Stuart does best, but he doesn't limit himself to striaght honky tonk. Stuart likes to twist things around, adding in bluegrass flourishes and hints of mad, twangy rockabilly. And that stylistic diversity is what makes Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best engaging. Sure, Stuart's voice remains a bit thin and undistinctive, but he pours his heart into the songs, which is what makes Honk Tonkin's What I Do Best one of his best records. Though there are the occasional weak spots, his sustained energy and passion elevate the performances into something special. ~ Thom Owens, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This is certainly a special compilation that records the importance of Lester Flatt, Roland White and the band the Nashville Grass to a budding 12-year-old who played a burning mandolin. That boy would grow up to be Marty Stuart. With performances featuring Marty on mandolin and guitar, it is apparent from the start that Lester Flatt saw something special in Marty and made a place for him in his band. Mentoring is what it was called, it is not as common as it once was, but because of Flatt's interest, country and roots music has been doubly rewarded. Marty Stuart's connection to the past, his interest in the old timers who still play and his own talent make him a true musical treasure. This release documents the early years and provides a glimpse into the development of an artist of character and quality. ~ Jana Pendragon, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
On Love and Luck, Marty Stuart's fourth album for MCA, he balances some of the requisite country pop/rock cuts with more traditional honky tonk numbers. Stuart himself either wrote or co-wrote seven of the 11 tracks, and with the exception of "That's What Love's About," where the schmaltz factor unfortunately cancels out some of the interesting harmonic moments of the composition, they are uniformly strong. The rock-influenced title track and the haunting "Oh, What a Silent Night" are some of his strongest efforts, but they pale in comparison to the centerpiece of the record, a moving version of the excellent Billy Joe Shaver song "If I Give My Soul." Also particularly nice is Stuart's version of the Byrds' "Wheels," which perfectly captures the song's bittersweet feel. Stuart is one of that rarest of all commodities: a superstar country vocalist who also has enough instrumental chops to make the services of even Nashville's cadre of virtuosos unnecessary. He demonstrates this on the instrumental "Marty Stuart Visits the Moon," where the singer gets to flash his mandolin chops on a catchy, up-tempo track. This is not to say that the studio band isn't top-notch, because they are, and they include such notables as Randy Scruggs, John Jorgenson, John Barlow Jarvis, Paul Franklin, and Bela Fleck. There are some clunkers on Love and Luck, like the repetitive and boring "Shake Your Hips," but overall this is a fine effort from Stuart, and shows his range nicely. ~ Daniel Gioffre, All Music Guide
'Let There Be Country'
Release Date 8/18/1992
Tracks 10
Label Columbia
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
This early recording gives a clear idea of just who Marty Stuart is. Without all the hype and over production of many of the MCA recordings, Let There Be Country displays Stuart's traditional hillbilly bent. Only his 1982 Sugar Hill debut, Busy Bee Cafe, defines him better. Self-produced, it is obvious that the artist knows what he is doing in terms of material and performance. With the inclusion of only two original songs, the rest of the tunes are strong statements by Stuart concerning country music. Merle Haggard's "Mirrors Don't Lie" is strong evidence of Stuart's affiliations. Also good is Bill Monroe's "Get Down on Your Knees and Pray." Stuart's version of the Johnny Horton hit "One Woman Man" is priceless and the sincere sweetness he reflects on the Harlan Howard-Max D. Barnes number "I'll Love You Forever (If You Want Me To)" is stunning. A worthy addition to any Stuart collection. ~ Jana Pendragon, All Music Guide
