Sony
2003
Country Music
About This Album
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.
Track List (try tracks 1 and 12)

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