John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...
and
bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it la ...
singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with
Lester Flatt, and then in
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...
's road band before beginning work as a solo artist in the early 1980s. His greatest commercial success came in the first half of the 1990s on
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...
Nashville. Stuart has recorded over 20 studio albums, and has charted over 30 times on the ''
Billboard''
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...
charts. His highest chart entry is "
The Whiskey Ain't Workin'", a duet with
Travis Tritt
James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 20 ...
. Stuart has also won five
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
s out of 16 nominations. He is known for his combination of
rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and b ...
,
country rock, and
bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it la ...
influences, his frequent collaborations and cover songs, and his distinctive stage dress. Stuart is also a member of the
Grand Ole Opry and
Country Music Hall of Fame
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has ama ...
.
Early life
John Marty Stuart was born in
Philadelphia, Mississippi, on September 30, 1958.
Stuart learned to play
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
and
mandolin as a child, and by age 12, he had joined a gospel band called The Sullivans. While a member of this band, Stuart met mandolinist
Roland White, a member of
Lester Flatt's backing band; White invited Stuart to perform with Flatt at a concert in Delaware in 1972, which led to him becoming a regular member of that band. He continued to tour in this capacity until Flatt retired in 1978, and recorded an independent album called ''With a Little Help from My Friends'' that same year. After this, Stuart performed with
Vassar Clements and
Doc Watson before joining
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...
's band in 1980.
In 1982, he released a second album called ''Busy Bee Cafe'' on
Sugar Hill Records. The album was composed of a
jam session that included a number of country and bluegrass performers such as Cash, Watson, and
Earl Scruggs. In 1985, Stuart accompanied Johnny Cash to Memphis and played on the ''Class of '55'' album that also featured Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis. At the end of the session, Perkins presented Stuart with his guitar. Later that year, Stuart left Cash's band and landed a recording contract with
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...
.
Recording career
Stuart released his
self-titled debut album on Columbia in 1985. The album accounted for Stuart's first chart entry on ''
Billboard''
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...
charts with his first single release, "
Arlene".
Three other singles charted from the album in 1986: "Honky Tonker" and "All Because of You", both written by
Steve Forbert, and Stuart's own "Do You Really Want My Lovin'". However, these songs were less successful on the charts.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
writer Jim Worbois gave the album a mixed review, stating that it was "Not a great album, but made somewhat more interesting by some of the people appearing on the record and the inclusion of two Steve Forbert songs." He recorded a second album for Columbia titled ''
Let There Be Country
''Let There Be Country'' is the seventh studio album by country singer Marty Stuart, released in 1992, though it was technically the fourth album he recorded, cut between ''Marty Stuart'' and '' Hillbilly Rock''.
''Let There Be Country'' was reco ...
'', which charted two singles in 1988: the
Merle Haggard composition "Mirrors Don't Lie" and "Matches".
Due to the underperformance of the singles, Columbia chose not to release the album, and Stuart exited the label to return to Mississippi.
1989-91: Beginning of MCA Records
After briefly rejoining the Sullivans, he returned to
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...
and signed with
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...
in 1989.
That label issued the album ''
Hillbilly Rock
''Hillbilly Rock'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Marty Stuart. It was released in October 1989 by MCA Nashville. It peaked at #19 on the Top Country Albums chart but failed to chart on the Canadian charts. It was c ...
'' that year. Co-produced by
Tony Brown and session guitarist
Richard Bennett, the album charted four singles on Hot Country Songs. First was a cover of Cash's "
Cry! Cry! Cry!
"Cry! Cry! Cry!" is the debut single by singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. The song was originally released in 1955 and reached number 14 on the Best Sellers charts.
Background
In 1954, before the release of the song "Cry! Cry! Cry!", Cash signed ...
", followed by "Don't Leave Her Lonely Too Long", which Stuart wrote with
Kostas. While these were unsuccessful on the charts, the album's
title track (written by
Paul Kennerley) became Stuart's first top-ten country hit in 1990.
The album's final release was "
Western Girls", which Stuart also co-wrote.
''Hillbilly Rock'' was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...
(RIAA) in 1997 for shipments of 500,000 copies.
His second MCA album, ''
Tempted'', followed in 1991. The album charted four singles on Hot Country Songs between 1991 and 1992: "
Little Things", "
Till I Found You", "
Tempted", and "
Burn Me Down", of which all except "Till I Found You" reached the top ten.
Bennett and Brown stayed on as producers, with the former also contributing alongside Stuart on both guitar and mandolin. Kennerley and Kostas contributed as both songwriters and backing vocalists; also performing backing vocals on some tracks were Billy Thomas and
Ray Herndon, who were also recording on MCA in
McBride & the Ride at the time. Jana Pendragon of AllMusic gave the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, comparing it to
Dwight Yoakam's ''
Hillbilly Deluxe'' in style and saying, "Stuart kicks country-pop in its well-defined hindquarters
��ut Stuart is just as deadly when he slows things down and does a ballad."
Also in 1991, Stuart co-wrote a song with
Travis Tritt
James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 20 ...
called "
The Whiskey Ain't Workin'". Recorded on the latter's 1991 album ''
It's All About to Change'', this song was released in between "Tempted" and "Burn Me Down". It would go on to become Stuart's highest chart entry, reaching number two on Hot Country Songs in early 1992.
It also won Stuart his first
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
, for
Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
Best or The Best may refer to:
People
* Best (surname), people with the surname Best
* Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer
Companies and organizations
* Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain
* Best Lock Corporation ...
that year.
This song's success also led to the two touring in 1992 as the No Hats Tour, a reference to the fact that unlike most contemporary country musicians, neither Tritt nor Stuart sported a
cowboy hat.
1992-95: End of MCA tenure
His next MCA album, ''
This One's Gonna Hurt You'', came out in 1992. The lead single "
This One's Gonna Hurt You (For a Long, Long Time)", also a duet with Tritt, was a top-ten hit in 1992, but the followup singles "Now That's Country", "High on a Mountain Top", and "Hey Baby" were less successful.
Kennerley and Cash were once again among the contributing vocalists, while
Ashley Cleveland and
Pam Tillis both sang backing vocals on "High on a Mountain Top". Johnny Cash provided duet vocals on "Doin' My Time", while the track "Me and Hank and Jumpin' Jack Flash"
sampled voice recordings of Lester Flatt,
Hank Williams
Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...
, and
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), ...
.
Alanna Nash of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' rated the album "A", finding the "stylistic mix" superior to preceding albums, noting influences of
bluegrass,
Southern rock,
rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and b ...
, and
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...
in his delivery and song choices.
Also in 1992, Columbia issued ''Let There Be Country''.
''This One's Gonna Hurt You'' was certified gold by the RIAA in 1993.
Stuart won his second Grammy Award in 1993, in the category of
Best Country Instrumental Performance, as one of several featured artists on
Asleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more t ...
's cover of "
Red Wing" on their 1993 album ''
Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys''.
''
Love and Luck'' was his next album, released in 1994.
Only one single, "Kiss Me, I'm Gone", made top 40 from the project.
Stuart co-produced the album with Brown, while also contributing on guitar, mandolin, and songwriting. The album's opening title track featured
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...
,
Ricky Skaggs, and
Harry Stinson
Harry Stinson (born June 3, 1953 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian real estate developer from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is president of Stinson Properties, Inc. He has been called Toronto's "condo king".
Biography
Stinson's most significant ...
on backing vocals. Also included were two covers:
Billy Joe Shaver's "If I Give My Soul" and
The Flying Burrito Brothers' "Wheels", as well as the mandolin instrumental "Marty Stuart Visits the Moon". Daniel Gioffre of AllMusic highlighted these three tracks in particular as being among the strongest on the album. Nash rated the album "B", stating that "As a singer, Marty Stuart has all the zip of unbuttered toast, and as a writer, too many of his songs float aimlessly...Yet Stuart has genuine love for the early country greats and injects his own work with such impassioned strains of old hillbilly styles, that he charms in spite of his limitations."
Following this album, MCA issued a compilation called ''
The Marty Party Hit Pack'' in 1995, which contained singles from his previous MCA albums, as well as "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'", the previously-unreleased "The Likes of Me" and "If I Ain't Got You", and two cover songs previously found on multi-artist tribute albums released in 1994. These were a rendition of
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
's "
Don't Be Cruel", featuring
The Jordanaires and previously found on ''It's Now or Never: The Tribute to Elvis'', and
The Band's "
The Weight", featuring
The Staple Singers and previously found on ''
Rhythm, Country and Blues''. Both of these cover songs were produced by
Don Was, while
Don Cook
Don Kirby Cook (born May 25, 1949) is an American record producer and songwriter whose work is mainly in the field of country music. Artists who recorded Cook's material include Barbara Mandrell, John Conlee, Mark Collie, Wade Hayes and Brooks & ...
handled production on the two new songs.
"The Likes of Me" was previously cut by
Conway Twitty on his 1993 album ''
Final Touches'', on which Cook was also a producer. Both of these new songs issued as singles in 1995, but neither entered the country music top 40.
Jay Orr of ''New Country'' magazine criticized "The Likes of Me" and the two cover songs, but otherwise found the album a "neat summation" of Stuart's music.
''The Marty Party Hit Pack'' became Stuart's fourth and final gold album in 1998.
Stuart released ''
Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best
''Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best'' is the ninth studio album by American country music artist Marty Stuart, released on June 18, 1996, by MCA Nashville. Four singles were released from this album, and they were the title track, "Thanks to You", " ...
'' in 1996, which produced two more minor chart entries in
the title track (another duet with Tritt) and "You Can't Stop Love" that year.
The title track also won Stuart a Vocal Event of the Year award from the
Country Music Association.
Nash rated the album "A−", finding an influence of
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
in "Thanks to You" and of
Delta blues
Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of th ...
in "The Mississippi Mudcat and Sister Sheryl Crow".
Career since the late 1990s
Stuart released another album in 1999 called ''
The Pilgrim''. It charted only one single that year with "Red, Red Wine and Cheatin' Songs".
A
concept album based around a
love triangle, the album featured vocal contributions from Pam Tillis,
George Jones, and
Emmylou Harris, as well as a poem recited by Johnny Cash. An uncredited review of the album in AllMusic was largely favorable, stating that "no one's idea of a commercial country album, one has to admire the sheer ambition of the project, as well as the guts it took MCA Records to release what amounts to a unique and deeply personal artistic vision."
After this album proved to be commercially unsuccessful, Stuart left MCA in 2000.
His next album was 2003's ''
Country Music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
'', released on
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...
.
For this album, Stuart assembled a new backing band called Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, consisting of Harry Stinson on drums,
Kenny Vaughan
Kenneth Vaughan is an American guitarist. He is best known as a long-time member of Marty Stuart’s supporting band, The Fabulous Superlatives.
Career Early life
Vaughan was born in Oklahoma, but raised in Denver, Colorado. His guitar instruct ...
on guitar, and Brian Glenn on bass guitar.
Included on the albums were covers of
Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour.
In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The ...
's "
A Satisfied Mind
"A Satisfied Mind" is a song written by Joe "Red" Hayes and Jack Rhodes. Hayes explained the origin of the song in an interview: "The song came from my mother. Everything in the song are things I heard her say over the years. I put a lot of thoug ...
",
Carl Butler and Pearl
Carl Butler and Pearl were an American country music husband-and-wife duo. Between 1962 and 1969, the duo released several singles and charted thirteen times on the U.S. country charts, reaching No. 1 in 1962 with their first single, " Don' ...
's "Sundown in Nashville",
and Johnny Cash's "Walls of a Prison", as well as the
Merle Haggard duet "Farmer's Blues".
Two singles from the album both charted: "If There Ain't, There Ought'a Be" and "Too Much Month (At the End of the Money)".
Thom Jurek of AllMusic wrote that the 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."
In 2005, Stuart launched a custom record label, Superlatone Records, to issue overlooked Southern
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
and Roots music recordings. Stuart released three critically acclaimed collections on Superlatone, ''Souls' Chapel'', ''Badlands'', and ''Live at the Ryman''. In October 2005, Stuart released a concept album, ''Badlands: Ballads of the Lakota'', which pays tribute to the
Sioux culture in what is now
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...
. In 2007, Stuart produced
Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour.
In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The ...
's final album on the predominantly punk label
Epitaph Records.
The Fabulous Superlatives
The Fabulous Superlatives, Marty Stuart's band since 2002, includes him on guitar and mandolin,
Kenny Vaughan
Kenneth Vaughan is an American guitarist. He is best known as a long-time member of Marty Stuart’s supporting band, The Fabulous Superlatives.
Career Early life
Vaughan was born in Oklahoma, but raised in Denver, Colorado. His guitar instruct ...
on guitar, and
Harry Stinson
Harry Stinson (born June 3, 1953 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian real estate developer from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is president of Stinson Properties, Inc. He has been called Toronto's "condo king".
Biography
Stinson's most significant ...
on drums, and from 2002 until 2008, Brian Glenn on bass. From 2008 until 2015,
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.
The son ...
was on bass. In 2015,
Chris Scruggs
Chris Scruggs (born Christopher Alan Davies-Scruggs December 16, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who plays a variety of instruments including guitar, steel guitar, bass, mandolin, fiddle, and drums. He is the ...
replaced Paul Martin on bass, and also played
steel guitar
A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conv ...
. Every member also sings.
Musical style
In a 1992 article for ''Entertainment Weekly'', Kate Meyers wrote that Stuart "considers himself more a stylist than a singer, meaning he gets by with a mix of approaches...rather than relying on a fantastic voice of his own", citing Johnny Cash,
Bill Monroe, and
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post- war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicag ...
as his main musical influences.
Stuart's musical image in the 1990s was also defined by his distinct clothing and hairstyle. Meyers described him as having a "striking black mane, speckled with well-earned gray...
ten tied in a black or pink
bandana
A kerchief (from the Old French ''couvrechief'', "cover head"), also known as a bandana, bandanna, or "Wild Rag" (in cowboy culture), is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head, face or neck for protective or decorative purpo ...
headband", faded jeans from
Levi Strauss & Co., a black T-shirt,
cowboy boots
Cowboy boots are a specific style of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys. They have a high heel that is traditionally made of stacked leather, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no lacing. Cowboy boots are normally ...
, a
concho
Concha and Concho means "shell" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The word can also refer to:
Places
* Concho, Arizona, a frontier town now functioning as a retirement community in Apache County
* Concho, Oklahoma
* Concho County, Texas
* ...
belt, and a
rhinestone-studded suit jacket designed by
Nudie Cohn
Nuta Kotlyarenko ( uk, Нута Котляренко; December 15, 1902 – May 9, 1984), known professionally as Nudie Cohn, was an American tailor who designed decorative rhinestone-covered suits, known popularly as "Nudie Suits", and other e ...
(sometimes termed the "Nudie suit").
Equipment and memorabilia
Stuart is known for his extensive collection of country music memorabilia. Some of his collection was exhibited at the
Tennessee State Museum in 2007 as "Sparkle & Twang: Marty Stuart's American Musical Odyssey." The exhibit later appeared at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, and at the Arkansas Statehouse Museum. In early 2018, Stuart co-curated, along with the
Grammy Museum, an exhibit at the
Woody Guthrie Center
The Woody Guthrie Center is a public museum and archive located in Tulsa, Oklahoma that is dedicated to the life and legacy of American folk musician and singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie. The Center also contains the archives of folk singer, songw ...
in
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...
, entitled "Marty Stuart's Way Out West: A Country Music Odyssey". The exhibit highlighted the West Coast impact on country music, featuring items by artists including Johnny Cash,
Merle Haggard,
Buck Owens, and Stuart himself. Many of the items in the exhibit came from the private collection of Stuart, including the last portrait of Cash (taken by Stuart four days before Cash died).
Yvonne and Mavis Staples of
the Staple Singers gave one of their father "Pops" Staples' guitars to Marty Stuart after Pop's death. Mavis Staples explained, "My father was Marty's godfather. My sisters and I took him in as our brother. He's the only one that I've heard who -- when he's playing guitar, he sounds like Pop. He can play just like him."
Stuart's guitars also include 'Clarence', the familiar two-tone
Fender Telecaster, once owned by
Clarence White. This instrument, is the original
B-Bender guitar, built by White and
Gene Parsons around 1967, designed to allow the guitarist to manually raise the guitar's 'B' string one whole step to play in a style similar to a
pedal steel guitar. Stuart bought this unique guitar in 1980 from White's widow.
''The Marty Stuart Show''
Stuart is host of ''The Marty Stuart Show'', which features traditional country music in the vein of ''
The Porter Wagoner Show
Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour.
In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The ...
'', ''
Flatt & Scruggs
Flatt and Scruggs were an American bluegrass duo. Singer and guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs, both of whom had been members of Bill Monroe's band, the Bluegrass Boys, from 1945 to 1948, formed the duo in 1948. Flatt and Sc ...
'', the ''
Wilburn Brothers
The Wilburn Brothers were an American country music duo from the 1950s to the 1970s, consisting of brothers Virgil Doyle Wilburn (1930–1982) and Thurman Theodore "Teddy" Wilburn (1931–2003).
Biography
The brothers were born in Hardy, Ar ...
Show'', and ''
Hee Haw''. ''The Marty Stuart Show'' began airing at 8:00 pm on November 1, 2008, on cable's
RFD-TV. Although no new episodes have been produced as of 2022, the network continues to air old episodes of the show under the name ''The Best of the Marty Stuart Show''.
Each episode features music by Stuart and his band the Fabulous Superlatives. Stuart hosts and produces the 30-minute episodes, with
WSM disc jockey and Grand Ole Opry announcer
Eddie Stubbs
Eddie Stubbs (born November 25, 1961) is an American radio disc jockey. Stubbs is best known for his work and promotion of country music on WSM, a radio station with a nighttime clear channel signal broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee, Unit ...
serving as the show's emcee.
Country Music Foundation
Stuart is a member of the board of the
Country Music Foundation and is a past president. Stuart has also been a
member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the
Grand Ole Opry since 1992.
On August 12, 2020, Stuart was selected to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Stuart's first wife was Johnny Cash's daughter Cindy Cash, Cindy, to whom he was married from 1983 to 1988.
Since July 8, 1997, Stuart has been married to country artist Connie Smith, whom he had admired since his childhood.
Stuart described encountering Smith many years earlier, after attending her concert: "I met Connie when I was 12 years old. She came to the Indian reservation in my hometown of
Philadelphia, Mississippi, to work at a fair. She hasn't changed a bit. She looked great then and she looks great now." Stuart said he told his mother then that he was going to marry Connie Smith. Smith explains how they have sustained their marriage : "Make the Lord the center ... and commit."
Discography
Awards and nominations
A. shared with Joe Nichols, Rhonda Vincent,
Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, James Taylor, Alison Krauss,
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...
, Terri Clark,
Merle Haggard, Carl Jackson, Ronnie Dunn, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Glen Campbell, Leslie Satcher, Kathy Louvin, Pamela Brown Hayes, Linda Ronstadt, Patty Loveless, Jon Randall, Harley Allen, Dierks Bentley, Larry Cordle, Jerry Salley, Dolly Parton, Sonya Isaacs, Del McCoury,
Pam Tillis,
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...
and
The Jordanaires.
B. shared with Everett Lilly, Bea Lilly, Charles Lilly, Daniel Lilly, Mark Lilly, Rhonda Vincent, Billy Walker (musician), Billy Walker, Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, David Ball (country singer), David Ball, Charlie Cushman, Larry Stevenson, Joe Spivey,
Eddie Stubbs
Eddie Stubbs (born November 25, 1961) is an American radio disc jockey. Stubbs is best known for his work and promotion of country music on WSM, a radio station with a nighttime clear channel signal broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee, Unit ...
, Jason Carter (fiddler), Jason Carter, Dickey Lee, Freddie Weller, Mike Bub, Rad Lewis, Andy May, Dailey & Vincent, Darrin Vincent, Marcia Campbell, Clay Rigdon, Eric Blankenship and Bill Wolfenbarger.
Bibliography
*Himes, Geoffrey (1998). "Marty Stuart." In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music.'' Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 517.
References
External links
Marty Stuart Official Site on Sony MusicMarty Stuart Fan Page website*
Superlatone RecordsMarty Stuart InterviewNAMM Oral History Library (2017)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Marty
1958 births
Living people
American country singer-songwriters
American country rock singers
American country guitarists
American male guitarists
American performers of Christian music
American male singer-songwriters
American mandolinists
Grammy Award winners
Grand Ole Opry members
Singer-songwriters from Mississippi
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
People from Philadelphia, Mississippi
American people of English descent
American people of French descent
American people of Choctaw descent
American people of Colombian descent
Mississippi Republicans
Country musicians from Mississippi
American country mandolinists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
Guitarists from Mississippi
Guitarists from Tennessee
20th-century American guitarists
Country musicians from Tennessee
20th-century American male musicians
Nashville Grass members
The Strangers (American band) members
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
The Tennessee Three members
The Great Eighties Eight members
The Fabulous Superlatives members
Cash–Carter family