Marty Stuart - Compadres: An Anthology of Duets

Marty Stuart began collaborating with legends when he joined Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass as a 13-year-old mandolinist. One of his biggest singles, 1991's "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'," teamed him with Travis Tritt. This compilation includes a rare Stuart mandolin workout on Bill Monroe's "Rawhide" recorded onstage with Flatt in 1974, and "Hearts Like Ours" with wife Connie Smith. He and ex-father-in-law Johnny Cash created a fiery revival of Cash's Sun recording of "Doin' My Time." With Steve Earle, Stuart created a beautifully understated rendition of Buddy Holly's "Crying, Waiting, Hoping." He was equally adept with Earl Scruggs on "John Henry" and with Merle Haggard on a 2003 "Farmer's Blues." That empathy extended to blues and gospel greats, apparent on "The Weight" with the Staple Singers and "Confessin' the Blues" with B.B. King. Two unreleased tracks include Stuart and Loretta Lynn reviving "Will You Visit Me on Sunday," a tune she'd previously recorded with the late Conway Twitty, and the Who's "I Can See for Miles" with Stuart, his band, and Old Crow Medicine Show. Unlike the many Nashville "vocal events" that are simply contrived marketing ploys, Stuart's collaborations are consistently organic, without a shred of artifice. --Rich Kienzle Amazon.com

Not a country fan, but.....

I bought this for my guitarist husband for his birthday. Even though we are not huge country fans, we LOVE the cd! The instrumental work is suberb, the variety is pleasing, and the artists he duets with are impressive and well suited to his musical tastes. September 13, 2008

Marty Stuart Compadres

This is a Fabulous Cd...the duets R AWESOME...great hearin all these guys again...must say it needs to b in every1's collection...if u'r a country person then buy this CD...highly recommended!!! February 15, 2008

Broad selection of duets culled from 30 years of singing

This disc pulls together fourteen duets Stuart recorded for a variety of projects over his three decades in country music. Although the broad timeframe leaves this album without the coherency of a purpose-built duets anthology, the advantages are many. The genesis in different projects translates to a lack of similarity and gives each duet an individual identity. Better yet, since Stuart wasn't hosting a parade of guests in the studio (or worse, finding time to patch together duets via tape), he's invested in finding a unique approach to each piece. The collection's earliest recording finds the 15-year-old Stuart burning down the house with his mandolin with Lester Flatt's band on a cover of "Rawhide." His instrumental skills are again displayed for an intricately picked rendition of "John Henry" that pits his mandolin against Earl Scruggs' mighty banjo. He pairs smoothly with Merle Haggard for the pleading "Farmer's Blues," rears back with a holler to match up with Johnny Cash on a 1992 take of "Doin' My Time," and finds some low notes to go toe-to-toe with George Jones on "One Woman Man." A pair of previously unreleased tracks include "Will You Visit me on Sunday," with Loretta Lynn, and an acoustic cover of The Who's "I Can See For Miles and Miles" with Old Crow Medicine Show. The former works nicely (though perhaps not as nicely as Lynn's original with Conway Twitty), while the latter is a messy translation to acoustic string-band music. Better are the tight bluegrass of Stuart and Del McCoury on the hymn "Let Us Travel, Travel On." and the slow and soulful "Move Along Train" sung with Mavis Staples. Stuart's hit duet with Travis Tritt, "The Whiskey Ain't Working" is also here. This is a nice collection for Stuart's fans, pulling together a variety of performances from a large number of original sources. [©2007 hyperbolium dot com] December 29, 2007

excellent collection

The songs on this album are almost all on other albums that I already own. If you have a good collection of Marty Stuart's music, you can probably pass on this. The songs are all excellent and certainly show that Marty Stuart clearly enjoys music in many different styles and is quite versatile in performing with a wide variety of musicians. November 3, 2007

Another Fantastic CD

Just another fantastic CD from Marty Stuart! If you are fan of any of these artists individually, you'll love this CD. It will stay in my player for a long, long time. October 22, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...