Song:Burn Me Down
Album:20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Marty Stuart
I would describe Marty Stuart as a country music neo traditionalist. He puts a contemporary spin on country music traditions. He had his greatest commercial success in the 90s with top ten country hits like Burn Me Down in 1991. He was born Sept. 30, 1958 in Philadelphia, MS. He taught himself to play guitar and mandolin. By age 12 Stuart was performing with the bluegrass group The Sullivan Family. He met Lester Flatt's mandolinist Roland White. So at age 14 Stuart was a member of Flatt's band Nashville Grass. He remained until Flatt retired in 1978 due to his health. Flatt died in 1979. In 1980 Stuart joined Johnny Cash's band. He also released a couple of bluegrass albums. Stuart married Cash's daughter Cindy in 1983. They divorced in 1988. After appearing on the 1985 album Class of '55 with Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis, Stuart signed a solo contract with Columbia. He scored a top 20 country hit with Arlene in 1986. He recorded a second album. But after a heated argument over Columbia dropping Johnny Cash from the roster, he left and joined MCA. He got together with house producer Tony Brown and guitarist Richard Bennett. He scored his first top ten country hit with Hillbilly Rock in 1989. The album was certified Gold. Burn Me Down was the third top ten country hit from the 1991 album Tempted. It reached #7 on the Country Singles chart. The album was certified Gold. Burn Me Down was written by veteran songwriter Eddie Miller (Release Me) in the 60s. But it was never a hit. Miller died in 1977. Songwriter Don Sessions (Thanks A Lot) was hired to update it. Stuart also had success recording with Travis Tritt. Though Stuart didn't have much commercial success after that, he remained with MCA until 1999. He also married veteran singer Connie Smith in 1998. You can get all his hits on this comp. Stuart continues to record and tour. His latest album Way Out West was released on his own label in 2017. He tours with his band The Fabulous Superlatives. He hosted The Marty Stuart Show on RFD-TV. And he has a large memorabilia collection currently exhibiting at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa. And he appeared in the recent PBS documentary series Country Music. Here's Marty Stuart performing Burn Me Down at FamAid in Ames, IA Apr. 25, 1993.
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