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On The Cool
Marty Stuart/
Johnny Cash/
Superlatives
August 4th,
a Cool Wednesday night
McPhillips Street Station
I don’t care if you’re
considered to be The Cool
The Hip
The One to be
next to,
The Cool
is here, now
in a casino
in Winnipeg
the droning
dirge of white out
mind numbing
sound
covering the slot
machine
tinkles
the losses
and
the wrinkles,
the frowns
of sad-faced clowns
getting Busted
to the gambling
house bosses
and once in a small
while, pay-outs
to keep you happy,
Eternal Losers,
dreaming
of a big pay-off
some day soon,
the 35 million dollar
lottery jack-
pot swoon
Wednesday
night
(I bought my 15 million
to 1 shot, too)
There’s a man in black
his name is Marty Stuart
and he played guitar
in a band with another
Man In Black
Johnny Cash
but you know this already,
www.myspace.com/martystuart
Get a little cool
into your music listening life
a little
La Tingo Tango
sounds like something
from a Quentin Tarantino
soundtrack
it’s That Cool
and so is
Marty Stuart
and The Superlatives
He’s the man in black
they’re in shiny blue
powdery too
Cousin Kenny Vaughan
wears a dark
cowboy hat
on guitar
(he’s played with Hayes Carll,
Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell,
is that Cool enough for
you, hipsters?)
Kenny trades hot riffs
and sizzling licks
with Marty, who plays it all
Hot, and Cool,
electric, acoustic, mandolin
just like when Marty goes on a Mando(lin)
Rip (it reads on the set list)
and shatters us
the audience
we’re hot to it, too
in the full blast furnace fire
of
The Cool
The Man In Black
One hour fifty minutes
25 songs
The first two
didn’t thrill me
(to be honest),
they’re welcoming songs,
songs to prepare us
for the layers
and gears to come,
shift after shift
we’re riding on
the bus
touring with the guys in the band,
journeying
through
country music history,
Country Death Songs
Story Songs
End of Relationship Songs
Gospel Songs
Bluegrass Songs
Johnny Cash Songs
Hillbilly Songs
Marty Stuart and the
Superlative Songs
There’s the Apostle Paul Martin
on bass, electric and some upright
beautiful voice too
he’s played it and sung it
with the Oak Ridge Boys
and Handsome Harry Stinson
on cool drums
stand up snare too
another soulful singer
he’s played it
with Steve Earle,
Now, That Is Cool!
his drums on Guitar Town
after that second song,
when Marty jokes,
“we’ve been on tour since 1972.”
and he asks,
“are you ready for some Hillbilly music?”
It’s on
Full-On
engaged
Passionate
Glorious
song after song
Story songs
the songs that make country
music
beautiful
meaningful
Marty jokes about his Georgia friend
Travis Tritt
how if we don’t like the show
write Travis for a refund
No refunds
no messages
to Travis Tritt
"Tempted" feels like a Buddy Holly
song and that is So Very
Country Pop Cool
it chills and thrills me
gorgeous song
Like the "Long Black Veil"
that Johnny Cash
smashed us with
shattered us
into
a big jackpot
millions
of pieces
"Long Black Veil"
had me in tears
haunting
wind, ghost
Lover in the cemetery
wailing
it;’s all dark
in the lonely night
with your best friend’s
wife
taking your love to the grave
cuz you’re guilty
of a most terrible crime
Lonesome Whistle
railroad howl whistle
their ghostly voices
harmonizing awing
country death song
During Kenny’s turn to sing
"Country Music’s Got a Hold On Me"
a country rave stomper
I’m watching Marty
so relaxed
moving, swinging
on a star
through the beats
and i’m seeing it
The Authentic Cool
of Johnny Cash
That’s Exactly how Marty moves
just like Johnny Cash
and that’s something of The Cool
Marty learned from
The Man In Black
playing all those years
with
the epitome of The Cool
Apostle Paul’s turn to Sing
is "The Bluegrass Express"
another amazing
train song harmony
howl wondrous wail
"Hey Baby"
glorious guitar opening
and another
Buddy Holly
reminding song
Now That Is So Cool
If there’s is a count on
Cool
in this poetic
ramble
i’d be at 100?
The battle song of
"Little Big Horn"
is for The Lakota People
nothing i can write here
can compare
to its starkly real
Beauty,
Marty’s been visiting
and playing for
the Lakota on Pine Ridge
since 1983
he’s been adopted by them,
that’s Honor.
Even more haunting
and poignant
in that Marty
tells us later the story
of "Dark Bird"
How he wanted to write a song for Johnny
after his passing
and couldn’t
they were neighbors
like father, like son
How Roy Orbison lived
between them, until
a tragic house fire took away
Roy’s two sons
and Johnny bought the property
promising Roy not to build on the land
instead,
Johnny Cash planted trees
fruit trees
that black crows
love
and there,
in those “crazy birds
dressed in black”
Marty found his inspiration
his elegy
for his Johnny Cash
Love song
"Dark Bird"
In the fruit trees
a black crow
that flies through
a cloud of love
and emerges a dove
a beautiful white bird
Now, that is a country
love story
and beautiful poetry
set to elegant music
That’s The Cool
The Love
The Heart
of Marty Stuart
and those are my tears
falling
The gospel songs
are simple, four
voices and acoustics
one lone drum
beginning with,
Bill Monroe’s classic
"Working On a Building"
Harry sings Bill’s lead,
Beautiful.
"Talk With Jesus"
and
"Angels Rock Me To Sleep"
just as Lovely, Lifting,
and Loving.
"Choctaw Fair"
is a true story song
of how Marty and his
wife of twelve years
(43 years in country musician marriage years,
jokes Marty)
country music singer
Connie Smith
got together.
it’s a love song
the way country music
songsters
feel and communicate
the honest
with you,
their audience.
"Hillbilly Rock" is
dirty and gritty
and sets the table
for the request
encore
Marty tells us
the money
from
the sale of the Tour
Program goes to Operation
Smile. for babies born
without
their smile.
The set,
Glad To Be Here
Branded
Country Boy Rock n Roll
The Whiskey Ain’t Working
Busted
La Tingo Tango
Tempted
Long Black Veil
Luther Played the Boogie Woogie
Lonesome Whistle Blues
Country Music's Got A Hold On Me
Bluegrass Express
Hey Baby
Drifting Apart
Trip To Little Big Horn
Dark Bird
Mando(lin) Rip
Working On a Building
Talk With Jesus
Angels Rock Me To Sleep
Choctaw Fair
Hillbilly Rock
Encore,
not listed on the set list
i’m guessing song titles,
Marty asked for requests
and heard from scores of voices
and chose these,
There’s a Bottle On The Table
(to help me understand how a love
could go so wrong)
(This One’s Going to Hurt You)
A Long, Long Time
Baby, Touch Me
Turn Me On
and Burn Me Down!
(WoW!)
and finally, an instrumental
to sweep us,
Giddy, excited
talking to strangers
and friends alike
about what an amazing
show we had just
witnessed
Experienced
(Marty and The Superlatives
found their Witnesses!)
Tto the archway
lobby
we testified,
Our love
for the country cool men
in black and in blue
Marty and The Superlatives
They signed everything
put in front of them
(and posed with everyone
who wanted a photograph)
by everyone
who lined up
after the show.
And, this reminded me of the last
and only time i saw Harry Chapin
he stayed so late
arriving late
and signed everything
shook every hand
just like Marty and The Superlatives
but that’s Country Musicians
Harry Chapin died
a few months later…
When you see The Cool
you need to celebrate
The Cool
and say, Thank You.
The Cool
is a blessing
a gift
accept it,
youngsters.
Cuz we’re truly Cool
when we say
thank you
(with open heart),
to Marty Stuart
and The Superlatives,
the students,
and Johnny Cash,
the father and the teacher
of The Cool.
Review by Eugene Osudar
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