On Love and Luck, Marty Stuart's fourth album for MCA, he balances some of the requisite country pop/rock cuts with more traditional honky tonk numbers. Stuart himself either wrote or co-wrote seven of the 11 tracks, and with the exception of "That's What Love's About," where the schmaltz factor unfortunately cancels out some of the interesting harmonic moments of the composition, they are uniformly strong. The rock-influenced title track and the haunting "Oh, What a Silent Night" are some of his strongest efforts, but they pale in comparison to the centerpiece of the record, a moving version of the excellent Billy Joe Shaver song "If I Give My Soul." Also particularly nice is Stuart's version of the Byrds' "Wheels," which perfectly captures the song's bittersweet feel. Stuart is one of that rarest of all commodities: a superstar country vocalist who also has enough instrumental chops to make the services of even Nashville's cadre of virtuosos unnecessary. He demonstrates this on the instrumental "Marty Stuart Visits the Moon," where the singer gets to flash his mandolin chops on a catchy, up-tempo track. This is not to say that the studio band isn't top-notch, because they are, and they include such notables as Randy Scruggs, John Jorgenson, John Barlow Jarvis, Paul Franklin, and Bela Fleck. There are some clunkers on Love and Luck, like the repetitive and boring "Shake Your Hips," but overall this is a fine effort from Stuart, and shows his range nicely. ~ Daniel Gioffre, All Music Guide
Marty Stuart (Mandolin), Larry Marrs (Vocal Harmony), Ricky Skaggs (Vocals), John Barlow Jarvis (Piano), Harry Stinson (Vocal Harmony), Glenn Meadows (Mastering), Paul Franklin (Pedal Steel), Liana Manis (Vocal Harmony), Buddy Jackson (Design), John Jorgenson (Guitar (Acoustic)), Brent Mason (Mandolin), John Guess (Mastering), Derek Bason (Engineer), Tony Brown (Producer), Marty Stuart (Producer), Marty Williams (Engineer), Vince Gill (Vocals), Jessie Noble (Coordination), John Guess (Engineer), Buddy Jackson (Art Direction), Jessie Noble (Project Coordinator), Randy Scruggs (Guitar (Electric)), Michael Rhodes (Bass), Steve Nathan (Keyboards), Marty Stuart (Photography), Béla Fleck (Banjo), Eddie Bayers (Drums), Marty Williams (Second Engineer), Randy Scruggs (Mandolin), Randy Scruggs (Guitar (Acoustic)), Harry Stinson (Vocals), Stuart Duncan (Mandolin), Ricky Skaggs (Vocal Harmony), Tony Brown (Producer), Lonnie Wilson (Drums), John Barlow Jarvis (Keyboards), Stuart Duncan (Fiddle), Liana Manis (Vocals), Beth Gwinn (Photography), Mike Brignardello (Bass), Béla Fleck (?), John Guess (Mixing), John Jorgenson (Guitar (Electric)), Marty Williams (Overdubs), Vince Gill (Vocal Harmony), Derek Bason (Second Engineer), John Thomas II (Second Engineer), Bret Lopez (Photography), Marty Stuart (Guitar (Acoustic)), John Thomas II (Engineer), Steve Nathan (Synthesizer), Larry Marrs (Vocals), Jim Kemp (Art Direction), Marty Stuart (Guitar (Electric))
