Marty Stuart Unveils Surf Guitar-Inspired Album “Space Junk”

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Editor’s Note: This review is written by Saving Country Music contributor Kevin Smith.

Space Junk is ONLY available at local record stores at the moment, and in vinyl form as part of a Record Store Day (4-12) Exclusive. Only 1,700 copies were made.

#510.75 – (Surf Guitar-Inspired Country) on the Country DDS.

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Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives have been experimenting with differing soundscapes over the last few records, exploring the sometimes psychedelic Cosmic Cowboy sounds inspired by The Byrds and other Country Rock bands of that late ’60s, early ’70s era. This time around they offer a take on ’60’s instrumental surf and Ennio Morricone Western soundtrack inspired sounds. The result is often breathtaking to behold.

The first thing you notice with this vinyl-only Record Store Day release is the very striking cover art. It’s a painting from the famous Herb Alpert; yes that Herb Alpert, the jazz musician trumpeter known for his work with the Tijuana Brass, and a guy who’s performed on many soundtracks over the decades of his highly successful career. The artwork arrests your attention, much like the instrumental compositions contained within this exquisite two-record set of originals from Marty, “Cousin” Kenny Vaughan, “Handsome” Harry Stinson, and Chris Scruggs.

Longtime fans of Marty Stuart’s live shows are used to hearing a few rousing surf-inspired instrumentals in the middle of his sets, so perhaps this album shouldn’t come as a total surprise.

The surf music genre started in the late ’50s when a handsome, charismatic surfer in Long Beach California named Richard Monsour developed a striking instrumental guitar sound and technique that he hoped could convey the sound of waves in the ocean and the feeling when one is riding in them on a surfboard. He took a Fender Stratocaster and proceeded to blow up every amplifier he could get, playing it at high volume and creating an absolute sensation in youth culture everywhere.

Monsour, who’s stage name was Dick Dale, had created a monster culture almost single-handedly, and a large number of surf bands popped up almost everywhere, cashing in on the sound. The Ventures among others took the sound all over the world and kids everywhere became guitar players, inspired by those magical sounds. Artists like Duane Eddy also made instrumental music popular as well.

Italian composer Ennio Morricone who scored soundtracks to the so-called spaghetti western movies of Clint Eastwood like Hang Em High, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and A Fistful of Dollars, utilized a sound featuring Fender electric guitars, catchy melodies, and an orchestra to achieve a gritty sound designed to match the rugged western landscapes they were portraying in the movies.

Then there was the John Barry-scored James Bond theme, which around the same time was creating a sensation. All of these sounds figure in to this album in one way or another. Marty Stuart and The Fabulous Superlatives never do anything halfway. The album is a labor of love and a major commitment of time, energy and passion. And it shows.


So much attention has been given to detail on this record, from the collection of vintage instruments the band chose to record with, to the way the drums and amplifiers are mic’d. Longtime collaborator Mick Conley is once again heavily involved in the recording and engineering process, and sonically the album sounds terrific. Marty, Kenny and Chris have brought out the tools that guitar players doing vintage music absolutely relish, including use of tremelo, reverb, echo, baritone guitars, tremolo bars, and tube amplifiers.

You can almost feel the reverberating tones coming off of Clarence, Marty Stuart’s Holy Grail 1954 Telecaster guitar, once owned by Byrds alumni and Kentucky Colonels founder Clarence White. The guitar, so prized among musicians as it featured the very first ever B-bender device installed, allows notes to be bent via a hidden mechanical device nestled into the body of the guitar and activated by a strap button which Marty controls. The resulting pedal steel style bends are startlingly effective, and this record showcases Marty Stuarts enviable lead guitar playing.

Yet Space Junk also features songs written by all the band members, and they individually and collectively get a chance to shine. The album was recorded at multiple locations, including a couple studios around Nashville and the notable Capitol Studios in Hollywood.

With Space Junk, Marty Stuart and The Fabulous Superlatives have successfully created an enviable collection of music that will feel right at home with surf fans, guitar enthusiasts, soundtrack junkies, Morricone devotees, western movie fans, musicians and music fanatics in general. It’s a bold, heady take on some vital but often overlooked genres in American music, and the end result is a wonderfully and perfectly-crafted album that years from now will still sound exciting.

Marty Stuart is not ready to lie down and quit. He’s ever challenging himself, and in the process proving he has a lot left to offer.

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Space Junk is only available for purchase at local record stores, and is currently not available for streaming or download. A sample of the music can be heard below. If/when it is released to streaming services, Saving Country Music will try to notify the public.



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Space Junk Track List:

1. Graveyard

The album opens with this composition, and it makes an immediate and powerful statement that absolutely grabs you, and demands your attention. It’s a spy-thriller song in the same vein as a James Bond theme. Like many of the songs on this album, it utilizes a haunting minor-key guitar riff that takes the listener on an exhilarating joyride as it builds to a spectacular crescendo. So satisfying.

2. All The Pretty Horses

This one would be a perfect Morricone “spaghetti western” theme to a long lost Eastwood movie. Connie Smith band alumni member Gary Carter joins the boys on this little gem, strumming the perfect gunfighter rhythm, while Marty tastefully takes you on a cinematic ride through the song with guitar leads that evoke the dust, smoke and bravado of that epic era of film.

3. Catalina

You can’t do a surf album properly without evoking a few legendary bands like The Pyramids, known for their hit “Penetration,” or The Chantays famous “Pipeline” song that’s become a standard of the genre. While this is entirely an original by Marty and company, it does bring to mind those type of stalwart, surfing inspired anthems of the past. The repetitive riffs stick in your brain and cement the song into your consciousness.

4. Over The Moon

5. Slipnote Serenade

6. Space Junk

7. El Zorro

This one has a bossa nova feel to it, which brings an exotic element to a song that seeks to bring a bit of a south of the border vibe. Marty or perhaps Cousin Kenny uses the tremolo bar to add some nuance to a song with loads of echo and reverb that ends up haunting, yet fun. A great vibe.

8. Coastline

9. The Ballad of the Lonely Surfer

10. Bat Patrol

11. Till We Meet Again

12. Waiting on Sundown

13. La Tingo Tango

Another Bond-esque track that brings an expansive cinematic sound with some monster guitar riffs to a song that would be much at home in a movie soundtrack. Chris Scruggs really lays down some nasty low end riffs on his electric bass that just propel the song like a freight train barreling through your brain. Nods to surf genre inventor Dick Dale abound on this with the trademark glissando pick slide which influenced a thousand guitarists. Epic track.

14. Rhapsidio Sangre de Cristo in E Major

This one is another Morricone-type piece with a prominent baritone guitar melody, strikingly juxtaposed against a real orchestrated string section and featuring some Latin percussion that builds to a glorious climax. Killer song, killer playing. Gorgeous.

15. Showcake

16. Jody the Fly (Romance in Laguna)

17. Malibu Dawn

18. The Surfin’ Cowboy

19. California Pt. 1 (Bobbie Gentry, Please Call Home)

This cut brings the country twang that you expect from The Fabulous Superlatives, and Marty is in full glory on the B-Bender guitar here. Pedal steel sounds simmer out of his vintage tube-driven amplifier so hot that with a little imagination, you can smell the burning odor of the tubes.

As you take in the sounds, your mind goes to the subtitled name of the song, “Bobbie Gentry Please Call Home,” an obvious reference to legendary singer Bobbie Gentry’s mysterious and never explained total disappearance from the public eye decades ago. Her story, like the notes coming from the ancient guitar, ever resonates and perpetually fascinates us, lingering a bit but never fully resolving or satisfying our curiosity.

20. Waltz of the Waves

Though Scruggs plays all the bass on this record, he also takes a crack at guitar in places, and on this one he shows off on the steel guitar, an instrument he knows his way around pretty well (Hawaiian Steel, sans the pedals, for those that care). It’s very much a pretty, Polynesian styled song, and it’s a beautiful cut to close out the album.

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