Professor Stuart Leads Country History Class

Marty Stuart knows all about traditions, and the legacy of those who came before him. At Knott’s Berry Farm on Saturday night, his energetic first set--16 songs over the course of an hour--was so full of references to the hillbilly heroes of the past that on one level, it amounted to a high-voltage tour through the history of country music.

Yet, such influences were so thoroughly integrated with Stuart’s own rock ‘n’ roll/’90s perspective that he not only showcased country’s past but its probable future as well.

From the opening twang of his Telecaster, Stuart’s licks--and his moves--seemed simultaneously familiar and new. He started with a pair of Merle Haggard standards, “Swingin’ Doors” and “Today I Started Loving You Again,” but he revved them up to a blistering rock ‘n’ roll energy level. With his frisky young five-piece band, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Cowboys, holding the pace, he stepped out for blazing guitar solos and further livened things up with some rubber-legged hip-shaking borrowed from another legendary hillbilly cat, Elvis Presley.

Later in his set he paid tribute to two more country legends in a single song: “Me & Hank & Jumpin’ Jack Flash” not only describes an imaginary meeting with Hank Williams but is actually a country/rap update of a Tex Ritter number, “I Dreamed of Hillbilly Heaven.”

Stuart segued seamlessly from “Me & Hank” into an achingly soulful version of Williams’ bluesy “My Sweet Love Ain’t Around.” A more surprising and even more effective cover was J.J. Cale’s “Clyde,” which was a hit in 1980 for Waylon Jennings. Stuart recast the key lyric as “Steve (rather than Clyde) played electric bass,” a nod to his own bass player Steve Arnold, who responded with blistering bass licks that Stuart answered in turn on guitar.

The heart of the set was a selection of Stuart’s recent country hits, such trademark songs as “Hillbilly Rock,” “Western Girls” and “Now That’s Country” that again proved his ability to filter country and rock through one another. During the high-powered “Western Girls,” for example, he sang the praises of honky-tonk angels while he and Arnold duckwalked across the stage a la Chuck Berry.

The most anticipated number, “Burn Me Down” (which Stuart used to tease the crowd by starting and stopping a couple of times before finally playing it all the way through), nodded both to Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and to Presley’s “Burning Love.”

Stuart included a couple of numbers from his most recent album, “Love and Luck”--including his latest single, “That’s What Love’s About,” a touching ballad about tenderness and commitment that, he said, is his own favorite among all the songs he has written--and “It Ain’t Nothin’ but a Love Thing,” a 2-week-old tune he has yet to record.

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He moved rapidly from song to song, with little patter. Such brief comments as he did make focused, more often that not, on country music traditions. He noted, for instance, that the tailored Western suits he and his band-mates wore were in the tradition of those fashioned by the late Nudie the rodeo tailor, for such Grand Ole Opry stars as Porter Wagoner.

With back to school season upon us, one couldn’t help but wonder: If only our teachers could have as much fun with world history!

* Marty Stuart sings tonight at 7 and 10 at the Crazy Horse Steak House, 1580 Brookhollow Drive, Santa Ana. $34.50. (714) 549-1512.