"(8 out 10) Vital. A collection of geat merit...as strong a statement on what may constitute country these days as you're likely to hear this, or any other, year." - Americana UK

"One of the richest works passing itself off as country music that I've ever heard." - Flying Shoes

"It's a rare and beautiful album that has you itching to replay it before it's even over. This double album is one of the best things put out this year." - Performer Magazine

"A stunning, long-time coming piece of work." - Vintage Guitar

"(4 out of 5) Funny and life-affirming...a genuine talent at work!" - The Telegraph (UK)

"(8 out of 10) (Marvin Country!) is a singular statement. It's hard to imagine taking advantage of the skip button when transendece is just moments away." - Blurt Magazine

"Very occasionally an album comes along that stops you dead in your tracks, knocks the wind out of your sails and demands that you pay attention. Marvin Country! is one such album." - Blabber 'n Smoke
****

There’s a beautiful silence that occurs in the control room when something goes right. David and I let the moment pass. We might listen back. We might move on. We might take a break.

In the last session, three songs were recorded. "There’s A Train,” a song I started writing for my grandfather when I got the call from my mom (her father), the 4 am call, that he had just passed away. I never recorded the song. Sam Lorber helped me finish it, but that was seven years ago. Out of the blue I start to sing it. David presses record. This was a moment in time. I still have not played it back yet. I suppose I will when we finalize the sequence and song selection.

My grandfather gave me my first instrument, a Stradolin mandolin. I taught myself. It’s the one I still play. I’ve added a pickup and have drawings on it by Ralph (“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”) Steadman. I also got Keith Richards to autograph it for me when I backed him up as part of the Sin City All Stars during a Gram Parsons tribute. Out of the mandolins I have, this one is my favorite. My grandfather was the first person to turn me on to country music. Cash, Lynn and Liz Anderson, Buck. My grandparents (in their mid-eighties) would come see Lone Justice. "How’d you like the show, Zayde?” (That's what I called him). He didn’t go for the ballads. “I like it loud and I like it fast." He was born in Lodz, Poland. He smuggled himself throughout Europe without a passport, and landed in the Middle East when England was the occupier of Palestine. Saved my grandmother’s life by bringing her to Palestine, before there was an Israel. My grandmother’s family was all slaughtered in the war. The passing of time, brings an end to an era of human beings like my Nana and Zayde.

Back to the session. Then I started playing “Miss This World." Once recorded by the Williams Brothers, their version was a verse short of my original. Then I cut a guitar version of “Bob Dylan Is Dead" in D. It’s a bit low, so I have recut since with mandolin and choir in G, co-produced by Willie Aron (my Holy Brother). Oh yeah, David is David Vaught. Co-producer, chief engineer, mixer. Really, without David, this album would not have been. He started as a painter, artist, then joined a surf band, playing bass at 13. Played with everyone from Tom Waits to Helen Reddy. He doesn’t play much bass these days, mostly behind a console. Usually his 1969 Daniel Flickenger board.

The session ended. I drove home knowing that this was now becoming a double album. The way double albums used to be made. With four sides. Anyone can do what they like with their iPods, and iTunes, but I'Il play a vinyl copy of an album I dig any time. As I write this, McCartney has a new album coming out to compete with his own Sgt. Pepper anniversary of 40 years. Good luck topping that one Sir Paul. While the donkeys and elephants are making asses out of all of us, I still believe it wasn't Reagan who brought down the Soviet Union, it was The White Album. That's what the people wanted more than anything. An artist can change the hearts and minds of a culture. A terrorist shouldn’t be tortured. He should be given front row seats to a Beethoven performance. If Hitler had been given encouragement to be a better artist, the world would be a different place. If he was born later, he might have gone to San Francisco to be a Deadhead. Later still a punk in London. Okay how about this plan? Instead of armies, the government should send orchestras to foreign countries and just have them start playing in the middle of the city or desert. See what happens. Let's take over the world one song, one brushstroke, one painting, one frame, one film, one symphony, one double album at a time.

Welcome to Marvin Country!



DISC ONE

YOU POSSESS ME
with Maria Mckee
Marvin: Vocal, B-25 acoustic guitar
Maria Mckee: vocal
Donald “The Clock” Lindley: drums
Gurf Morlix: bass
Duane Jarvis: electric guitar
Tammy Rodgers: violin
Steve Fishel: pedal steel
Greg Leisz: pedal steel
strings by David Vaught

THE GRAPES OF WRATH
with John Doe
Marvin: vocal, Fender Telecaster, Fender Bass
John Doe: vocal
Don Heffington: drums
Greg Leisz: metal pedal steel


YOU ARE THE LIGHT
with The Dixie Hummingbirds
Marvin: vocal, acoustic guitar, porchboard
The Dixie Hummingbirds: vocal group

LAY IT ON THE TABLE
with Lucinda Williams
Marvin: vocal, guitar, bass, pianos, mandocello
Lucinda Williams: vocal
The Clock: drums, tambourine
Greg Leisz: Pedal Steel
strings by Jerry Yester

A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY
Marvin: vocal, acoustic guitar, porchboard

LIVING LIKE A HOBO
with Buddy Miller
Marvin: vocal, Fender Telecaster
Buddy Miller: vocal
Don Heffington: drums, jew’s harp
Jerry Scheff: stand up bass
Phil Parlapiano: squeezebox
Tammy Rogers: fiddle

SON OF A CARPENTER
Marvin, vocal, B-25 acoustic guitar
The Clock: drums
Gurf Morlix: bass, vocal
Buddy Miller: electric guitar, vocal
Duane Jarvis: electric guitar
Steve Fishel: slide guitar

AIN’T NO WORK IN MISSISSIPPI
with Steve Earle
Marvin: vocal, mandolin
Steve Earle: vocal, harmonica
Don Heffington: drums

BOB DYLAN IS DEAD
with Angel City Chorale
Marvin: vocal, mandolin, porchboard
Willie Aron: choir director, harmonica
Angel City Chorale: voices, harmonicas
Steve Barton, Steve Deitelbaum, Robert Mann,
Janene Mitchel, Frances Pang, Fran Rosen,
Karoline Steavenson, Melissa Stander,
Richard Stilles, Mitch Weiss

MISS THIS WORLD
Marvin: vocal, guitar, mandolin, porchboard, Casio

IT DON’T COST MUCH
with Richard Thompson
Marvin: vocal, Telecaster, Fender bass, tambourine
Richard Thompson: vocal
Phil Parlapiano: accordions
Randy Guss: drums
David Ralicke: saxophones



DISC TWO

WHERE’S YOUR ANALOG SPIRIT
with Shayne Fontayne
Marvin: vocal, acoustic guitar, spaceman sounds
Shayne Fontayne: vocal, electric guitar
Dave Raven: drums
Stephanie Fife: cello

DIAMOND IN THE SKY
Marvin: vocal, mandolins
David Vaught: drum programming, countoff
Song arranged by Elon Etzioni

GRAM REVISITED
with Gram Parsons
Marvin: vocal, guitar, Casio
Gram Parsons: sampled voice
Brett Fisher: young boy calling for “daddy”

HARD TO BUILD A HOME
Marvin: vocals, Kay guitar, piano
Don Heffington: drums
Grey Delisle: autoharp
Murry Hammond: background vocals

WHAT’S PATSY CLINE DOING THESE DAYS PT. 1 & 2
with Jon Wayne
Marvin: vocal, guitar, drums
Jon Wayne: vocal, electric guitar, additional sounds
Grey Delisle: Patsy Cline

TROUBLE HOLDING BACK
with Trevor Menear
Marvin: vocal, guitar, bass, Mellotron, porchboard
Trevor Menear: electric lead guitar
Eitan Bernstein: Mellotron
Don Heffington: drums

THERE’S A TRAIN
Marvin: vocal, earthwood acoustic guitar

GOD’S LITTLE MANSION
Marvin: vocal, guitar, mandolins, porchboard

AINT TO WORK IN MISSISSIPPI
with the Holy Brothers
Buddy Holy: vocal, acoustic guitar, porchboard
Johnny B. Holy: vocal

HOLD FAST YOUR DREAMS
with Chris Pierce
Marvin: vocal, Kay guitar, piano
Chris Pierce: vocal, harmonica solo
Don Heffington: drums
strings by David Vaught

DISC ONE

YOU POSSESS ME
Engineer: Mike Poole
House of David in Nashville, TN
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

THE GRAPES OF WRATH
Engineers: Richard Baron and Susan Willett
Sonora Studios in Los Feliz, CA
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

YOU ARE THE LIGHT
Engineer: Tim Sonnefeld
Assistant Engineers:
Joe Gallagher and Karla Allen
Milkboy Studios in Philadelphia, PA
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA
Train intro recorded by Marvin
On a Radio Shack cassette machine at home

LAY IT ON THE TABLE
Engineer: Mike Poole
House of David in Nashville, TN
Engineer: Paul Dugre
PMS in Burbank, CA
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

LIVING LIKE A HOBO
Engineer: Richard Baron and Susan Willet
Sonora Studios in Los Feliz, CA
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

SON OF A CARPENTER
Engineer: Mike Poole
House of David in Nashville, TN
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

AIN’T NO WORK IN MISSISSIPPI
Engineer: Don Heffington
Electronic Recording Services in Los Angeles, CA
Engineer: Joe Blaney
Joe Music in New York, NY

BOB DYLAN IS DEAD
Co-Produced by Willie Aron
Engineer: Eric Corne
Assistant Engineer: Alex Gaeta
Intern: Ryan Horne
Mixed by Eric Corne, Willie Aron and Marvin
Mad Dog Studios in Burbank, CA

MISS THIS WORLD
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

IT DON’T COST MUCH
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA
Additional Production: Guss/Nack
Co-mixed with Willie Aron
Tape Transfer: Bruce Maddock
Cups ‘n Strings Studios in Santa Monica, CA



DISC TWO

WHERE’S YOUR ANALOG SPIRIT
Engineer: Dave Raven
Honky Abbey Studio in Los Angeles, CA
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

DIAMONDS IN THE SKY
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

GRAM REVISITED
GP recorded back stage at The Palamino
in 1972 by Barry Tashian
Permission Granted by Polly Parsons and Barry Tashian
Basic track recorded by Marvin on a Radio Shack
cassette machine at Big Mono in Atwater Village, CA
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

HARD TO BUILD A HOME
Engineer: Don Heffington
Electronic Recording Services in Los Angeles, CA

WHAT’S PATSY CLINE DOING THESE DAYS PT. 1 & 2
Co-producer: Brad Nack
Engineer: Adam Pike
The Office in Pasadena, cA
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

TROUBLE HOLDING BACK
Engineer: Don Heffington
Electronic Recording Services in Los Angeles, CA

THERE’S A TRAIN
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

GOD’S LITTLE MANSION
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

AINT TO WORK IN MISSISSIPPI
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA

HOLD FAST YOUR DREAMS
Engineer: David Vaught
Camp David in Thousand Oaks, CA



MARVIN COUNTRY
greg allen: art director/graphic designer for the cd/album marvin country
mark w. lennon: web site for marvin country
tasha noel: assistant to marvin country