Highways & Heartaches (CD - 1982)

Personnel: Ricky Skaggs (vocals, acoustic & electric bender guitars, mandolin, mandocaster, fiddle); Sharon White Skaggs (vocals); Ray Flacke (electric guitar); Bruce Bouton, Lloyd Green, Weldon Myrick (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Bela Fleck (banjo); Bobby Hicks (fiddle); Mickey Merritt, Dennis Burnside, Buck White (piano); Jesse Chambers, Joe Osborn, Ernie Ball (bass); Rodney Price, Jerry Kroon (drums); Eddie Bayers (percussion); George Grantham, The Lea Jane Singers (background vocals).

Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee on October 30 and December 1 & 2, 1981.

Originally released in 1982, HIGHWAYS AND HEARTACHES was the fourth solo album by contemporary bluegrass superstar Ricky Skaggs. Released at the time when Skaggs' mainstream country profile was arguably at its highest, it was his first Number One album on the country charts, his highest-charting release ever on the pop charts, and his largest selling album overall. Fortunately, its artistic merits live up to its sales: HIGHWAYS AND HEARTACHES strikes a solid balance between Skaggs' bluegrass roots and the prevailing Nashville sound of the early 1980s, managing not to sound out of place at the time, nor dated in the decades since. Highlights include "One Way Rider" and "Can't You Hear Me Callin'."

On 1982's Highways & Heartaches, Ricky Skaggs had developed his bluegrass roots with new traditionalist sensibilities and catchy pop tunes that fuel this album, which is one of his best. Four of these tunes -- "Heartbroke," "You've Got a Lover," "I Wouldn't Change You if I Could," and "Highway 40 Blues" -- were chart-toppers. The remainder of the decade found Skaggs often at the top of both the country single and album charts. ~ Al Campbell minimize