Personnel includes: Ricky Skaggs (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin, fiddle); Ray Flacke, Albert Lee (electric guitar); Bruce Boughton, Hank DeVito (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Bobby Hicks (fiddle); Buck White, Dennis Burnside, Glen D. Hardin (piano); Joe Osborn, Emory Gordy, (bass); Jerry Kroon, John Ware (drums); Sharon White Skaggs, Cheryl White Warren, Bobby Hardin (background vocals).
Producers: Ricky Skaggs, Steve Buckingham, Billy Sherrill.
Compilations producer: Gregg Geller.
Recorded between 1979 & 1988. Includes liner notes by Jim Bessman.
Personnel: Ricky Skaggs (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, fiddle); Mark Casstevens (acoustic guitar); Steve Gibson (electric guitar, mandolin); Albert Lee , Ray Flacke (electric guitar); Hank DeVito, Lloyd Green, Terry Crisp, Weldon Myrick, Bruce Bouton (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Bobby Hicks (fiddle); Dennis Burnside, Mickey Merritt, Glen D. Hardin, Barry Beckett, Michael Rojas, Buck White (piano); Roy M. "Junior" Husky (upright bass); Kenny Malone (drums, percussion); Rodney Price, Mike Kennedy , Eddie Bayers, John Ware, Jerry Kroon (drums); Cheryl Warren, Bobby Hardin, George Grantham (background vocals).
Liner Note Author: Jim Bessman.
Recording information: ??/??/1979-12/20/1988.
Photographer: Jim McGuire .
From 1981 to 1991, Ricky Skaggs recorded ten albums for Epic, the highlights of which have been culled for the collection The Essential Ricky Skaggs. While this is a great document of his new traditionalist recordings from this era, the title "Essential" is a little misleading; none of his really terrific work with the Country Gentlemen and J.D. Crowe & the New South from the '70s or his more recent work reviving authentic bluegrass music is featured. Still, songs like "Don't Cheat in Our Hometown," "Lovin' Only Me," and "Heartbroke" showcase a confident and talented honest to goodness country singer. During an era where slick instrumentation and presentation was the norm, Skaggs managed to be successful on country radio and still maintain a strong artistic integrity, all of which is readily evident here. ~ Zac Johnson minimize