THE MARTY STUART COLLECTION is one of the most notable, private, music memorabilia collections in the world. Over 20,000 items are hosted here. Costumes, manuscripts, instruments, art, recordings, photo and film archives create an inventory that represents many of the icons in American music.

Select items have been exhibited at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Autry – Western Heritage Museum, the Cody Museum, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, and the Louvre in Paris.

One of the dominant features is the collection of Western costumes celebrating the work of such masters as Nudie Cohen, Manuel and Jaime Custom Tailor. The collection has inspired or contributed to such books as How The West Was Worn, Hillbilly Hollywood, Manuel: Star Spangled Couture and Nudie, the Rodeo Tailor.

"I've always been historically minded. Even as a kid when I'd watch performers on television I paid attention to their instruments, suits, boots and hats. Those things seemed important to me. When I first arrived in Nashville in 1972, it was a sight to behold when the stars gathered. It truly was Hillbilly Hollywood. Rhinestone suits, Cadillacs, fancy guitars, pompadours and beehive hairdos gave those hard hitting country songs even deeper impact. It also gave country music a cool, glitzy, one-of-a-kind image. The image matched the music and its makers, giving country music a pedigree in roots authenticity second to none.
I loved every aspect of it. I wanted to be part of the legacy the Carter Family, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Flatt & Scruggs and their likes created.

The archivist in me came to life when I was on tour as a member in Johnny Cash's band in 1980. One afternoon I was out walking the streets of London when I met a man named Isaac Tigrett. He was on of the co-founders of the Hard Rock Café empire. Isaac invited me to come and have a look at the London store. I went, and I was fascinated by the concept. The idea of gathering Rock & Roll memorabilia belonging to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, then forming a scene around it dazzled me. Even though it was a restaurant there seemed to be a reverence for these artifacts here.

On the way home to America I began thinking of how the country music world had basically cashed in its twang, its rhinestones and most of the other things that had defined its character for so long in favor of a new look and sound that was more generic and palpable to the urban audience. As that new era entered, famous people were put out to pasture, their beautiful suits were forgotten, sold, thrown away or sent to thrift stores. Great guitars were pawned, traded or sold to foreign collectors. This was a very common scenario in Nashville.

I was all for twisting the hands of time to carry America's music as far into the future as possible. I was looking for a new edge as well but I simply thought it was a crime to stand idly by and watch an important segment of American culture cast aside all in the name of progress. It seemed disrespectful.

It was then that I launched a mission to rescue what I termed 'treasures of American music'. Outside of the Country Music Hall of Fame and a handful of hobbyists, nobody seemed to car about preserving this segment of history. I fancied myself as a passionate revisionist.

As I began collecting, my first holding tank was my bedroom. It quickly filled up with records, tapes, guitars, photographs, boots, hats and rhinestone suits.
Now it's in a 5000 square foot space in preparation for its permanent home, which will soon be announced.

I regard the collection as a treasure chest. It's an awesome thing to hold the handwritten manuscripts of Hank Williams' I Saw the Light or Your Cheatin' Heart. Just as it was irresistible for me not to try on the very first Johnny Cash 'Man in Black' suit from the 1950s, after finding it.

I had to light Jimmie Rodgers' railroad lantern one more time to watch it cut the darkness. It's touching to read a letter Patsy Cline wrote to Nudie ordering new clothes for her bright future less than a week before she lost her life.

It's still majestic to me when I'm all alone to take Lester Flatt's guitar out of the case and sing a song to nobody but me and his memory.

These are but a few of the treasures now in the collection. Everything has a story and there's usually a good memory that goes along with how I came by each of them.

It's quite a feeling to stand in the same room with such history. Electricity seems to bounce off the walls. The place is filled with tangible spirits that seem to whisper, "I'm alive and well."

Taken from Archives International, Paris
Cover Design By Laura Allen

For the next twelve months, the MARTY STUART COLLECTION will profile the artistry of Jaime Castaneda.

Jaime is the proprietor of JAIME CUSTOM TAILOR in North Hollywood, California. He is the last of the cowboy tailors and the future of cowboy couture on Lankershim Blvd., which was home to Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors and Manuel. The street is the capitol of sparkle, a boulevard whose tailors have given images to the likes of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, The Lone Ranger, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, Gram Parsons, Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stuart and others. In turn, the artistry of the cowboy tailors on Lankershim Blvd. has contributed greatly to America’s offerings to the world’s fashion stage.

Jaime Castaneda came to Los Angeles from Zacatecas, Mexico in 1974 to work as a shirt and pants maker at Nudie’s. At the time, Manuel Cuevas was the head designer. In 1976, Manuel formed his own business, where Jaime worked until Manuel moved his studio to Nashville in 1993. Jaime chose to stay with his family in Southern California and for a short time he worked with Bob Mackey, collaborating on designs for Cher. Soon afterwards he established his own studio and his personal label.

Now with his 15th anniversary in view, his list of clients includes Marty Stuart, Porter Wagoner, Jimmie Dickens, ZZ Top, Dwight Yoakam, Chris Isaac, Bob Dylan, Steven Seagal, David Arquette and the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean.

Many of Jaime’s original pieces will be on display at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville and featured in the Sparkle & Twang – Marty Stuart’s American Odyssey, June 6 through November 11, 2007.

Jaime Custom Tailor
5623-1/2 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA
818-505-8602