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Gotta bring up Marty's old Okie born buddy Merle Haggard. Merle was responsible for a revival of Bob Wills Western Swing music in the 70s, and played a pretty good fiddle as well as being ,IMHO, the greatest male singer in Country Western music. The second, pretty crude video is of Marty and Merle, with Merle imitating Marty perfectly. Pretty funny.
So...you see...your life WAS planned by the Rio Grande!
Mike H...glad you like! She seems to be able to combine rancheo/cumbia type music with some great country licks in a way few others can. It's magic, we say.
I have heard of Tom Russell but I never heard of Tish Hinojosa before. She's very very good - it makes you wonder why the music out there being played on radio stations can be so mediocre while there are truly talented who remain unknown to so many.
Thanks for the links to Tish Hinojosa. Good stuff.
Marty Robbins was visiting the studios of WBAP 820 in DFW one night back in the late 70s, when Bill Mack had his late-night show. Marty played his guitar and sang several numbers by himself. It was absolutely gorgeous: what a voice! I had no idea he was so very talented.
OMG!! What a TREAT!
I saw several favorites over the years, but MR was one that I missed.
The thing about Mary Robbins--IMO--was that he was always good! He had hits all the way from 195*'s El Paso to his last, 1982's Some Memories Just Won't Die.
He consistently hit both the C&W and Pop charts over the years.
Contrast that with Hag, whose later work (past his great 1960s-70s stuff) was mostly crap, with a few exceptions. He is one of my all-time favorites (The Bakersfield Sound), but I really didn't like his later stuff.
El Paso came out in 1959. I remember that since it was about 6 minutes long, the AM DJs used to change the letter A in the title to an I, because they had time to go to the restroom during it!
Hearing him sing unaccompanied (except by his guitar) in the WBAP studio was a real treat. He had an absolutely beautiful voice, and exquisite control over it. Don't Worry, from 1960, is one of my favorites, partly because of the very effective, extremely distorted bass solo, the first "fuzz bass" I ever heard on record. El Paso City, late in his career, was also a very fine song, and somewhat spooky!
I don't consider Merle Haggard, good as he may be, to be in the same class as Marty Robbins. I did get extremely burned-out on Okie from Muskogee. I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. But no one had a voice like Marty Robbins. I consider Robbins to be the greatest interpreter of Western music like Big Iron and Streets of Laredo, and I like W more than C&W!
I don't consider Merle Haggard, good as he may be, to be in the same class as Marty Robbins. I did get extremely burned-out on Okie from Muskogee. I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. But no one had a voice like Marty Robbins. I consider Robbins to be the greatest interpreter of Western music like Big Iron and Streets of Laredo, and I like W more than C&W!
I agree! And...Okie did get very old fast.
But I never got tired of EP.
If you like his Western songs better, I bet you have Gunfighter Ballads.
Like Buddy Holly, Marty Robbins had a great recording career. And he loved singing about the Old West with classics like El Paso, El Paso City, Ballad Of The Alamo, Utah Carol, The Hanging Tree, The Girl from Spanish Town, and many others. He would do justice and make a chart hit out of other singer-songwriters material, like his 1965 hit Ribbon Of Darkness, penned by Gordon Lightfoot. His songs were like telling stories, and the musical arrangements behind Robbins singing were tastefully done.
Chart hit wise he goes back to 1952 with Tomorrow You'll Be Gone. And put out great music for the next quarter century, sadly passing in 1982 at the age of 49. In the late 50's to early 60's there were three noted young stars who recorded for Columbia Records who were very successful charting to a crossover audience, going top 10 in the pop, rock, and country charts; Johnny Horton, Johnny Cash, and Marty Robbins.
For highway cruising I recommend his A Lifetime Of Song CD which is a good starting point of his career featuring his hits with Columbia Records. Bear Family is a noted record label out of Germany that does a great job with box set compilations and the Robbins one is a good one as well.
Collectible 50's? Check this one out. One of the most popular and in demand lp with 50's and 60's music collectors. The album is called Rock And Roll And Robbins, released in 1956 (Columbia CL-2601) It is one of the last lp's released in 10" form, and a mint condition copy is in the $1000 category. I've only seen two copies ever. His vast catalog is popular with country, pop, and rock album collectors, and like Cathy mentioned earlier Gunfighter ballads and Other Songs is a classic. It was released in 1960, has a great cover of Marty out in the street gittin' ready to draw!
Marty Robbins is one of the great artists in the history of Country music!
Boy...we're going to veer off course here a little bit..lol
I love Marty Robbins..every time I come down I 10 from Mesilla, especially if I cut over Transmountain Rd, and look down on El Paso from the hills I think of Marty and wicked Felina....but Merle is as good as it gets, male singer wise.
I mean, you've got one of the definitive saloon songs:
YouTube - Merle Haggard - Today I Started Loving You Again
On top of being a great and frequently copied (think most big male C & W singers of the last 30 years) vocalist, he's been a top songwriter and a fine guitar player.
OK...we agree to disagree Rant over.
But all of the MH hits you show are from his very best work during the late 1960s to 1970s. That era is all I listen to of his.
A very fine songwriter indeed, and a good guitarist and fiddle player to boot.
His Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player (Bob Wills) remains one of my all-time favorites.
Same Train, Different Time (Jimmie Rodgers) is another. Just outstanding work.
Ditto his rendition of the old Ernest Tubb hits!
I thought that his 1990s stuff was just terrible. I suppose it's because he's trying to appeal to a new audience. The last 2 more recent CDs that I bought of his, I donated to the library.
Just really disappointing.
But I'm glad I got to see him in person at Texas Tech in the 1970s. Magnificent concert!
Thank God for CD re-issues...and the ability to rip songs and create custom CDs for my car.
For highway cruising I recommend his A Lifetime Of Song CD which is a good starting point of his career featuring his hits with Columbia Records. Bear Family is a noted record label out of Germany that does a great job with box set compilations and the Robbins one is a good one as well.
Have both, and love 'em!!
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Rant over.
