Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs [1959] (1999 Expanded Remaster)


Labell CBS
Producer I Don Law
Art Direction I Howard Fritzson
Nationality I USA
Running Time 44:42

Martin Robinson often claimed that his childhood was unhappy. One positive he did take from his upbringing, however, was a love of the West. He was raised in the dusty Arizona town of Glendale, stealing off to catch the latest Gene Autry film when he was not working as a horse breaker with his brother.

After several mainstream hits during the 1950s (including "Singing The Blues," simultaneously taken to No. 1 by Guy Mitchell), the renamed Robbins turned to his Western heritage for this mold-breaking, trend-setting record. Recorded in a single day with a well-drilled yet understated band, Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs was a homage to the Old West. Some cuts were traditional story-songs, most notably "BillyThe Kid" and "The Strawberry Roan." What set the record apart was the quartet of Robbins-penned songs, delivered in his unmistakably tender croon. "Big Iron" is a wonderfully evocative piece of widescreen Western myth-spinning, informed by tales told to the young Robbins by his Texas ranger grandfather. "EI Paso" worked the theme into a first-person narrative, Robbins telling of how he shot cold a stranger for the love of a mysterious Mexican girl.

The recording won the first Grammy awarded to a country song; the LP from which it came set the template for the countless country concept albums that followed. Robbins went on to further successes: in the charts, sure, but also as an actor, TV host, writer (he penned a novel, The Small Man), and stock-car racing driver.

Tracks:

01 - Marty Robbins - Big Iron.flac
02 - Marty Robbins - A Hundred And Sixty Acres.flac
03 - Marty Robbins - They're Hanging Me Tonight.flac
04 - Marty Robbins - Cool Water.flac
05 - Marty Robbins - Billy The Kid.flac
06 - Marty Robbins - Utah Carol.flac
07 - Marty Robbins - The Strawberry Roan.flac
08 - Marty Robbins - The Master's Call.flac
09 - Marty Robbins - Running Gun.flac
10 - Marty Robbins - El Paso.flac
11 - Marty Robbins - In The Valley.flac
12 - Marty Robbins - The Little Green Valley.flac
13 - Marty Robbins - The Hanging Tree.flac
14 - Marty Robbins - Saddle Tramp.flac
15 - Marty Robbins - El Paso (Full-Length Version).flac

Æ’Ripping log includedÆ’