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Marty Robbins

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Marty Robbins was born in 1925 as Martin David Robinson in Glendale, Arizona. At seventeen he joined the American navy and served in the Solomon Islands. There he learned to play the guitar, began writing songs and fell in love with Hawaiian music. After the war he played in clubs around Phoenix and got his own radio show and later the television show Western Caravan. Little Jimmy Dickens helped him get a recording contract.

Music and breakthrough

In 1952 he had his first number one on the country chart with I'll Go On Alone, followed in 1956 by Singing the Blues. His best-known record is the album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs from 1959, featuring El Paso. The follow-up More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs came in 1960, and The Return of the Gunfighter in 1963. He also wrote Big Iron, a song that goes back to the stories of his grandfather, who is said to have been a Texas Ranger. Robbins recorded more than five hundred songs and sixty albums and was a fixture at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

Influence

His voice was soft and clear, and he could sing a western ballad as convincingly as a rock 'n' roll number or a Hawaiian song. An album such as Song of the Islands from 1957 shows that range. He was also a keen stock car driver in NASCAR. He received two Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. His western stories remained the example for country singers who wanted to tell a whole drama in a few minutes.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to El Paso and follow the story: who is telling it, what happens, and how do the guitar and the soft accompaniment support the tension?

Discography

Studio albums

Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: Artists