From:   "Dik de Heer"  
Date:  Thu Sep 26, 2002  1:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Marty Robbins
 
MARTY ROBBINS (By Shaun Mather)

Born Martin David Robinson, 26 September 1925, Glendale, Arizona
Died 8 December 1982, Nashville, Tennessee

Singer / guitarist / songwriter.
Marty Robbins was one of the real greats in country music history, recording
in a myriad of styles from rockabilly to pop to Hawaiian. It will probably
be his cowboy/western songs that will forever keep his name alive. His
fascination with this genre came from his maternal grandfather, Texas Bob
Heckle who was a former Texas ranger who entertained the young Marty
with tales of the Old West.
Whilst in the Navy he became serious about music, spending his spare
time playing guitar and writing songs. Upon his discharge from the Navy, he
played guitar for a local band and began his professional career in 1947 at
radio station KTYL in Mesa, Arizona, followed by KPHO in Phoenix, where he
was given an early morning half hour long show called, "Chuck Wagon Time".
His big break came in 1951 when he impressed "Little" Jimmy Dickens who put
him in contact with Art Satherly at CBS Records who signed him on May 25,
1951. The association was to prove a fruitful one for the next 20 years.

His first charter was I'll Go On Alone and it landed him a spot on the Grand
Ole Opry where he remained a regular until his death. The same year he moved
his family to Nashville. Over the next couple of years he scored with I
Couldn't
Keep From Crying (great vocals) and rockabilly covers of That's All Right Mama
and Maybelline. Major pop hits came courtesy of Singing the Blues (# 17) and
A White Sport Coat (# 2). His first foray into Hawaiian music came with the
December 1957 album, Song of the Islands, which contained twelve Hawaiian
love songs.
The next diversion came via cowboy songs, starting with The Hanging Tree,
recorded as the theme song for a movie of the same name. It was followed
by the seminal album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (1959) which included
the world-wide smash, El Paso (# 1, country and pop), which became his
signature song, and the one he closed all future concerts with. The song ran
for over four minutes, so Columbia Records marketed a single with a shortened,
3-minute version for the radio stations on one side, and the song in its
entirety
on the flip.Without exception the radio stations chose to play the full
version.,
DJs across the country chose to air the extended version. Over the years
Robbins recorded two "follow-ups" in Feleena (From El Paso) (1965) and El
Paso City (1976).
As well as music, he had a fascination with speed and even qualified to join
the NASCAR circuit. Unfortunately the fast life caught up with him and in
August 1969 he suffered his first of three heart attacks. He underwent a
triple bypass surgery which was in its experimental stages at the time.
Robbins was only the 15th person in medical history to have the operation
and was the first person to have a triple bypass. The first thing he did when
he was recovering was to write My Woman, My Woman, My Wife as a tribute
to his wife Marizona. He was ordered to take things easier but within two
months he was back on the Opry and striving to live a fuller life than ever!

He left Columbia in 1972 and joined MCA but whilst his success was okay it
wasn't what he wanted and moved back to Columbia three years later. He
immediately returned to the top spot with El Paso City and Among My
Souvenirs, which proved to be his last number one. He suffered a second
heart attack in 1981 and a year later was inducted into the Country Music
Hall of Fame.
In 1982 he was rushed to a Nashville hospital but despite an eight hour
quadruple bypass surgery, he passed away on December 8, 1982.

Recommended listening:
Rockin' Rollin', Vols 1-3 - Bear Family.
The 3 Bear Family boxes.