Biography of Marty Robbins

No artist in the history of country music has had a more stylistically diverse career than Marty Robbins. Never content to remain just a country singer, Robbins performed successfully in a dazzling array of styles during more than thirty years in the business. To his credit, Robbins rarely followed trends, but often took off in directions that stunned both his peers and fans. Plainly Robbins was not hemmed in by anyone's definition of country music. Although his earliest recordings were unremarkable weepers, by the mid '50s Robbins was making forays into rock music, adding fiddles to the works of Chuck Berry and Little Richard. By the late '50s, Robbins had pop hits of his own with teen fare like "A White Sport Coat." Almost simultaneously, he completed work on his Hawaiian Songs of the Islands album. In 1959, Robbins stretched even further with the hit single "El Paso," thus heralding a pattern of "gunfighter ballads" that lasted the balance of his career. Robbins also enjoyed bluesy hits like "Don't Worry," which introduced a pop audience to fuzztone guitar in 1961. Barely a year later, Robbins scored a calypso hit with "Devil Woman." Marty Robbins also left a legacy of gospel music and a string of sentimental ballads, showing that he would croon with nary a touch of hillbilly twang. Although it is fashionable to criticize such diversity, Robbins was not simply a dabbler. The truth is he was possessed of a superb voice and the ability to adapt it to an unprecedented range of styles. It also didn't hurt that most of Robbins's biggest hits were his own compositions. Robbins literally established trends, then, while others swarmed in to capitalize, he moved on to other pursuits. If you already know some of Robbins's music, choose a different phase to sample. There is bound to be some aspect you haven't heard. If you are unfamiliar with any of it, the new CBS sampler covers more than a quarter of a century of his career and can be used as a smorgasbord to help define your preferences. There is a lot to enjoy here. ~ Hank Davis