Marty Robbins Album: “Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs [Bonus Tracks]”

My dad loved Marty Robbins. I have so many memories of summer nights listening to the stereo playing "Big Iron" or "El Paso" and dad singing along, or actually, talking along, announcing each verse before it came up, sitting in the front yard under a blanket of stars.

Both dad and Marty Robbins are gone now. I never thought of collecting Robbins' albums much until recently, when I became irked at myself for not remembering the lyrics to El Paso. I bought this CD and everything just flooded back. All of these songs are great. "Cool Water", "Billy the Kid"...It was so easy, as a kid, to take Robbins for granted. But now I realize his was a very strong voice. The backup vocals and musicianship, as well as the lonesome-sounding, echoing production, make for a perfect country-western sound.

Marty is truly an authentic cowboy singer. When you listen to these songs of the old west, you can actually SEE what he's singing about and he makes you feel the emotion of the song. As a born Arizonan, he grew up with stories of the old west that his grandfather, Texas Bob Heckle, would tell him. Can you believe that Columbia Records, at first, was reluctant to have him release a 'cowboy' album, telling him that his 'voice wasn't right for cowboy songs'......wrong! Marty possessed a beautiful voice and was 'at home' in any genre of music, but his western 'stories in song' were just magnificent. Just give a listen to MAN WALKS AMONG US, THIS PEACEFUL SOD, THE RED HILLS OF UTAH, JOHNNY FEDAVO, BILLY VENERO....hear this extraordinary voice take you back to the days of the cowboy. I promise you, you WILL feel the sand in your eyes and smell the smoke of the 45. He makes it that real. If I could recommend any one singer when it comes to cowboy songs, it is MARTY ROBBINS....he brought the cowboy to life. This album is one of his finest and most sought after collections.

Like others who have reviewed this CD, I was first introduced to "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs" by my grandfather and to listen to the songs touches just about every memory I have of him. I have to say that the remastering for CD is nothing short of fantastic. The sounds are all fresh and new, and this is stated by someone who knows every note by heart.

There is a real problem with this CD, in that Sony added some "rare" B-sides. "Saddle Tramp" and "Hanging Tree" are available on other collections. I am sure that Sony could have delved in its vaults and come up with some real gems to add to this collection, such as bits and pieces of the recording session itself (which, in retrospect, seems to be a historic note), alternate takes and the like. Instead, it seems that Sony chose to rehash more of the same material it has used before.

It is a great job on the CD, but a poor choice of "new" material...

If you only looked at the cover of this disc and were given no information about it's contents, you'd think you would hear the biggest cornball tunes of all time...but you'd be dead wrong. 'Gunfighter Ballads' just happens to be the greatest Western concept album ever recorded.

The liner notes to the disc (which are outstanding) describe America in the late 1950's: Westerns were enormously popular on television. Why? America was well into the Cold War by 1959 (the album's original release year), and people wanted to know who the good guys were. We wanted things to be black and white with no confusion. Television westerns showed us the Old West, good guys vs. bad guys, right vs. wrong with right always coming out on top. Robbins' tribute to the spirit of the Old West was a huge hit in 1959 and beyond. Not only was the music good, but the lyrics were deeper and more meaningful than typical Western fare. The disc includes some great guitar work by Thomas Grady Martin and Jack Pruett. The Glaser Brothers provide wonderful background vocals which make the songs even more alive and colorful. Many great tunes are included, some of them classics, such as "Big Iron," "Cool Water," and of course "El Paso." My only complaint is the inclusion of the short version (only 19 seconds shorter than the full version) of "El Paso." The long version is included too, but why bother listening to the short one when the full version is here? Still, this is classic Western music at a great price.

Disc time 44:42

My father purchased Marty Robbin's orginal Gunfighter Ballads album in the early 1960s -- and I played it so many times I'm surprised the grooves in the record were not worn through. I still knew the words to over half the songs by heart, even though I hadn't heard any of them played in 30 years (at least). I can't tell you how happy it makes me to have this new CD available -- and hearing it in CD format instead of on my parent's old cabinet hi-fi system makes it even more of a treat!