Customer Reviews

Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs

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Every song here is special. I remember skipping a day of school my senior year (sorry, Mom), driving around listening to the tape I had of this. When this special edition CD came out, I jumped on it. Excellent songwriting, superior musicianship, and possibly one of the best voices in the history of country music make this album a keeper. Marty Robbins spins tales of danger, love, and death and enraptures the listener in the process. "Utah Carol" tells the story of sacrifice in the face of danger. "Running Gun" speaks about how you can never turn your back on a life of crime completely. "The Master's Call" is a supernatural cowboy tale. Of course, the two standouts on this album are "Big Iron" and "El Paso". Both are Leone/Ford-esque tales of confrontations. The latter being between a reformed criminal, his loved one, and the law, and the former being between two men on opposite sides of justice. Close your eyes and imagine what Tarantino would do with these songs. I would say, this and Red-Headed Stranger would be number 1 and 2 on a list of country concept albums. Big-time props to the Glaser Brothers for superior harmonies, and Grady Martin for some of the greatest guitar work ever heard on vinyl, tape, or disc. This isn't just a present for grandpa. If you are drawn in by Johnny Cash's American Recordings, then you will love this.

First I'd like to say I absolutely despise most of the swabby, commercial garbage played on most so-called Country and Western stations today. Have a singer whine and sing through his nose, throw in a little fiddle and some stupid lyrics and presto: instant country music which is rarely more than pop music with a twang.Those who want to hear what real country/western is all about have only a few contemporary artists like Junior Brown or Dwight Yoakam to listen to or they have to go back to the old masters.Marty Robbins is a western native who put the "western" in C&W music and his album "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs" is the vehicle with which he accomplishes that.Any one who loves the west can't help being moved by the collection of timeless classics on this album. Frankly, though its a great song, I am tired of El Paso.There are many equally good songs here. The listener will conjure images of the frontier days with the fantastic Big Iron, His Master's Call and the Hanging Tree. Anyone who has experienced the wide expanses of the intermountain west will appreciate A Hundred and Sixty Acres, Little Green Valley and Cool Water. That those are my favorites doesn't diminish the others.There is little quite like the smooth, rich, manly vocal style of Robbins or the tight play of his band. In the general style, only Gordon Lightfoot is his vocal equal.If you buy only one C&W album in your life, this should be the one for it is the standard against which all others should be measured.

I first bought this alblum when it was released on vinyl in the mid 60's. Any fan will tell you Marty Robbins was a gifted singer, but coupled with the material of old ballads this is one of his masterpieces. If you listen to the song "Big Iron" carefully you will hear some of the most brilliant guitar work I have ever heard. I listen to the song just for that treat. The song "Strawberry Roan" is a poem by a famous Cowboy poet put to music. Sorry, I can't name the poet right now, but your library would be a good source for Western/Cowboy poets.

In short, my view of this work is an anthology of ballads of the American West that are recorded in classic Marty Robbins style. In the century to come, fans of Wild West history can know that these ballads were tales of events that happened, not TV movie themes. The thrilling story of "Utah Carol" no doubt really happened. I get goose bumps just thinking of Utah's self sacrifice.

Buy and cherish this alblum it is priceless.

When I first heard this album back in 1960 (as a kid of 15) I was unimpressed; I was into a more Pop sound and it was bought by an elder brother of mine and it did nothing for me at the time. Then for some reason I decided to play it one afternoon and I was simply blown away by the singer performing these songs. Marty Robbins was performing them as only he could with such spellbinding emotional sincerity that I became hooked on this artist for life.
'El Paso', 'Big Iron, 'Running Gun' and 'The Master's Call' were all movies set to music embellished by the great guitar work of Grady Martin and the vocal accompaniment of Bobby Sykes and Jim Glaser. Previously 'Cool Water' had been associated with the Sons of the Pioneers or Frankie Laine but it was to become as much a Marty Robbins song thanks to this magnificent version likewise his stirring interpretations of 'Utah Carol' and 'Strawberry Roan.'
One could ask how could Marty follow this masterpiece but follow it he did because the follow up 'More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs' reaches the high standard set by its predecessor.
This great album led me back to the records he had released in previous years when I (and most of the U.K.) were unaware of him and rued the fact that such a fine artist should have been deprived of many hits in Britain because of mostly second rate cover versions by British singers. 'Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs' was a success however, in Britain and 'El Paso' did make our top 20 and a couple of years later 'Devil Woman' and 'Ruby Ann' charted and a TV advertized album hit the top 10 but this awesome talent should have had much more recognition over here than he got. How many times in conversation have I mentioned that I was a Marty Robbins fan and be greeted with almost reverence in acknowledgement of his greatness by the person I was talking to?

This is one of several albums that kept me going thru the bad times of my life; the Ventures and the Four Seasons, as well as the Rightuos Brothers made the rest. I first heard this album in 1969, fell in love with it, and now own that copy, another one I bought myself in 1978, as well as BOTH cd versions. If that isn't enough recommendation, then I also have a scale model of one of the cars Marty raced in NASCAR competition (he finished in the top 10 in a third of the events he entered, including some Daytona 500's!) to show you.
These songs ring true because the voice was true. He knew the men, the land. Much like Louis L'Amour did. So far as I know, none of the stories told here are anything but stories. The beauty of the voice brings the people to life with such vivid tones that you actually see them (or in 'El Paso', live it) in person. 100 stars for this one, for real.

This is the acoutic/folk Marty singing about issues with Cowboys. The songs are about some kid who wanted to be known as a man or a story about someoen who was shot. It is very indicative of The Old West. All these songs could have been made into movies. A couple of these songs are well-known, household name classics, Marty's Folk version of 'Cool Water' and then there's possibly his most famous song, 'El Paso'. Seeing this is acoustic music, and Marty wrote many of the songs himself, this music is very much, to my mind, a precursor to the 'singer-songwriter' era of the early 70's. This is a gem that I would recommend to anyone. As I said these are simple songs about interesting, entertaining tales and lovely melodies. The track I like the most is 'They're hanging me, tonight'. It has a lovely melody, Marty's vocals are as emotional as ever and the guitar work is brilliant.

As a kid, there were 2 records in my parents scant collection that truelly captured my imagination. Johnny Cash's FOLSOM PRISON & this 1959 concept album. Robbins' epic murder ballad, "El Paso" holding particular fascination after our family relocated to that infamous border town. Later, as my tastes gravitated towards The Clash, Pogues, Nick Cave & Tom Waits, I sensed a common thread at work. The ever romantic notion of the outlaw. His rise, fall & occasional redemption.

In terms of capturing the myth of the Old West, GUNFIGHTER BALLADS has few serious rivals. It has the Happy Trails sentimentality of a 1000 Gene Autry movies & and genuine glimpses of violence harkening back to Cash's immortal line, "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die".

As a songwriter, Robbins' work has been covered by countless artists, including Elvis. In fact, Robbins was one of Country's true cross over artists, equally at home with Burt Bacharach as well as devoting an entire album to Hawaiian love songs. Where Cash had his signature ruggedness, Robbins croons with a smoothe baritone that rarely lets the inherent melodrama of his material fall prey to parody.

Without a doubt, "Big Iron" is a classic of the genre. Right up there with "Rawhide" & Tex Ritter's, "High Noon". Cash even tackled it earlier this year on his posthumous boxed set, UNEARTHED. Like every great pop song, it's refrain is irresistable.

In terms of epic scope, "The Master's Call" is on par with "El Paso". This ambitious tale of sin & redemption on the open range shouldn't work but does, thanks to the conviction of Robbins' delievery. A haunting ride & a personal favorite. As for more tradional fare, his versions of "Cool Water", "Billy The Kid" & "Strawberry Roan" are all nearly definitve. Another standout is the gallows weeper,"They're Hanging Me Tonight".

Oddly enough, for fans of lounge & kitch this one's sure to feel right at home with your Martin Denny records. But unlike alot of cowpokes roaming the dusty trail, there's a genuine sense of darkness & woe lurking behind the Hollywood sunset. Here, irony is abandoned for sincerity & the end result is a masterpiece of nostalgia. Not to mention, one of the great Country records of all time.

Robbins' interpretation of these ballads has forever made me a fan of Western music. Apart from the seminal "El Paso", his rendition of "Hanging Tree" and "Utah Carol" really grab you. A must have for anyone interested in truly American music.

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.

I grew up listening to this album on vinyl. Many a night I went to bed with the words to "Big Iron" and "Hanging Tree" running through my mind. Marty Robbins had THE voice for western ballads and this album stands out in my mind as the definitive Western Ballad collection. It makes you close your eyes and imagine yourself on the prairie, sitting around a campfire, and listening to him sing.

I still have this album on vinyl but no longer have a player so I am ordering this CD. I've never gotten tired of his music and I doubt I ever will.