Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs

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...Read more

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.

Believe me, along with selected CDs by Johnny Cash, Jerry Reed, Patsy Cline, Steve Earle, Hank Williams Sr., and Willie Nelson, this perfect album by Marty Robbins belongs in the CD collections of any self-respecting rock fan. I normally listen to death metal, hardcore punk, and that ilk, but I still have to have my fix of Mr. Robbins.

The cowboy ballads included here are sparse, narrative-driven masterpieces. The only place music like this comes from is the soul. If it's true that Robbins recorded this in one afternoon, then that afternoon has got to be one of the most amazing dates in music history.

The cowboy songs on this disc, although not all written by Robbins, denote a singular vision. There is a romantic aspect to the music in its appreciation of nature, individualism, and especially in its heroic idealization of simple little vignettes about horse-riders of all types. This album is 100% cohesive even with the extra tracks tacked-on the end...Read more