Marty Robbins- Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs

This record was destined for a landfill when some friends grabbed it (along with about 400 other albums) from a lady on Facebook.  Most of the lot was standard vinyl fare but there were a few keepers. 

This record, although not especially valuable monetarily, is certainly one to hold onto.  "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs" is probably best known for "El Paso," Marty Robbins' biggest commercial success.  Although "El Paso" is a great song it is far from the only track worth listening to on the album.  The record starts off with "Big Iron" which is my favourite Robbins song.  The album is also a mainstay in every revision of the "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Marty Robbins, I suggest you check out not only this album but his many others.  I am not usually a Country & Western fan but I do love the old stuff.  The crap that passes as "Country" music these days is basically Lady Gaga with fiddles.  This album has been called by the music site, AllMusic, "the single most influential album of Western songs in post-World War II American music."  I seriously doubt anything Carrie Underwood or Keith Urban will record will come anywhere near that well deserved praise.

Stats...
Artist: Marty Robbins
Title: Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs
Label: Columbia
Matrix: CS 8158
Year: 1959
Size: 12"
Speed: 33.3