|
No one has a voice like Marty Robbins, and these old cowboy songs take me back to my childhood. No.1 Cowboy is Marty Robbins at his best. There are maybe 2 songs on the CD I don't care for, but the others make up for them.
I would like to order this cd but I notice this version is lacking at least one cut from the original album. What happened to "Tall Handsome Stranger".
I would have preferred to see one less song (my choice would have been "Five Brothers") and be complete on the ones included.All that said, edited Marty is infinitely better than no Marty at all, and the CD as a whole is an enjoyable listen. The original consisted of nineteen verses, of which four are missing here.Verses 3 and 4Said he was needin' some wagesBefore he could ride for the westSaid he could do most all kind of workSaid he could ride with the best.There in his blue eyes was sadnessThat comes from the need of a friendAnd tho' he tried, he still couldn't hideThe loneliness there, deep within.Verses 7 and 8The eyes of the little man narrowedThe smile disappeared from his faceGone was the friendliness that I had seenAnd a wild look of hate took its' place.But the big one continued to mock himAnd he told me that I'd better goFind him a couple of glasses of milkThen maybe Shorty would grow.All four essential to complete understanding of the story.The problem is that this is a "Not-Sold-In-Stores" TV offer compilation, and had to be edited for time to get all the songs on the disk. One star less than perfect for the editing, but recommended for lovers of Marty and his music. I purchased this CD from Amazon for one cut, the delighful and insightful "Mr. Shorty." Alas, like the previous reviewer noted about "El Paso," this song is also woefully diminished by omission of key verses.
With that history and Marty Robbins doing the vocals, a Western fan can't go wrong. There are also two by Victor Young who wrote movie themes from the early 1930s to 1956, "Strawberry Roan" (previously done by Gene Autry) and "Streets of Laredo". Two songs written by a man Marty admired, Bob Nolan of the Sons of the Pioneers, are included.("Cool Water", "Tumbling Tumbleweeds").
It was not a spectacular hit. It's left out here; it was not a big hit but we learned she DID love only that cowboy in El Paso. Just as people called Johnny Cash the "Man in Black" (as to how he usually dressed) and he wrote a song by that name and George Jones was "No Show" Jones (for missing shows) and wrote a song also, Marty Robbins was referred to in a review long ago as the "Cowboy in the Continental Suit" and wrote the song.
Marty sings "Red River Valley" as well as it's ever been sung (nobody is sure who wrote it). Five stars. It's included here.
Between the two El Paso songs was the middle of the story ("Feleena, the Girl From El Paso").
If you would have bought the Legacy/American Milestones series remaster of Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs or the Bear Family Under Western Skies boxed set, you would have known this already. The other reviews have stated what this exactly is: A compilation of 20 of Marty's classic western songs. William Fairchild, the deal with El Paso being edited is that's what's on the stereo album master which is the source Gusto/TeeVee used for this track rather than the mono 45rpm master which has the additional verse.
|
