Marty Robbins - El Paso

The great country and western singer Marty Robbins was born on this day in 1925, 86 years ago, but sadly died at a way too young 57 years of age. But let's salute the legend with one of his best songs, the epic, close to five minutes long "El Paso", about a young cowboy who shoots another man over the mesmerizing Feleena. It's an early example of the storytelling future of some of the best country music there is, quite unusual at the time of its 1959 release, first on the Gunfighter Ballads & Train Songs album, then as a single. Not only is it famous for its gripping story, but also for the arrangement featuring Spanish guitar courtesy of Grady Martin and the haunting harmony vocals by Bobby Sykes and Jim Glaser of The Glaser Brothers. Six years later Robbins wrote and recorded a sequel to the song called "Feleena (From El Paso)", and this time the same story is told from Feleena's point of view, confirming that the young cowboy eventually dies in her arms. Finally, Robbins wrote a second sequel in 1976 called "El Paso City", about a passenger in an airplane over El Paso, wondering if he's indeed lived an earlier life as the protagonist of the first song.

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