Sept. 26: Marty Robbins — one of country music’s finest and most versatile singers and adored by his fans — would have been 84 years old today. That calls for a triple gift from him to us: his classic cowboy ballad “El Paso” and its two sequels.
Music would play and Feleena would whirl …
The root of the trilogy, “El Paso” (1959), is Robbins’ best-known song. It’s the gripping, nearly 5-minute story of a cowboy who falls in love with a cantina dancing girl and kills a man in a jealous rage. He flees the town but his love for Feleena pulls him back, to meet an end that isn’t pretty for either of them. The song, Robbins once said, practically wrote itself as he drove toward Phoenix: “The words and the melody just started rolling out of my head… I didn’t stop to write it down; I wrote it in my mind. In fact it was like watching a movie.”
After topping Billboard‘s country and pop charts, it won a Grammy in 1961. The recording is as classic as the song, with striking harmonies by Jim Glaser and Bobby Sykes, and Grady Martin providing some of Nashville’s finest guitar work ever. As you listen, imagine playing that intricately for 5 minutes with no mistakes. That was the genius of Grady Martin.
Ev’ry man stopped to stare, at this form fine and rare …
Seven years later, Robbins recorded “Feleena (From El Paso),” which goes back in time a bit more to tell the life story of the “Mexican girl.” Clocking in at more than 8 minutes, “Feleena” was never a single, appearing only on the album The Drifter. Grady Martin returns to the studio to provide the atmosphere. The song introduces a supernatural element, with the ghosts of the star-crossed lovers said to manifest today in the West Texas winds: “It’s only the young cowboy showing Feleena the town.”
In another world I lived in El Paso …
In 1976, Robbins again revisited the West Texas town, moving from the ghostly ending of “Feleena” to outright mysticism in “El Paso City.” As the narrator views the city from a jetliner, he recalls a song he once heard “about a jealous cowboy and a girl” and wonders if he could be “the cowboy in this mystery.” “El Paso City” brings the saga full circle. Again, Grady Martin coaxed nimble Spanish sounds out of his acoustic archtop guitar. Again, the “El Paso” story line topped the country charts. And again, Marty Robbins once said, he produced a song that he didn’t as much compose as transcribe.
Further reading
- Check out this thoughtful essay about the trilogy on the British blog “Testify.”
- Robbins was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982, just months before he died of complications from heart surgery. Here’s his profile.
- View Robbins’ discography, and more background on “El Paso.”
- Learn more about the great Grady Martin.
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September 26, 2009 at 9:37 AM
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[…] The “El Paso” trilogy | Marty Robbins « 3 Chords a Day 3chordsaday.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/the-el-paso-trilogy-marty-robbins – view page – cached Sept. 26: Marty Robbins — one of country music’s finest and most versatile singers and adored by his fans — would have been 84 years old today. That calls for a triple gift from him to us: his… (Read more)Sept. 26: Marty Robbins — one of country music’s finest and most versatile singers and adored by his fans — would have been 84 years old today. That calls for a triple gift from him to us: his classic cowboy ballad “El Paso” and its two sequels. (Read less) — From the page […]
September 28, 2009 at 11:19 AM
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[…] would have been Marty Robbins‘ 84th birthday. The 3 Chords a Day blog used the occasion to revisit the classic “El Paso” and it’s two sequels, “Feleena (From El […]
September 28, 2009 at 2:27 PM
The “El Paso” trilogy | Marty Robbins « 3 Chords a Day | work4real.net
[…] Show original post here […]
September 29, 2009 at 6:03 AM
Diane Diekman
Thanks for remembering Marty! I’m currently writing the “El Paso” chapter of his biography, “Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins.”
November 7, 2009 at 11:21 AM
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December 8, 2009 at 7:54 AM
A 3 Chords a Day extra: The “El Paso” trilogy | Marty Robbins « 3 CHORDS A DAY
[…] after he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In Robbins’ honor, here’s a post from the 3 Chords a Day archives regarding his signature hit, “El Paso,” and its two follow-up story songs. […]
December 23, 2009 at 6:20 AM
pawsinsd
You might check out Juni Fisher and “Red Velvet Slippers,” the El Paso story told from Feleena’s point of view. She’s a current cowgirl poet who credits Marty Robbins, Joan Baez and Burl Ives as a few of her inspirations.
Check the header on the WP Marty Robbins blog, that’s me.
February 1, 2010 at 8:09 AM
Juni Fisher
Thank you pawsinsd…Juni Fisher here. I am a songwriter and singer, rather than a poet, but i surely appreciate the mention!
March 1, 2010 at 7:49 AM
pawsinsd
Ms. Juni, you are a poet and songwriter and singer. I’m now out of lessons for a while but exploring Crazy Heart and trying to figure out some tunes. On the keyboard too. Hey, they voted to kick us out because of the Jaws of Death, our sweet girl. So next time you come to our neck of the woods you may have to autopilot to another address. Love from D, J and Z.
May 23, 2014 at 9:51 AM
Gretchen Wilson & Ryan Bingham Added To Farm Aid Lineup; Trace Adkins' New Video - Engine 145
[…] would have been Marty Robbins‘ 84th birthday. The 3 Chords a Day blog used the occasion to revisit the classic “El Paso” and it’s two sequels, “Feleena (From El […]