Tom Waits once listed El Paso by Marty Robbins as one of his favorite songs of all time. This is not surprising, since Tom Waits is one of the smartest, most musically tasteful people out there, and since El Paso is, in fact, one of the greatest songs of all time.Robbins is similar to Waits, in that he had a great career and a whole bunch of great songs. He is vastly different though, in that unlike Waits, Marty's songs weren't always incredible. In other words, some of his later career stuff just wasn't up my alley. So I mostly just stick to the earlier records. However, this isn't supposed to be about hating, it's supposed to be about loving, so let's get back on track by acknowledging the awesome fact that in 1973 Mr. Robbins raced in the Talladega Super Speedway prior to the event's immortalization by Ricky Bobby.
Um... ok, back on track now. Although this isn't the one with the aformentioned "El Paso" on it, this may be Robbins' finest effort, and it is my favorite country album of all time. It is that good. The beautiful Three Amigos Soundtrack-esque spanish guitar style of Robbins and the somber mood of these songs... it all combines for a beautiful, heart-wrenching, everything-just-coming-together-perfectly fun time music party (word-selection edit pending to enhance literary credibility). This album is the real shit. It's hard as hell to find, and I've worn the bejesus out of my old vinyl copy. Luckily for you, I'm a generous son of a bitch. Give it a listen when you're in the mood for something country but not twangy, emotional but not emo, real but not... shitty? Fuck, this album is awesome. The second side in particular whups a camel's ass with a belt. The only negative thing I can say about it is that "Feleena" is like 300 minutes long... and even that's not really a bad thing.
(Get Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs too if you dig it.... that one's easy to find)
No comments:
Post a Comment