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Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #59 Sept-Oct 2005

Marty Robbins

Essential (Columbia / Legacy)

By

Marty Robbins was hands down the most versatile singer in the history of country music. “Mister Teardrop,” as he was known, was a vocal marvel, whether he was singing honky-tonk or countrypolitan, Burt Bacharach or the blues. He covered Elvis Presley — in 1954 for God’s sake, when 99 percent of the country had yet to hear so much as an Elvis Presley rumor. Later, Robbins scored with iconic teen pop such as “A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)” and iconic western tales such as “El Paso”, as well as with swelling power ballads such as “You Gave Me A Mountain” and delicate, mournful entreaties such as “Begging to You”. All of it was delivered in an easy, nuanced style that determined never to let us see him sweat even as he made it plain he was sweating bullets. This 40-track, two-disc overview gets bonus points for including three cuts from the singer’s brief early-’70s stint at Decca. Indeed, Robbins was never more yearning or emotionally complex than on one gorgeous bit of country soul here in which he reminds a much younger lover that he won’t always be “This Much A Man”.

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Originally Featured in Issue #59 Sept-Oct 2005

Cover of Issue #59 Sept-Oct 2005

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More articles from this issue:

  • Eric McConnell

    Eric McConnell - Eight-track mind • From his front porch on Boscobel Street in East Nashville, cannot see the managers, publicists and record execs who inhabit the glass-walled office buildings and converted homes …

  • Marty Stuart

    Marty Stuart - The party may come to an end, but the road goes on forever • When his most ambitious record -- a lengthy country music song-cycle into which he poured all of his heart and his soul -- found critical acclaim but only a handful of buyers, Mar…

  • Richard Thompson

    Richard Thompson - I don't think there are rules • It is possible, in the murky and muted fashion of his long and curious career, that Richard Thompson has proved to be one of the European artists most influential on American pop …

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