Marty Robbins was a song writer, singer, and actor. He is mainly known for his country / western work such as El Paso, but he also sang pop and Hawain music.
As a child his idol was Gene Autry. He wanted to be a singing cowboy just like Gene. At 17 Marty joined the navy during World War II. During that time, he really got serious about his singing / song writing career. He spent time in the Pacific islands and started playing Hawaiian music. Marty's music career finally started when he was hired at a little radio station in Mesa, Arizona. Soon he got a job at a bigger station where he got his own short show. Then "Little" Jimmy Dickins was a guest on Marty's show. Jimmy was so impressed, he got CBS to hire Marty. In 1948, Marty married a girl named Marizona Baldwin who always wanted to marry a singing cowboy. They stayed together the rest of Marty's life. Marty started recording and in 1958 he recorded his first western hit The Hanging Tree. Shortly afterwards, he recorded El Paso which became his signature piece. Marty continued recording western hits. As a hobbie he picked up auto racing where he raced for fun. On December 8, 1982 Marty Robbins died from a fatal heart attack (Kristy).
Richard Wright Copyright 1999