Marty Robbins was a wildly popular and innovative Arizona-born country singer and guitarist who dominated the Billboard Country charts for 30 years between 1953 and 1983, scoring such chart-topping hits as "Singing The Blues", "A White Sport Coat", "Don't Worry", "Devil Woman" and the epic "El Paso". Robbins even outdid in some ways even Johnny Cash, producing the acclaimed 'concept' albums of Gunfighter Ballads for which he is best remembered. Marty Robbins Joined The Grand Ole Opry in 1953 and hosted his own TV show in the 1970s before dying prematurely in 1982 (aged 57). This compilation concentrates on the brief period between 1954 and 1957 when he took on Elvis and the early rockabillies with some sparkling country rockers which graced a fistful of cool US Columbia 45s and an iconic 10" LP. Tracks include his country covers of Elvis' "That's All Right" (#7 1955), Chuck's "Maybelline" (#9 1955) and his peerless originals of "Singing The Blues" (#1 1956), "I Can't Quit" (#7 1956) and "Knee Deep In The Blues" (#3 1957). And a slew of live outbursts of Rockin' mania you won't believe! As one might expect of a man who not only prefigured Nick Cave but introduced the fuzztone guitar to the pop world (in 1961!) this is seriously rocking stuff. A new discovery for some, and bound to garner some serious column inches!
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