Marty Robbins: El Paso Singer, Western Balladeer and NASCAR Driver

Marty Robbins was an American country and western singer, songwriter and stock car driver, active from the late 1940s into the early 1980s. He was one of the most successful singers of his genre and also an early figure in outlaw country. His hobby of racing ran alongside his music career and eventually took him to NASCAR.

How did Marty Robbins start his music career?

Robbins was born Martin David Robinson in Glendale, Arizona, in 1925. He taught himself guitar while serving in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War, and he then built a following performing in clubs around Phoenix. A television show and a guest slot by Little Jimmy Dickens helped him win a recording deal with Columbia Records.

He left home at 17 to join the Navy as an LCT coxswain, and he was stationed in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. There he learned to play guitar, started writing songs and developed a lasting love of Hawaiian music. After his discharge in 1947 he returned to Phoenix to play local venues and to host his own shows.

His storytelling came from family as well as from the Navy. His maternal grandfather, a travelling salesman known as Texas Bob Heckle, told him stories of the American West. Robbins later said that Big Iron was inspired by his grandfather, who had claimed to have been a Texas Ranger.

The singer of El Paso also raced stock cars for two decades, and he drove the Indianapolis 500 pace car as well as his own machines.

What were Marty Robbins's biggest hits?

His first number-one country single was I'll Go On Alone in 1952, followed by Singing the Blues four years later. In 1957 A White Sport Coat and The Story of My Life both reached number one. His signature song, El Paso, followed in 1959 and won a Grammy.

A White Sport Coat sold more than one million copies and earned a gold record. El Paso became his first song to top the pop chart in the 1960s. The follow-up hit Don't Worry reached number three on the pop chart and number one on the country chart, and its distinctive guitar fuzz came about by accident in the studio.

Over his career he recorded more than 500 songs and 60 albums and won several Grammy Awards. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982, and the Academy of Country Music named him Artist of the Decade for the 1960s. His last top-10 single, Honkytonk Man, appeared in 1982 and was tied to a Clint Eastwood film.

Was Marty Robbins a political voice as well?

Robbins was a staunch conservative and anti-communist, and his views remained firm throughout his life. He backed Barry Goldwater's campaign in 1964 as a southern director of Stars for Barry. As opposition to the Vietnam War grew, he became more outspoken, and two of his songs, Ain't I Right and My Own Native Land, later found favour during the conservative resurgence.

Columbia Records declined to publish his more politically charged songs. His band member Bobby Sykes recorded them for Sims Records under the name Johnny Freedom, which kept the material in circulation.

How good was Marty Robbins at NASCAR?

Robbins raced in 35 NASCAR Grand National Series events and finished in the top 10 six times. His best result was a top-five finish at the 1974 Motor State 360 in Michigan. Cotton Owens built and maintained his cars, which were usually painted magenta and chartreuse and carried car number 42.

He tried to run the big superspeedways such as Talladega and Daytona every year and picked smaller events when his schedule allowed. Some of his cars carried the numbers 6, 22 and 777 as well. He also used a variety of makes, including Plymouths, Dodges and Fords, before settling on Dodges.

At the 1972 Winston 500 he turned laps 15 mph faster than his qualifying time after knocking the restrictors out of his carburettor. NASCAR tried to give him the Rookie of the Race award, but he refused it, saying he had only wanted to see what it was like to run at the front. In 1974 at the Charlotte 500 he crashed deliberately into a wall rather than hit Richard Childress's stopped car broadside, an action that may have saved Childress's life.

He also drove the pace car at the 60th Indianapolis 500 in 1976, a Buick Century. His final NASCAR race was the Atlanta Journal 500 on 7 November 1982, in a Junior Johnson-built Buick Regal, a month before he died. In 1983 NASCAR honoured him by naming the Fairgrounds Speedway race the Marty Robbins 420.

How did Marty Robbins die?

Robbins had heart problems for much of his life. He suffered his first heart attack at 43, in 1969, and after a third on 2 December 1982 he underwent quadruple bypass surgery. He died on 8 December 1982 at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, aged 57.

He had appeared in the 1982 film Honkytonk Man, playing a recording session singer named Smoky, and he died shortly before the film's release. His final top-10 single was the song from that film, which was also the closing chapter of his chart career.

How is Marty Robbins remembered in Glendale and beyond?

Glendale, Arizona, honoured him in several ways, and part of Glendale Avenue was renamed Marty Robbins Boulevard in 2016. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6666 Hollywood Boulevard, and he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.

His music continues to reach new audiences. El Paso featured in the series finale of the TV drama Breaking Bad, and Big Iron rose sharply in popularity after the 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas.

What was Robbins's early TV career in Phoenix?

Robbins hosted his own show on KTYL in Phoenix, and then presented Western Caravan on KPHO-TV. A guest appearance by Little Jimmy Dickens on the TV show led to a record deal with Columbia Records, which marked the start of his national recording career.

The television work kept him in front of local audiences while his records began to chart nationally. His first number-one country single came in 1952, and Robbins was soon performing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, where he became a familiar presence.

Why did Robbins's Western ballads come to dominate his catalogue?

By 1960 most of Robbins's output was Western in style, and El Paso began a long association with the genre. His earlier hits, such as Singing the Blues and A White Sport Coat, had been regarded as pop and teen idol material, while the ballads that followed became the core of his catalogue.

The ballads drew on the stories his grandfather had told him about the American West. Robbins also wrote and recorded Big Iron and other Western songs, and he appeared in films that suited the same outlaw and lawman themes, including The Ballad of a Gunfighter.

His film work continued across the decade, and his roles often cast him as an outlaw or a lawman. Those screen appearances reinforced the image that his Western records had created for his audience.

How did Robbins's NASCAR career fit with his music?

Robbins financed his racing from his music income, and he tried to run the largest races every year when his schedule allowed. Cotton Owens prepared his Dodges for much of his NASCAR career, and his magenta and chartreuse cars became his trademark on the track.

His music career did not stop for racing. He recorded and toured through his NASCAR years, and his Grand Ole Opry appearances continued alongside his race weekends. He also played himself in the 1967 film Hell on Wheels, where he appeared as a race car driver.

How did the industry honour Robbins's songs?

The Academy of Country Music gave him its decade award for the 1960s, and the Country Music Hall of Fame honoured him in 1982. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame recognised his writing in 1975, alongside his singing.

Other artists honoured his songs too. The Who's Pete Townshend wrote God Speaks of Marty Robbins for the album Endless Wire, and Elvis Presley and Frankie Laine both recorded You Gave Me a Mountain. Johnny Cash also recorded several of his songs and had him appear on his television show.

Did Robbins's records still chart late in his career?

Yes, though less often than in his heyday. Honkytonk Man was his final top-10 single, and the song was tied to a film that came out shortly after he died. Four posthumous studio albums were released later, but they made no impact on the charts.

His highest-charting album remained Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs from 1959, which reached number six on the all-genre Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. That record gave his career a strong commercial peak.

How did NASCAR and drivers honour Robbins later?

NASCAR honoured him in 1983 by naming the Fairgrounds Speedway race after him, and drivers have since recognised him with throwback liveries. Kyle Larson ran a purple and gold number 42 car in a 2016 Darlington throwback, and Tyler Reddick carried Robbins's signature magenta and chartreuse livery in 2021.

Other tributes followed in 2014, when one of his Dodge Chargers was featured on a television series and another of his NASCAR racers, a Plymouth, was restored by former team owner Ray Evernham. His Dodge Magnum was restored by Cotton Owens and donated by his family to the Talladega Museum, where it was displayed for years.

How did Robbins's Dodge Charger and Magnum evolve?

Robbins bought a 1972-bodied Dodge Charger from Cotton Owens, and after several major wrecks in the 1970s he had Owens rebuild it to 1973 to 1974 Charger specifications. He later updated the sheet metal to the 1978 Dodge Magnum, which he raced until the end of 1980.