R LINKS UPDATED and MARTY ROBBINS

OK - so we pick a video, and then it gets taken down over at YouTube... So we're replacing the one we posted a month ago with this one!

(434) MARTY ROBBINS : COUNTRY SINGER TURNED WESTERN ACTOR

Those of us who grew up with cowboy heros loved watching television Westerns that were so popular in the 1960's and when they were hiring actors, they liked the ones who could play a guitar and sing.

So while Johnny Crawford worked on shows like the Rifleman, Marty Robbins, famous for his recording of El Paso, which sold something like 10 million copies, one of my favorites (not to be confused with Trini Lopez who was also a friend and who we've blogged about before) got a job on a show called The Drifter.




Linking to Marty Robbins Official Site!

(335) PLACES TO GO THINGS TO DO : SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : THE PALOMINO : MARTY ROBBINS

Another club that I frequented along with songwriter friends and my friends who played there was the PALAMINO, in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of North Hollywood. The place evolved over the years and was open until the mid 1980's. It seated a lot of people but had an intimate feel.

It was the first place people played when they came through town. It was once considered one of the most important Country Music clubs in the country so Johnny Cash came through, as well as so many others - Jerry Lee Lewis, Marty Robbins.

Here's a video of Jerry Lee Lewis recorded at the Palamino... Jerry is said to hold the record for performances at the Palamino!

(214) MARTY ROBBINS - WEST TEXAS TO LOS ANGELES

One of the stars who passed through Los Angeles on tour in 1961 was Marty Robbins who got the first ever country Grammy Award for "El Paso" in 1959, the song he is most associated with, and which got him into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Marty continued with hits like "If I Had A Hammer," which was covered by many other singers including Peter, Paul, and Mary. He was one of the singers I liked to go hear, along with some of the guys that I knew from Elvis'.

MARTY ROBBINS OFFICIAL updated March 2013
"Don't Worry" was a 1961 hit for Marty. (video replaced March 2013)
  
In 1970 after years from hits, Marty won a Grammy Award for the best country song in 1970. He was inducted into the Nashville Song Writers Hall of Fame in 1975. He got into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982.

Link to The Country Music Hall of Fame... NEW LINK January 13, 2011 Click on title!

"El Paso" is classic Marty Robbins and reflects the Hispanic culture of Texas.

  Here's a bio of Marty from Billboard.com
BILLBOARD MARTY ROBBINS PAGE  updated April 2014