Chris Young is one of country music’s most promising acts to hit the scene. In the past year, he has had back-to-back number one hits with “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song)” and most recently with the title track to his sophomore album “The Man I Want To Be.” Meanwhile, in May, Young wrapped up his opening gig on Alan Jackson’s Freight Train Tour and released his Voices EP.

When it comes to Chris’ musical influences, he was educated by his grandfather in the country classics. Young tells CMT, “He kind of grew me up listening to Marty Robbins and Lefty Frizzell.” He continues, “I actually got to take him the first night I played the Opry. He brought his guitar, and we sat backstage and played Marty Robbins songs together, and he got to go stand on the side of the stage and watch me play.” Chris has become a regular guest on the Opry where he pays tribute to his influences. Fans might at any given moment hear Young break into a song like Robbins’ “Begging to You.” Young also taps into Marty’s musical style when he creates his own music. Chris explains, “On ‘Drinkin’ Me Lonely,’ that whole falsetto thing in my voice is me wanting to do that like Marty did. No one could do that like he did.”

Robbins’ vocals are most identified when he hits that falsetto like in “Devil Woman?” or with his western-flavored tunes like “El Paso.” But, prior to making his impact on country music, Martin David Robinson and his twin sister Mamie were born in Glendale, Arizona on September 26, 1925. The Robinson family didn’t have a lot and struggled to stay afloat. When Marty was just in his teens, he dropped out of school and joined the navy which took him to the Pacific Theater during World War II. After returning to the States, Robbins kick started his career in 1947 in Phoenix with his own radio and television shows. A year later, he married Marizona Baldwin and soon became a father when their children Ronny and Janet were born.

In 1951, a lucky break came Marty’s way when he booked Little Jimmy Dickens on his Western Caravan television show. Robbins made quite an impression on Dickens who encouraged his record label to sign Marty. Columbia Records took his wise advice and signed Robbins to the roster. Out of the gate, Robbins topped the charts with his debut single “I’ll Go Alone,” just one of his 16 number one hits. In 1956, he had his next number one “Singing the Blues” was a smash, logging in 13 straight weeks at the top. The tune was the first of many that crossed over to the pop chart. Marty’s biggest crossover successes came with 1957’s “A White Sports Coat (and a Pink Carnation)” and his number one pop and country hit “El Paso” in 1959 which became his signature song.

The hits kept coming for Robbins throughout his entire career. The majority of the songs he recorded were ones he had written himself which earned him a reputation of being a superb songwriter. “El Paso” was one of those songs and it was just one of the tunes included on Marty’s most notable album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, the first of his western-themed albums. The Old West was a passion for Robbins that he received from his grandfather who would tell tales of the Old West to Marty as a child. It was special that something so close to his heart would bring him the biggest success as he won the very first Grammy Award given to a country song for “El Paso” and would go on to write his own paperback western novel titled The Small Man.

Along with his infatuation with the West, Robbins had a love for stock car racing. Throughout the 1960s, he often raced at the Nashville Speedway and entered his first NASCAR race in 1966. Every now and then, Marty would give up racing, but he would always come back to the sport. Due to his love of racing, Robbins made sure to secure the last performance slot at the Grand Ole Opry, which he became a member of on January 19, 1953, in order to be able to race before he played the Opry. His plan didn’t always work out perfectly, though. On one such occasion in 1968, Marty left a race early so he could make his Opry performance slot, but once he arrived at the Opry, he found out that the show was running late. Since they were behind schedule, Robbins would have to cut his set short, but when he hit the stage, Marty decided to play his full set and more. It became a notorious running gag and an Opry tradition as Robbins, known for his showmanship, continued to overstay his welcome on stage at the Opry.

Unfortunately, heart problems plagued Marty. He had a heart attack in 1969 and underwent bypass surgery in January of the following year. But, just as he was experiencing an upswing in his music career, Robbins had another heart attack on December 2, 1982, just seven weeks after his October 11th induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Six days later, Marty died far too young at the age of 57. However, he has left his influential stamp on country music through his diverse music which ranged from country and western to Hawaiian, gospel and pop and through his impressive resume outside of music which included acting, racing and writing.

Image courtesy of Andrew Putler / Redferns

Adapted from "Marty Robbins." Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Country Music Foundation, Inc., n.d. Web. 09 Jun 2010. <http://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/full-list-of-inductees/view/marty-robbins>.

Nikita Palmer for Citadel Digital © 2010

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