Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs

Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs is the fifth studio album by Marty Robbins, released on the Columbia Records label in September 1959 and peaking at #6 on the U.S. pop albums chart. It was recorded in a single eight-hour session on April 7, 1959,[1] and was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1965[2] and Platinum in 1986.[3] It is perhaps best known for Robbins' most successful single, "El Paso", a major hit on both the country and pop music charts, as well as for its opening track "Big Iron," a song that gained a resurgence in popularity online as an internet meme.[4]

Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
Studio album by Marty Robbins
Released	September 1959 (LP) 1999 (CD)
Recorded	April 7, 1959
Genre	Country, western
Length	35:25 (1959 LP) 44:44 (1999 CD)
Label	Columbia
Producer	Don Law
Marty Robbins chronology
Marty's Greatest Hits (1959) Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (1959) More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (1960)

Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs reached #1 in both the country and pop music charts at the start of 1960 and won the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording the following year. A follow-up album of cowboy songs, More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, was released in 1960. In 2017, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Rolling Stone	Positive [6]

AllMusic gave the album four-and-a-half stars, calling it "the single most influential album of Western songs in post-World War II American music".[7] It is included in every revision of the list of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8]

Years after the album's release, members of the Western Writers of America chose six of its songs as being among the Top 100 Western Songs of all time. Three of them were written by Robbins: "El Paso", "Big Iron", and "The Master's Call". Three were written and previously recorded by others: "Cool Water", "Billy the Kid", and "The Strawberry Roan".[9]

In 1999 the album was reissued for compact disc on the Legacy Records label with the tracks resequenced and with three bonus tracks, including the full length version of "El Paso". It was part of Sony's American Milestones reissue series for classic country and western albums including, among others, At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash and Red Headed Stranger by Willie Nelson.

In 2010, with the release of Obsidian Entertainment's Fallout New Vegas, the album was rediscovered by people who played the game and listen to the in-game radio. Although the radio only included Big Iron, other songs on the album were soon found by the players online. Many internet memes were created as a result, with the most common being edits of the cover art.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Big Iron"	Marty Robbins	3:56
2.	"Cool Water"	Bob Nolan	3:09
3.	"Billy the Kid"	traditional	2:19
4.	"A Hundred and Sixty Acres"	David Kapp	1:40
5.	"They're Hanging Me Tonight"	James Low, Art Wolpert	3:05
6.	"The Strawberry Roan"	Curley Fletcher	3:25

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"El Paso"	Marty Robbins	4:19
2.	"In the Valley"	Marty Robbins	1:48
3.	"The Master's Call"	Marty Robbins	3:05
4.	"Running Gun"	Tompall Glaser, Jim Glaser	2:10
5.	"The Little Green Valley"	Carson Robison	2:26
6.	"Utah Carol"	traditional	3:13

1999 reissue track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Big Iron"	Marty Robbins	3:56
2.	"A Hundred and Sixty Acres"	David Kapp	1:40
3.	"They're Hanging Me Tonight"	James Low, Art Wolpert	3:05
4.	"Cool Water"	Bob Nolan	3:09
5.	"Billy the Kid"	traditional	2:19
6.	"Utah Carol"	traditional	3:13
7.	"The Strawberry Roan"	Curley Fletcher	3:25
8.	"The Master's Call"	Marty Robbins	3:05
9.	"Running Gun"	Tompall Glaser, Jim Glaser	2:10
10.	"El Paso"	Marty Robbins	4:19
11.	"In the Valley"	Marty Robbins	1:48
12.	"The Little Green Valley"	Carson Robison	2:26
13.	"The Hanging Tree"	Jerry Livingston, Mack David	2:50
14.	"Saddle Tramp"	Marty Robbins	2:03
15.	"El Paso" (full length version)	Marty Robbins	4:38

Personnel

• Marty Robbins — vocals, guitar
• Grady Martin — lead guitar
• Jack Pruett — rhythm guitar
• Bob Moore — bass
• Louis Dunn — drums
• Tompall & the Glaser Brothers, Bobby Sykes — backing vocals

References

1. "National Recording Registry Picks Are "Over the Rainbow"". Library of Congress. March 29, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
2. RIAA Gold and Platinum Database. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
3. RIAA Gold and Platinum Database. Retrieved 07 February 2019.
4. Feldman, Brian (13 February 2019). "How the 60-Year-Old Country Song 'Big Iron' Became an Enduring Meme". Intelligencer; New York. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
5. Eder, Bruce. Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs at AllMusic. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
6. Dubro, Alec (20 September 1969). "Records". Rolling Stone. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
7. Eder, Bruce. "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs review". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
8. "1001 Series". 1001 Series. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
9. Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2015.