Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins

[11] Still More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs

[11] Still More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs “I don’t go out and look for songs,” Marty told an interviewer. “It’s mostly just my own songs I write and record.” He added, “If I hear a song and like it, I’ll record it. I don’t care who writes or publishes it. If it’s good enough for me to sing, I don’t care.” One song he heard and liked in early 1965 was Gordon Lightfoot’s “Ribbon of Darkness.” The voice of the unknown Canadian on the demotapeintimidatedever-insecureMarty.“Ihadahardtimedoingit,because he did such a good job,” Marty said. “It took me awhile to get over him. Finally I got to where I could sing it.”1 He recorded the song March 2, 1965, using the same arrangement as the demo, and the single was released three weeks later. “RibbonofDarkness”becameMarty’seleventhnumberone Billboard country 96 chart hit. (Lightfoot, now in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, recorded it for his 1966 debut album.) The flipside, a song about a little robin, Marty apparently wrote for sixyear -old Janet. He gave her songwriter credit. “My dad was my idol,” Janet says as an adult. “If he was on the road, and I got lonely, I’d play an album, put on a cowboy hat, become Marty Robbins, go out on the range, and then come back to earth and my real life. I always wanted to be able to sing as well as he could. I still do. I was Daddy’s little princess.”2 Marty recorded two albums in 1965. He had told Marizona and Ronny, “If youwriteasong,I’llputitinanalbum.”HisrequestinspiredMarizonatowrite lyricsthatcame“frommyheart;itwasthewayIfelt.”Fourteen-year-oldRonny wrote the music. It was the first song for both of them, and Marty made it the title track of his religious album, What God Has Done.3 Theotheralbum,TurntheLightsDownLow,containedacollectionofsongs from Marty’s publishing companies. The title song belonged to Joe Babcock, who had finally tired of traveling. When he told Marty in February about his desire to quit, the response was, “Joe, I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t work the road for $25 a day.” Marty agreed to let Babcock stay home and write songs and run the publishing company after he found a replacement piano player. Babcock called Bobby Braddock, recently arrived from Florida in search of a music career, and invited him to audition.4 Following Babcock’s advice, Braddock practiced the piano intros to “Ruby Ann” and “Don’t Worry.” He played them for Marty, who also had him sing harmony with the group. “I got the job right there on the spot,” Braddock marvels. “I was thrilled to death. Because I was a big fan. It was like magic to me.” Braddockadmitstosometimessoundingflatduringbackgroundsegments. One night he jumped up from the piano to sing his harmony part on “White Sport Coat,” and Marty said, “Don’t sing. Ever.” By now Marty had perfected his western trio with baritone Bobby Sykes and tenor Don Winters. He used additional voices on the doo-wap teen ballads—until he told Braddock to quit singing.5 Sykes and Winters never knew what to expect from the third member of their trio. Ralph Emery once asked Marty if he ever forgot the words to “El Paso.” Marty explained how that could happen, if he was listening for a guitar string going out of tune. “I’ve got to hear my guitar on the last part,” he said. “If I try to get it in tune, I might forget a line. I’ll hum a little bit but Bobby and 97 [ CH 11 ] Still More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs Don are singing, so I know nobody will notice it, y’see. And they don’t know if I really forgot it or not. Then I’ll look at one of them and say, ‘Why don’t you learn the song?’ Like it was their fault, y’see.”6 The band in 1965 included Henry Dorrough on upright bass, Bill Johnson on steel, Jack Pruett on guitar, and Louie Dunn on drums. Dunn continued to give everybody nicknames. Bobby Sykes was Roan Horse, Don Winters was Ox, Bill Johnson was Bluto (Popeye character), and Braddock was Blinky because of the way he blinked his eyes. Winters acquired his nickname when he walked down the corridor at the edge of the theater they were working, and a...