Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins

Preface

Preface The idea of Marty Robbins as my second biography subject came to me while doing research for Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story. I was watching an episode of The Marty Robbins Spotlight, with Faron as Marty’s guest. Marty has always been one of my favorite singers, and I liked his connections to NASCAR and the U.S. Navy. I asked myself the same question I’d asked about Faron: Would I ever tire of hearing his music or talking about him? I remember painting our farmhouse while “Tonight Carmen” played on the transistor radio my parents gave me at my high school graduation. It’s still my favorite Marty Robbins song. My only meeting with Marty occurred at the Grand Ole Opry in 1972, when we posed together for a photo on the steps of the Ryman Auditorium. Martypossessedtheinnateabilitytosinganystyleofmusic,fromtraditional country to rockabilly or western ballads to popular standards. Throughout his career, he experimented with varying styles to bring his music to larger and more diverse audiences. He is still unparalleled as a writer of story songs, especially western ballads, but also dark stories like “The Chair,” about capital punishment. He repeatedly said love songs were his favorite to sing, followed by western ballads; he only stopped recording those styles when fans stopped buying them. Deepinsecurities,bothpersonalandfinancial,plaguedMartyhisentirelife. He never outgrew his father’s rejection or his poverty-stricken childhood. He discovered as a child that being the class clown covered up those insecurities, and he later developed an outsized stage persona to overcome his shyness. FaronandMartypossessedsimilarbackgrounds,andbothcravedattention. But while Faron would rather have negative attention than none at all, Marty requiredapproval. He was aperfectionist who spoke properly, dressedsharply, and constantly worked on his music. Stage performances had to sound like the x records, because he only gave his audience the best. He set tough standards for himself and demanded the same of others. Marty showed the typical attitudes of his generation, believing the music industry was no place for a woman and referring to his office staff as “my little secretaries.” He encouraged his son in a singing career but refused to allow his wife and daughter to attend his shows—although he did eventually hire his daughter to work in the office. When I began my interviews, the comments about Marty were so overwhelmingly positive that I started searching for flaws. No one is perfect, after all, andIwantedto give abalancedview. Indications of stubbornness andahot temper, especially in his earlier years, were all I could find. He seemed to be universally loved, admired, and respected. My research didn’t turn up any promiscuity. But considering Marty’s need forattention,thecultureoftheentertainmentbusiness,theavailabilityofdoting women, and the time away from home, it seems highly improbable he would have resisted temptation. He had the power to insist on confidentiality and the loyal followers to give it. In a belated attempt to address the issue, I asked Jack Pruett for comment and was told, “You know good and well I wouldn’t answer that question. I’ll let you use your own judgment.” Okie Jones said, “Well, I better not touch that. Let’s just leave it like that.” TheonlybookIfoundaboutMartywasBarbaraPruett’sbibliography,Marty Robbins:FastCarsandCountryMusic.Ipurchasedacopyandwroteinit,“Merry Christmas to me, 2005.” Several years later, Barbara contacted me and we met for coffee. She said she’d put together her collection of resource material with the hope it would be used for a Robbins biography. She wanted to read my completed manuscript but was in the hospital when I finished it. I couldn’t contact her, and she died without us speaking again. Knowing the amount of research a biography requires, I’m not sure I would have tackled this without Barbara’s book as a starting point. Bill Johnson, one of the first band members I located, had gone to the Nashville library after Marty’s death and copied every newspaper article that mentioned Marty. He sent me his complete file, along with lists compiled by Donnie Jennings from Oklahoma. Bill and I had numerous telephone conversations , and I looked forward to meeting him. Unfortunately, he died a few months before I organized a reunion of The Marty Robbins Band in Nashville. xi [ PRefACe ] Of forty-seven band members identified in my research, I spoke with twentyfive of the twenty-eight still living. Ralph Emery gave me thirty hours of audio tape of The Ralph Emery Show with...