MARTY ROBBINS ON THE GRAND OLE OPRY 53 YEARS AGO On August 11, 1956, Marty Robbins and Webb Pierce appeared with Carl Smith on the Grand Ole Opry. Dressed in western garb and gunbelts from their recent movie, they sang “Why Baby Why.” They were fulfilling a promise they had made to Charlie Lamb a […]
MARTY ROBBINS BAND REUNION Seven members of Marty’s inner circle attended the Marty Robbins band reunion in Nashville on 18 July. Joe Vincent played steel for Marty in 1953-54. Earl White (now an Opry staff musician) was one of the original Tear Drops, Marty’s first official band. Jack Pruett played lead guitar from 1956 until […]
DAYTONA FIRECRACKER 400 Thinking of Marty Robbins and the upcoming Independence Day holiday brings to mind the NASCAR FireCracker 400 at the Daytona Speedway. Marty was the grand marshal in 1970 (six months after his heart surgery) and then, according to the statistics I’ve found, he ran the race five times–in 1971, 1973, 1979, 1980, […]
FARON YOUNG RECEIVING IFCO “TEX RITTER AWARD” IN 1983 Loudilla Johnson announced, “The gentleman standing here beside us has devoted more than 30 years to the world of entertainment–to the complete joy of his fans around the world. Even through his stint in the U.S. Army, Faron Young could not abandon his love of performing. […]
MARTY ROBBINS 1930 HOME This is a 2008 photo of the same empty lot where the Jack Robinson family lived at the time of the 1930 census. East of downtown Phoenix, at the corner of 17th and East Madison Streets, Jack constructed a shelter consisting of one tent for sleeping quarters and another for the […]
MARTY ROBBINS ON HIS NASCAR RACING In a 1975 interview, Marty said, “I told people I was going to quit, but I’m not really going to quit. I don’t think people would really want me to quit, maybe because it’s something I enjoy doing. I wouldn’t want somebody to quit playing golf if they liked […]
BILL JOHNSON Bill Johnson played steel guitar for Marty Robbins from 1960-1974, with a two-year break in the early Sixties when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was one of the first people to provide me with research material and his memories when I started working on Marty’s biography. Bill talked about Marty’s […]
This periodic newsletter commemorates the lives of Faron Young and Marty Robbins. Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story was published in 2007 by the University of Illinois Press, and I’m currently writing Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins for publication in 2012. REMEMBERING MARCH 5, 1963 Billy Grammar and Faron Young were in […]
FARON’S BIRTHDAY Faron Young was born 77 years ago today in a little two bedroom rental house in Shreveport, Louisiana. His sister Dorothy remembered standing out in front and telling people who came by, “We got a new baby brother.” She told me, “All the kids in the neighborhood liked to come over and play […]
MARTY ROBBINS AT THE DAYTONA 500 February brings NASCAR’s Daytona 500 race. Marty Robbins ran that race in 1973 and 1975 and was a broadcast commentator in 1976. He described the first race as follows: “I was gonna pass the guy on the inside, and coming off the fourth turn there’s a bad hump, and […]