MARTY ROBBINS, WEBB PIERCE, AND CARL SMITH IN BUFFALO GUN
Marty narrates this 1956 movie, beginning with, “That there’s Webb Pierce, and that’s Carl Smith, and that’s me, Marty Robbins. Sure can’t figure out why but we’re all in–” and the Jordanaires start singing “Buffalo Gun.” At the end of the song, narrator Marty says, “This story begins in 1875.  Me and Smith and Webb Pierce are on this cattle drive . . . .”  Webb is a government agent who deputizes Carl and Marty to help him find stolen buffalo guns. To show the level of authenticity, I’ll just give one example. Carl fights an Indian who runs off with his horse. Webb rides up, dismounts, and says, “Things like this just don’t happen in Nashville.”

CARL SMITH
Country Music Hall of Famer Carl Smith dies at 82
I didn’t expect to send a newsletter so soon, but I have to talk about Carl Smith, who died January 16, 2010, at age 82. I’d been thinking about contacting him to say I’d like to write his biography when I finish Marty’s story. I fell in love with him when I was five years old, when my parents took us to a package show in Watertown, South Dakota. I don’t remember anything about the show except that Carl was dressed in red and so was Mom. When we were discussing the show years later, Dad said Hank Snow and Marty Robbins were also there, but I don’t remember them. For awhile after the concert, Mom would call, “Diane, Carl Smith is on the radio,” and I would run in the house to hear him sing. The first two LPs I bought as a teenager were by Hank Williams and Carl Smith. I finally got to meet Carl in 2000, when Ed Gregory invited me to a New Year’s party in Nashville with Dolly Parton as the entertainer. Our party consisted of Carl and Goldie Smith, Jan Howard, Mr. & Mrs. Jim Ed Brown, Jimmy and Mona Dickens, Ed and Jo Gregory, and me. Here’s my cherished photo:

LETTERS
Mike O’Neill writes, “It was great to read that you got the interview with Richard Childress. This will give an insight to Marty’s racing; he was well respected by the other drivers.”

Dave Hinde says, “That’s a nice story about Richard Childress.  His Vineyard is really great, as is his museum.  The winery tour guide was also the wife of the head winemaker. She said that one year there was a late frost and they were afraid of losing the grape crop so Richard hovered his helicopter over the vineyard to keep the grapes from freezing.”

A reader sends this response to a question from last week: “To answer Esther Kilgore’s question about Marty’s wife and television program. The name of the show was called the life and times of Marty Robbins. It aired in 1995.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 6:35 am and is filed under Newsletter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.