MARTY ROBBINS 65 YEARS AGO
Seaman First Class Martin David Robinson arrived in San Francisco on August 20, 1945, six days after World War II ended, Completing two years in the South Pacific, he had been transferred in late July from a U.S. Navy boat pool in the Admiralty Islands of New Guinea. A ship was taking him home for a thirty-day leave before preparing for the invasion of Japan. The end of the war meant he wouldn’t have to go back. Instead, after a month spent visiting his mother in Glendale, Arizona, he went to San Diego until his February 1946 discharge. (more…)

THE YOUNG SHERIFF & HIS COUNTRY DEPUTIES 50 YEARS AGO
In 1960, Faron Young’s Country Deputies band consisted of lead guitarist Odell Martin, steel player Ben Keith, drummer Roger Miller, and new frontman Darrell McCall on electric bass. When Faron had decided to add drums a year earlier, Roger Miller needed a job and agreed to become a drummer if Faron bought him a drum set. Then, according to Ben Keith, “When Darrell started, we had a knock-out band. We were hot. We were really good.” This is the band that backed Faron during the Carnegie Hall performance in late 1961. (more…)