Jobie Reviews Music 38: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (album) by Marty Robbins. Requested by F.
- ChemicalSkylines
- Mar 11, 2021
- 2 min read
Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs is a 1959 country album by Marty Robbins. The album contains 15 tracks, which makes for a total of 44 minutes of music. The album is Western themed, having tracks that recount tales from the wild wild west with epic country ballads.
Of course, we can’t talk about Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs without talking about Big Iron. The track was famous on the internet as early as 2010, and a few years ago had an explosion in popularity due to widespread internet memes. It is the most iconic track on the entire album, and not without reason. It’s a quality track, deserving of all the attention that it’s gotten and will likely continue to get for several years.
Especially good about this boom in popularity is that several other songs from the album became popular as well, such as “El Paso” and “Saddle Tramp”. Speaking of “Saddle Tramp”, it’s one of the highlights of the 44 minute album, being a testament to the album’s already established greatness by the time this track comes around while listening to it.
What’s truly amazing about this album is how long it’s managed to remain popular. Even 62 years after release, long after many reissues of this album (including the 90s CD reissue, which by now was over 20 years ago), which is not just because it was spread by the internet. Sure, anything that’s spread around online can become popular, but sometimes music that becomes a meme online isn’t exactly high quality material (Which is sometimes on purpose), but it’s even better when great albums like this are spread across the globe, bringing more attention to Robbins’ great music style.
I’m not the only one to recognize the greatness of this album, as it is now in the Library of Congress’ archives, with them citing the album as being “...culturally significant”. And I couldn’t agree more!
Overall, if you want to experience Wild Wild West ballads and pure fun, then you should listen to this album right now. It’s a must-listen for anyone who likes old-style country music, and epic ballads.
Overall rating:
9/10
LINK TO ALBUM:
Comments