| Reader situation | Start with | Planning use |
|---|---|---|
| You want a whole story in one song | El Paso | Runs nearly five minutes and is built as a tragedy in three acts. Play it first, and play it start to finish. |
| You want a lawman-versus-outlaw song | Big Iron | Focuses on weaponry and the tension between outlaw and lawman. It suits listeners who like the gunfighter label taken literally. |
| You want the older trail repertoire | Cool Water, Old Chisholm Trail, Strawberry Roan | Familiar trail material sits beside Robbins’ own writing, so these tracks show the album’s wider range. |
| You want the whole record in one sitting | The 2014 streaming edition | Lists 23 songs and 1 hr 7 min. Set aside the full runtime rather than sampling. |
Figures above come from the Spotify album listing and an album essay on the recording.
Marty Robbins gunfighter ballads come mostly from one 1959 album, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. Start with El Paso for the story, Big Iron for the showdown and Cool Water for the trail-song side.
The album is a good doorway into cowboy music as a whole, because it mixes outlaw tales, traditional trail songs and a distinctive guitar sound. The groups below match what you may be looking for, so jump to the one that fits.
Story songs for listeners who want a full narrative
The gunfighter side of the record is where Robbins tells stories rather than sets a mood. These are ballads in the plain sense of story songs, with characters, a turning point and a consequence. If you only have time for a few tracks, choose from this group.
El Paso
El Paso is the lead single and the song most people mean when they talk about this album. Its story centres on a man’s obsession with a Mexican maiden named Felina, and it moves through obsession and flight. According to the album essay, it is a tragedy in three acts, punctuated by the frantic strumming of a nylon-string guitar.
It also ran against radio habits of the time. The same essay notes that its nearly five-minute runtime defied every rule of radio play. That makes it the best choice for patient listeners, since the payoff depends on hearing all three acts in order. It is a poor choice for a quick sampler, because an excerpt loses the arc that gives the ending its weight.
Big Iron
Big Iron is the most direct gunfighter song on the record. The album essay says Robbins uses it to explore the tension between the outlaw and the lawman, with the weaponry itself close to the centre of the song.
Choose it if El Paso feels too long or too tragic. It is a cleaner entry point for listeners who want the genre’s familiar conflict, and it appears on both the streaming edition and the CD edition’s track lists.
Billy the Kid and They’re Hanging Me Tonight
Billy the Kid and They’re Hanging Me Tonight both appear on the track list of the 2014 streaming edition, next to Big Iron and El Paso. The essay on the album singles out Billy the Kid as one of the familiar pieces Robbins placed beside his own writing.
Treat these as the second wave after El Paso and Big Iron. They suit listeners who have enjoyed the outlaw material and want more of the same world rather than a change of pace.
Trail songs for listeners who want the older repertoire
The second half of the album title is not decoration. Alongside the gunfighter tales, the record carries trail songs that reach back beyond Robbins himself, and they give the album its breadth.
Cool Water
Cool Water was written by Bob Nolan of the Sons of the Pioneers, as the album essay points out. Hearing it here is a useful reminder that the album is partly a tribute to the wider Western song tradition, not only a showcase for new songs. Anyone who already knows the Sons of the Pioneers version will find it a natural bridge into the record.
Old Chisholm Trail and Strawberry Roan
The album includes traditional trail songs next to Robbins’ originals, with Old Chisholm Trail named as an example in the same essay. Strawberry Roan appears on the Spotify track list as well.
These songs suit listeners who care more about the working-cowboy tradition than about gunfights. If you came for outlaws, you can skip them on a first pass. If you are tracing where cowboy song came from, they are the better stop.
What sets the album apart from other cowboy music
Three features separate this record from a typical collection of cowboy songs: its Spanish-flavored guitar, its habit of mixing sources, and its willingness to let a story run long.
- Spanish-inflected guitar. The essay credits Grady Martin with Spanish-inflected guitar, and the nylon-string strumming in El Paso is the clearest example. This is what gives the songs their border-country color.
- Old and new side by side. Placing Cool Water and Billy the Kid next to his own writing lets Robbins present the Western songbook as one continuous tradition rather than a set of separate styles.
- Story length over radio convention. El Paso’s nearly five-minute runtime shows that the album put narrative first.
If your taste runs toward a lighter, more vocal-driven corner of the repertoire, cowboy yodeling offers a different strand of the same musical world. Choose this album when you want narrative weight and guitar atmosphere instead.
Release, recording and chart run
For anyone who wants the facts behind the songs, the release story is short and clear. The album dates from 1959 and reached the upper end of the album chart.
The recording session
Per the album essay, the sessions took place in April 1959 at Bradley’s Barn in Nashville with Don Law, the Columbia Records producer. The team recorded the majority of the tracks in a single day. That speed helps explain why the record feels immediate and cohesive, though the essay does not claim speed was the reason for its success.
Release and chart position
The Spotify listing gives 1959 as the year of the original album. According to the album essay, it peaked at number six on the Billboard album chart. That is a strong showing for a record anchored by a long story song. No certification figures are supplied here, so rely on a recording-industry database if you need them.
An Amazon editorial review describes the 1959 LP as one of Robbins’ best, driven by his contagious love for these Old West songs.
Which edition to play
The 2014 streaming edition credits Red Sky Records and lists 23 songs running 1 hr 7 min, per the Spotify page. A Cameron Records CD listing gives a release date of October 19, 1999 and names Big Iron, A Hundred and Sixty Acres, They’re Hanging Me Tonight, Cool Water, Billy the Kid, The Hanging Tree and Saddle Tramp among its tracks.
- Choose the streaming edition if you want the widest track list in one place.
- Choose a physical CD if you prefer a fixed package, and check its track list first because it can differ from the streaming one.
- Hunt for the original LP only if the vinyl format matters to you, since it reflects how the album first appeared.
More Marty Robbins in the Western category
The first album is the best-known Western collection by Robbins, but it is not the only one. The Spotify artist listing places two follow-ups beside it: More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs from 1960 and Return of the Gunfighter from 1963, as shown on the Spotify page.
Within the first album, the Western songs worth returning to are El Paso, Big Iron, Cool Water, Billy the Kid, They’re Hanging Me Tonight and Strawberry Roan, all named on its track list. Listen to those before moving on to the later albums, because they set the standard against which the sequels are measured.
To see where Robbins sits among his peers, the guide to famous cowboy singers places him in the wider tradition that includes the Sons of the Pioneers, whose member Bob Nolan wrote Cool Water.
Frequently asked questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Did Marty Robbins write every song on the album? | No. Cool Water was written by Bob Nolan of the Sons of the Pioneers, and the album also includes traditional trail songs such as Old Chisholm Trail next to Robbins’ own material. |
| Does any edition include extra material? | An Amazon listing notes a bonus album, Marty Robbins Sings Hank Williams, alongside the 1959 LP. Check the track list of the specific edition before buying. |
| Is there a follow-up to the album? | Yes. The Spotify listing shows More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs from 1960, and Return of the Gunfighter from 1963. |
