Marty Robbins

RM · 02-04-2009, 04:06 PM

YouTube - Ribbon Of Darkness - Marty Robbins

jj · 02-05-2009, 09:01 AM

thanks, i've never seen him sing this, or even seen him live

imo, it's not bad (it's sure aint ugly), he seems like a good singer and entertainer but i wouldnt' say this delivery is suitable for this sombre tune...but it is certainly 'good'...then again GL's is also a bit bubbly, give me the cockburn's miserable version anyday (i couldn't find his full version on the net)...i don't mind the connie smith version, background singers aside

marty's shirt is what really steals the show here, lol

did Marty sing any other GL tunes or is this a one song thread?

RM · 02-05-2009, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jj

Did Marty sing any other GL tunes or is this a one song thread?

A one song thread (as far as I know). It was a major hit for Robbins, and one of the first to spread the 'gospel' of Lightfoot.

jj · 02-06-2009, 10:03 AM

good point, rm....i think of ian/sylvia and PPM as the ones who launched GL but huge thumbs up to this man for being part of that catalyst, and glad it was a win/win in also making Marty a household name, in the US especially

charlene · 02-06-2009, 12:09 PM

a bit too peppy for me..
the porn 'stache contradicts the lovely embroidered tunic..
lol
i do like his voice as it's not too twangy or bluegrass sounding..
3.5 out of 5..

KHester · 02-06-2009, 01:01 PM

Marty Robbins had a #1 country hit with this. Marty Robbins was a well established star in American music. Do the songs "A white sport coat and a pink carnation", and "El Paso"
ring a bell? Remember this version was done live in a concert/show setting and not the original recording. Marty was also famous for many of his story songs such as on his "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs " album. Another big hit for Marty was "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife". Marty latter raced cars on the Nascar circuit. He passed away on
Dec. 8, 1982 after his 4th heart attack.

charlene · 02-06-2009, 01:10 PM

my aunt was a huge fan so i heard his music all the time as a young 'un..
when meeting an online friend in toronto for the first time a few years ago her joke was that she'd be wearing a white sportcoat and pink carnation for identification purposes..
lol

charlene · 02-06-2009, 03:24 PM

more thoughts on the vid:
http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=15646

http://www.corfid.com/vbb/archive/in...p/t-17973.html

lighthead2toe · 02-07-2009, 12:57 AM

There is a video, and it's here somewhere in the archive of my "Gord Stuff" collection and it's one that I took note of and taped when it was scheduled on TV, which was of course in the days when I could understand how to read the TV guide.
Can't remember the year, mid nineties somewhere, but it's about the life of Marty Robbins. I think "The Life and Times."
That voice sold me from the first time I heard him sing "El Paso." He wrote that song and knew exactly just how to bring out the utmost of it's potential in the way he always had the harmony orchestrated with those two other voices on that high note (like "out where the horses were tie-i i-i-ied") get it?
And when he recorded "Ribbon of Darkness," I was sold, and bought off again.
That voice is like non other and it's in the field of country music where Marty Robbins tended to hang out and I love country music.
I need to dig out the video though and sit and "renew the view." So no doubt, with a little inspiration, some highlights will come back of which will be a continuing part of the Marty Robbins introduction into this fold of "covers" which is a great idea, and thanks guys and gals for creating the fun that happens here.
Cheers, RJ.

Nightingale · 02-07-2009, 02:02 AM

Jeez, no other choice but good or bad? How about "just okay" ?
I voted for good but I am not sure I believe it...lol. I think Marty's voice is good in it...a little bit goofy on the presentation. Hate the shirt

Not that it should matter...lol.

This isn't my favorite Lightfoot song so that might influence my thinking also. I am not into country music that much either.
I wouldn't buy it but I could listen to it if it were playing.

jj · 02-07-2009, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlene

a bit too peppy for me..
the porn 'stache contradicts the lovely embroidered tunic..
lol
i do like his voice as it's not too twangy or bluegrass sounding..
3.5 out of 5..

oh, i've upped my score to 4.5 / 5.0 after hearing this less "lively and entertaining" clip, much smoother, great voice...clip too short

YouTube - Ribbon Of Darkness

heh heh, about the stache...i once had a boogie nights stache that lead to absolutely nil action, lol....cute anecdote about your Marty fan, char

thanks Kester, i know and like the white sportcoat tune well and didn't know it was him

ronj, get more old stories out here once you've had the morning cookies!

BILLW · 02-07-2009, 10:21 AM

Another vote "Good" ! One of the few advantages of being old is that we remember stuff like this when it was new. I know his version of the song led many an old hippie to track down Mr. Lightfoot... and of course that's a good thing. Yeah 'tis true even hippies liked country music - I mean the Dead were country for pete's sake, LOL.

Bill

lighthead2toe · 02-24-2009, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jj

oh, i've upped my score to 4.5 / 5.0 after hearing this less "lively and entertaining" clip, much smoother, great voice...clip too short

YouTube - Ribbon Of Darkness

heh heh, about the stache...i once had a boogie nights stache that lead to absolutely nil action, lol....cute anecdote about your Marty fan, char

thanks Kester, i know and like the white sportcoat tune well and didn't know it was him

ronj, get more old stories out here once you've had the morning cookies!

Well the morning cookies are done, have been sampled, but out of fear of prosecution, I cannot disclose the ingredients JJ, but will say that sure do enhance the present.

Well, let me tell ya folks, this Marty Robbins guy was one of a kind.

He knew more that 1000 songs, recorded 73 albums, had 18 # 1 hits, and kept a record on the hit charts from 1952 till 1983, the year after he died.

His song "El Paso topped the charts for 26 weeks, sold more that 5 million singles and 3 million albums. It won the first ever Grammy award for a country record.

It was without a doubt the signature song for Marty Robbins.

He broke tradition by showing up late to perform at the "Grand Ole Opry" due to an accident on the raceway close by in Nashville where he used to race cars.

He also starred in a Hollywood movie, wrote a novel, produced a television series, was the first country artist to play Las Vegas, and was the first in medical history to have triple by-pass surgery.

He bent tradition by introducing a trumpet player to accompany him at the "Opry."

On Oct 11th, 1982 he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

On Dec 2nd, 1982 he suffered a heart attack and had emergency quadruple by-pass surgery and for the next six days fought for his life. He died on Dec 8th and was buried 3 days later in Nashville. He was 57.

For more on Marty Robbins this address was given at the end of the video:

Marty Robbins Enterprises,
713-18th Ave S., Nashville, Tenn.,
37203, USA.

No more cookies. Throat too lumpy.
RJ.

RM · 02-24-2009, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lighthead2toe

Well the morning cookies are done, have been sampled, but out of fear of prosecution, I cannot disclose the ingredients JJ, but will say that sure do enhance the present.

I just bought a couple of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. Are yours for sale ?

lighthead2toe · 02-24-2009, 10:15 PM

Gee Ron, I don't think it would be wise for me to sell my cookies.

I really like the ones the Girls sell though and they do taste better.

The difference is the ones they sell when eaten provide a good feeling in the stomach and the ones I make when eaten provide a good feeling in the mind.

There are risks involved with selling mine because of certain ingredients and I tend to pay attention what Gord says in his song "The House You Live In:" "be careful while bending the law."

Cheers, RJ.

vlmagee · 03-02-2009, 08:33 PM

Marty Robbins' cover was the first Gord song to chart in the US. It reached #1 on the Country charts in April, 1965. In the original recording, more in the style of the short clip posted above, he sings the song very much in Gord's style, and he says just that on the LP album jacket ("in Marty Robbins' voice, and Gordon Lightfoot's style" (as I remember it). That recording is complete with whistling that sounds just like Lightfoot's.

In the days of cassettes, I had my little GL/cover cassette, with the Lightfoot cover and then the Lightfoot original. Marty Robbins' cover was possibly my favorite.


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