Marty Robbins--El Paso (1959)

     Every once in awhile an artist will create a song that overshadows his work so much that you THINK that he is a one hit wonder, but really isn't. Such is the case for Marty Robbins

     Robbins first No. 1 hit on the country charts was in 1952, and began a long relationship with country fans having 41 top 10 hits with 16 of those reaching the top. Not only that, but he reached the top 20 pop chart 11 times, with "El Paso" being is top hit.

     It's easy to understand why the song overshadows however. The melody sets the tone and then compellingly leads through a story that mixes the best elements of a Western movie, with a romance that will never be fulfilled. It was a strong enough song that Robbins recorded several other "sequel" songs that push the story forward. Although you can hear other songs that he performed on the radio now and then (Most notably, "A White Sport Coat). This overshadows his work so much that the impression can be made (outside of fans of older country music that know better) that it was his ONLY hit. Which is far from the truth.

      Little piece of trivia here....Robbins was not only an avid race car fan, he actually raced in 35 NASCAR races having come in the top 10 six times, including the 1973 Daytona 500.....

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Hank Williams--Hey Good Lookin' (1951)

     As a child, I remember the two album set that my daddy owned. It had a purple label and the music was a foreign to me as anything I had ever heard. At the time my listening experiences had been AM radio, and dad listened to country, but nothing had prepared me for hearing this yodeling and this voice that seemed to bounce around like a yo-yo at times. But there was something sweet about the vocals, actually it was downright poetic....that was my first introduction to Hank Williams Sr.

      One of the reasons that Hank Sr is still seen as the touchstones of country music  was his ability to take the life and loves of common folk and boil it down in a lyrical style that is almost poetic. His mannerism and vocal delivery screams country, but the songs themselves go far beyond classification. This was to his advantage as many pop singers covered his songs, but it also laid the foundation down for every singer/songwriter who wanted to be "of the people". Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson,  Garth Brooks all have Hank as their lyrical touchstone.

       It's hard to imagine what country music would have been like had Williams not died so young. On the other hand, his legend might not have been as secured if his passing not been while he was still churning out classic songs. For those who are living now on a diet of what "country radio" has and you want to hear what real country was all about....start right here.

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Elvis Presley: I Forgot To Remember To Forget (1956)

On this day in 1956 Elvis celebrated his first major hit when, "I Forgot To Remember To Forget" hit #1 on the Billboard Country & Western charts. Of course, most people "forgot" this song, when a week later, "Heartbreak Hotel" made it's debut on the pop charts...and well... you know the rest.

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