Born in Glendale, Arizona, Robbins taught himself guitar while serving in the United States Navy during World War II, and subsequently drew fame performing in clubs in and around his hometown. In 1956, he released his first No. 1 country song, "Singing the Blues" and one year later, released two more No. 1 hits, "A White Sport Coat" and "The Story of My Life". In 1959, Robbins released his signature song, "El Paso", for which he won the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. Later releases that drew critical acclaim include "Don't Worry", "Big Iron" and "Honkytonk Man", the last for which the 1982 Clint Eastwood film is named, and in which Robbins made his final appearance before death.
Over the course of his career, Robbins recorded more than 500 songs and 60 albums, and won two Grammy Awards, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and was named the 1960s Artist of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music. Robbins was a commercial success in both the country and pop genres, and his songs were covered by many other famous artists, including Johnny Cash, the Grateful Dead and Elvis Presley. His music continues to have an influence in pop culture today, having recently appeared in several contemporary pop culture features, including the video game Fallout: New Vegas, and the series finale of AMC's Breaking Bad.
Robbins was born in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix in Maricopa County, Arizona. His mother was mostly of Paiute Indian heritage. Robbins grew up in a difficult family situation. His father took odd jobs to support the family of 10 children; however, his hard drinking led to divorce in 1937. Among his warmer memories of his childhood, Robbins recalled having listened to stories of the American West told by his maternal grandfather, Texas Bob Heckle, who was a local medicine man. At 17, Robbins left his troubled home to serve in the United States Navy as an LCT coxswain during World War II. He was stationed in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. To pass the time during the war, he learned to play the guitar, started writing songs, and came to love Hawaiian music.
Robbins' discography consists of 52 studio albums, 13 compilation albums, and 100 singles. In his career, Robbins charted 17 Number One singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, as well as 82 Top 40 singles.
Robbins' highest charting album is 1959's Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. It charted to #6 on the all-genre Billboard 200, and was also certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album's first single, "El Paso", became a hit on both the country and pop charts, charting to Number One on the Hot Country Songs as well as the Billboard Hot 100. While that would be his only pop Number One, in 1957, "A White Sport Coat" charted to #2, and in 1961, "Don't Worry" charted to #3.
His final Top 10 single was "Honkytonk Man" from the 1982 eponymous film in which Robbins had a role. He died shortly before its release. Since his death, four posthumous studio albums have been released, but they made no impact on the charts.
Robbins married Marizona "Mari" Baldwin on September 27, 1948. They had two children, Ronny and Janet, and were married 34 years until his death.
The Story Of My Life
Marty Robbins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The story of my life
I'll tell about the night we met
And how my heart can't forget
The way you smiled at me
I want the world to know
The story of my life
And that first exciting time
I held you close to me
The sorrow in our love was breakin' up
The memory of a broken heart
Then later on, the joy of makin' up
Never never more to part
There's one thing left to do
Before my story's through
I've got to take you for my wife
So the story of my life
Can start and end with you
The sorrow in our love was breakin' up
The memory of a broken heart
Then later on, the joy of makin' up
Never never more to part
There's one thing left to do
Before my story's through
I've got to take you for my wife
So the story of my life
Can start and end
Can start and end
Can start and end with you
In Marty Robbins's βThe Story of my Lifeβ, the singer talks of writing down his life story one day. He wants the world to know about his love story with the woman he met, how their lips met for the first time, and how he held her close to him. He mentions the sorrow they experienced due to their love being tested, but after the hardship, they experienced the joy of making up and vowed never to be apart again. The singer declares that there is one thing left for him to do before his story ends, and that is to take her as his wife, so the story of his life can start and end with her.
The song creates an image of a happy and memorable love story. The singer's depiction of his longing for his love to be permanent shows a desire to live a life of commitment and fulfillment. The reference to their sorrow and ultimate triumph, though not explicitly mentioned, adds texture to the story, making it more relatable to listeners.
Overall, the song talks of the beauty of love, its challenges, and the importance of taking responsibility for our relationships to achieve lifelong happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
Someday I'm going to write
One day, I will tell the tale
The story of my life
My personal journey recounted in full detail
I'll tell about the night we met
I'll describe the fateful evening our paths crossed
And how my heart can't forget
And how the memory of you has stayed with me all this time
The way you smiled at me
The moment I fell in love with you, the way you looked at me with a smile
I want the world to know
I want to share this experience with everyone
The moment when your lips met mine
The pivotal instance where our lips first touched
And that first exciting time
The exhilarating feeling that engulfed me at that moment
I held you close to me
I pulled you into an embrace, never wanting to let go
The sorrow in our love was breakin' up
We experienced hardship in our relationship, and it was almost ending
The memory of a broken heart
The recollection of the pain our relationship brought us
Then later on, the joy of makin' up
But we eventually found happiness through reconciliation
Never never more to part
And vowed to never let anything come between us again
There's one thing left to do
There is something I have yet to accomplish
Before my story's through
Before my life's tale comes to a close
I've got to take you for my wife
I need to make you my spouse
So the story of my life
So that my life's story
Can start and end with you
Can begin and conclude with you by my side
Can start and end
Can commence and conclude
Can start and end with you
With you playing a central role throughout
Lyrics Β© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BURT BACHARACH, HAL DAVID
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Charlie
Only problem with Marty Robin's songs is , they are way too short .
What a wonderful Man.
Rodney Lay 1940
El Paso was over 7 minutes.
Jeffrey Lipinski
Not the songs he sings that tell a story
they are rather long like BIG IRON
Jeffrey Lipinski
@Rodney Lay 1940 Right
James James
Marty and his band created distortion which went on and was used to create heavy metal rock n' roll. It was by accident when amplifier speaker cracked during practice but still made distorted sound and Marty got mad said turn that damn thing off. lol
Someone decided they liked the messed up sound and the first distortion equipment was invented, The Fuzz Box by WWII veteran Glenn Snoddy, a audio engineer in Nashville, TN. He passed on in 2018.
Charlie
@James James That's very interesting, thank you
Kyle Cravens
Saw Burt Bacharach play recently with the Nashville symphony (at age 87!). He said that his first hit actually came out of Nashville and it was this song. His first cut as a writer went all the to #1 on the country charts. To think the guy's career started 60 years with this song. Incredible.
Dennis Fannin
Yes. This was the first song written by Bacharach and David.
Marvin Roos
Rest in peace, Mr. Bacharach
Judy Foxkit
Absolutely love this song! Marty Robbins has a superb voice!