"Marty Robbins had so many hits through the years that even this impressive showing isn't complete. i don't know if this is a record-setting feat or not, but Marty had 37 consecutive Top-40 hits from 1953-1965...the single that broke the string was "Old Red" in 1965, it charted one week at #50. i love nearly all the songs on this album, the only one i didn't like as much is "Tomorrow You'll Be Gone". all of his big hits are on here and the only ones that were popular with his audience that they left off were: "Begging To You"; "Mr. Shorty"; "Cigarettes and Coffee Blues"; and "The Cowboy in the Continental Suit". incidentally, "Begging To You" was a 3 week #1 country hit and a #74 pop hit too so why it was left off i have no clue. Marty was one of country music's first pop cross-over acts. from 1956-1964 he constantly had singles on the country and pop singles charts. 11 of his pop cross-overs hit the Top-40, which in those days was unheard of for a country act to chart so high. All in all, this is a great look at Marty Robbins. one of my favorites is the last song, "Some Memories Just Won't Die". i love that arrangement and his performance shows that he still had it...even months before his death in December 1982 {that song was his last Top-10 in his lifetime; his final Top-10 came after his death, the early 1983 "Honkytonk Man"; not to be confused with the same titled hit by Johnny Horton and the remake later by Dwight Yoakam}."
Why Search Further?
Mcgivern Owen L | NY, NY USA | 05/05/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"According to Billboard, Marty Robbins had 83 chart country hits from 1952 to the time of his untimely death from a heart attack on December 8, 1982. That is 30 straight years of hits! I hadn't realized how long Marty lasted. These particular selections begin in 1951 with one non-chart song, "Tomorrow You'll Be Gone" and proceed straight through to "Some Memories Just Won't Die", which was (appropriately) released the summer he died. Impressively, 13 of these 20 tracks climbed to #1, 5 more were in the Top 10! One final selection, "The Hanging Tree", reached # 15. I firmly recommend "survey" CDs such as this over the more elaborate-and expensive- box sets. There are many other MR albums to scroll through but why search further? A tip of the country hat to whoever produced this compilation. It's all right here-good solid genuine country."
The only Marty Robbins Album you need in your collection!
Eclectic Revisited | 05/18/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is great!!! It has every great song on it he did. He's a classic. It spans his hits from 1951 to 1982. El Paso, El Paso City, Big Iron, It's great."
Absolutely Phenominal!!
Ronda Payton-penuel | Huntsville, AL USA | 07/16/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I absolutely love this CD. Marty Robbins has a magnificient
voice!! This CD includes all his greatest hits!! I love it so much I am ordering another copy. My car stereo got stolen
and I was more upset with the fact that this Marty Robbins
CD was in the stereo when the stereo was lifted than I was
that the stereo was lifted!! Buy this one, you won't be sorry!!"
Nothing Bad Here But Not All You Need
Eclectic Revisited | Arizona | 11/29/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is actually a lesser version of "The Essential Marty Robbins - 1951-1982" and while most of the songs are easy to listen to when served up by Marty, if you can get the above-named compilation, you will THEN have all you need (unless you require a lot of his Western album cuts, a treat in themselves). His early 50s songs were just typical blah old-time country for the most part but even with the traditional hillbilly orchestration, Marty made "I Couldn't Keep From Crying" special and an omen of what was to come. "That's All Right, Mama" (on both albums) is just a cover of Elvis Presley's regional hit before he went on to national success and is nothing special. As always, there's plenty to like here. It just could have been better."