Born in Glendale, Arizona in 1925, Marty acquired his love of all things western from his maternal grandfather and his love of music and performing from the legendary Gene Autry. Dropping out of high school, he joined the Navy in 1943 serving in the South Pacific and it was here he developed his interest in songwriting and learned to play the guitar.
After returning home he joined a local band and in 1947 was hired to sing at a radio station in Mesa, Arizona. As his fan base grew, he soon moved on to KPHO Radio in Phoenix where he was awarded and hour-long show called, “Chuck Wagon Time”. KPHO Radio soon ventured into the new world of television and for fifteen minutes, four times a week, Marty entertained on “Country Caravan”. “Little” Jimmy Dickens made an appearance on the show and was so impressed; it led to Marty being signed by CBS Records in 1951.
Not too many aspiring recording artists would refuse to record material their first recording company requested of them, but Marty did. During his first recording session at Columbia, he was presented with twenty songs from which he could choose four. Not caring for any of them, he wrote four himself. This attitude was hardly well received at Columbia, but set the tone for much of his career choices. And of course, with only his third single “I’ll Go On Alone” zipping up the charts and resulting in a songwriter’s contract with Acuff-Rose Publishing, I’m sure any ruffled feathers were soon smoothed over.
Within five short years, his velvet voice had dominated the charts with “Singing The Blues”, “A White Sport Coat” and “El Paso” which became his signature song.
“I’m getting’ back about half as much as I’m givin’, and I couldn’t do it without a good women at home.” ~
His involvement in racing began, as with so many others, on the dirt tracks, before trying his hand in the Grand National series (which became the Winston Cup, which begat the Nextel Cup, and will, probably in a couple of years, begat something else). In 1968 he competed at Daytona, completing three forgettable laps before being sidelined by a blown fuse. At Bristol the same year, he blew an engine, but finally finished the National 500 at Charlotte in 12th place. And in 1969 he received what most would consider a major wake up call. His first heart attack.
What is so amazing is that he literally bulled through it. The attack occurred as he was making his way to a performance in Cleveland. Rather than return to Nashville, he opted to complete the Cleveland date, and suffering increasing pain, left for Nashville after the show. There he received the news that three of his major arteries were blocked and he had a year to live unless he opted for the then rather new procedure of bypass surgery. He chose the surgery and became the first person in history to undergo a triple bypass. Beside him all this time was his wife of 21 years, Marizona.
Having met when she was 15 and he was 20, they married in 1948, had two children and for better or worse, remained together for 33 years.
While recovering from surgery, it is said that as soon as he could raise his arms, he asked for a guitar and wrote the song “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife” in her honor. It also gave him his second Grammy award.
“First place could be just a dream, but I’m gonna chase it. Finishin’ out of the top ten is nothin’ but bad”~
His overall racing statistics hardly prove what could have been since he only competed in a handful of races each year. Of 35 Grand National starts, he finished in the top ten only six times with his best finish coming in 1974 at Michigan where he finished fifth. But the respect and friendship he garnered with his fellow drivers was second to none.
Bobby Allison states that “At first he was a little over his head, but then he started getting real good at it.” And one of the most telling incidents occurred at Charlotte in 1974 when in an attempt to avoid hitting a car broadside; he turned into the wall at 160 mph. In addition to 37 stitches to his face, he suffered a broken tailbone, several broken ribs and two black eyes. Richard Childress is quoted as saying, “If Marty hadn’t turned into the wall, it’s highly likely I might not be here today.” He should know as he was driving the car Marty simply refused to hit.
“And racin’ runs deep in my veins, I’ll never shake it” ~
In addition to the limited NASCAR schedule that Marty ran, he also raced quite often at Nashville Speedway, only to then race to the Grand Ole Opry to perform from 11:30pm to midnight. If he ran over, he simply walked over, moved the hands of the clock back and continued. This enabled him to talk to his fans as well as sign several hundred autographs. But time was catching up to him. In 1981 he suffered a minor heart attack.
I remember those days when Marty was racing and I remember hearing about his health problems. One story that circulated at the time was that NASCAR was considering whether or not it was safe for him to continue to race. As with many things NASCAR, only NASCAR knows, but I choose to believe that if NASCAR was seriously considering pulling his license, it was out of concern not only for the other drivers but for Marty as well.
Whatever the case, this man who certainly had a heart as big as a house, lost his final battle.
After being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October 1982, and racing in the Atlanta Journal 500 in November, Marty Robbins suffered yet another massive heart attack and died on December 8, 1982.
“You might even call me a twentieth century drifter, thirty-two weekends I load up the car and I’m gone” ~
By today’s standard, 32 weekends would seem like a part time drive to most drivers and teams. But I dare say if Marty Robbins hadn’t been the superstar he was, today’s schedule would have been like Christmas every day to him.
Attempting to capsulate his life in a short column doesn’t do him justice. Thank God we have his music as it surely does.
I miss Marty Robbins and I’m sure there are many out there that do.
“Twentieth Century Drifter”
Words and Music by ~ Marty Robbins
Album ~ “Good ‘n Country
MCA Records ~ 1974
Note:...The song “Twentieth Century Drifter” is available on a CD called “Best of Marty Robbins”. Attempting to find out when the song was originally released and who actually wrote the song was, however, futile. This may be because I’m a miserable Internet searcher. However, I knew I had the original album. That’s “original”, as in vinyl, 33 1/3 rpm, etc. I also knew that this album was in a box, stored deep in the back of a closet that would probably be condemned by any number of environmental organizations. So after hours of searching the Net for the information and coming up empty handed and out of a deep sense for accuracy, I made the valiant effort, put my life at risk and found the original album. Now, I’m glad I did ‘cause this puppy is mint.
~Carol
Email: bellestar63@aol.com
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