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Marty was born Martin David Robinson on September 26, 1925. Born near Glendale, Arizona, the family lived in severe poverty. While growing up, Marty's maternal grandfather, Texas Bob Heckle, a former Texas ranger, would supply young Marty with tales of the Old West. This instilled in Marty a love for a time long past, a time of cowboys and gunfighters.

As a young boy, Marty would work various odd jobs to earn him about $.25 a week. On Saturdays, a theater in the nearest town would show Gene Autry pictures, and Marty (who probably wasn't older than 10 or 11) would walk the 8 miles to town alone to see the show. $.20 paid for the movie, popcorn, and a soda, and he would spend all day watching his idol sing and perform. Marty's strongest wish was to be like Gene Autry, a singing cowboy. When the theater closed at 10p.m., Marty would walk the 8 miles back home in the dark alone, but because of his idol, he wasn't afraid. Marty would say, "I had just seen Gene Autry, and I was Gene Autry that night."

At the age of seventeen, Marty joined the Navy. He served three years, two of which were spent in the South Pacific. During the early years of World War II, Marty drove landing craft that was responsible for carrying soldiers to the beaches during a battle over the Solomon Islands.

It was while in the Navy that Marty first became serious about being a singer/songwriter. To help pass the time, he began playing guitar and writing songs. A brief visit to Hawaii before his 1945 discharge left him with a love for Hawaiian music, which would prove useful later on.

With his increasing popularity, Marty got a job at a bigger station, KPHO in Phoenix, where he was given an early morning half hour long show called, "Chuck Wagon Time". When KPHO-TV was created, they asked Marty to do some live performances for them. Marty, who was extremely shy, agreed to host their show only after he was told he would lose his radio show if he refused. Only a fifteen minute show shown four days a week, with Marty, "Country Caravan" was a big hit locally.

Marty's break came in 1951 when "Little" Jimmy Dickens, on tour, made an appearance on "Country Caravan" to promote his own show in Phoenix. He was so impressed with Marty's talent and vocal ability, that he contacted Art Satherly at CBS Records. Art promptly took a trip to Phoenix, liked what he saw, and signed Marty to a contract on May 25, 1951. Marty would later joke, "...the people who don't like my singing, don't blame me, blame Jimmy Dickens!"

For his first session, Marty was to record four songs, and Columbia Records sent him twenty songs to choose from. Marty, however didn't like any of them. He felt he could provide better songs, so he wrote four of his own. The Columbia man providing the twenty songs was so offended, Marty's first recording session almost never happened. Once the dust settled, Marty had gotten his way, and his four songs were recorded. Doing things Marty's way was a pattern that would follow him his entire career.

While I'll Go On Alone was climbing the charts, Marty did a guest appearance at the Grand Ole Opry. In 1953, he became a member of the Opry, and he and his family moved to Nashville.

At early performances, Marty hadn't yet made a name for himself, and wasn't always given the applause he desired from the audience. He refused to accept this, and so he would walk to the side of the stage and cheer for himself, encouraging them to cheer with him. The crowd loved it, and it soon became a part of Marty's every show. Fans looked forward to Marty leading his own cheering section.

Marty's second hit also came in 1953 with the ballad, I Couldn't Keep From Crying. Songs like this earned him the nickname, Mr. Teardrop,which Marty didn't care for, and he later wrote and recorded the song, Mr. Teardrop, seemingly mocking the nickname.

Marty's popularity quickly accelerated, and with it, Marty's top ten hits. In 1955, Marty earned his third top ten with That's All Right Mama, originally recorded by Elvis Presley. His fourth came in the same year when Marty recorded the Chuck Berry hit Maybelline.

Then Marty met a songwriter by the name of Melvin Endsley. When Endsley played a song for Marty backstage at the Opry, Marty loved it! The song was recorded at Owen Bradley's recording studio. Ray Edenton played lead break on a borrowed guitar, Marty played the opening acoustic guitar, and Owen Bradley played piano. The song, released in August 1956, was called, Singing the Blues, and it was Marty's first number one hit. It stayed on the charts for 30 weeks, topping them on September 12 and remaining at the number one spot for 18 weeks. It also reached the top twenty on the pop charts.

Marty returned to songwriting and while on tour, on an 11 mile stretch of road, he wrote the song A White Sport Coat. It was recorded in New York in January, 1957, and was an instant hit. It stayed on the charts for 22 weeks, reaching #1 on the country charts on April 10, and was #2 on pop.

Marty, testing his versatility, didn't stop with country, pop, blues and rockabilly tunes, his next musical effort would be Hawaiian. This resulted in the December 1957 album, Song of the Islands, and it contained twelve hawaiian love songs.

Source: Marty Robbins Web Page

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour!

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616),