Happy 95th birthday to the late Marty Robbins.

[lpbk2713]

I was looking up something on his Wikipedia page and found that out. As I read on I found out he was also a RWingnut. But he had a remarkable singing voice just the same.

If his name doesn't sound familiar maybe Out in the West Texas town of El Paso does.

[Tanuki]

1. Sing it, Marty!

[flotsam]

2. My favorite Marty Robbins story-How he passed Richard Petty at Talladega...

"What Robbins, Bobby and his engine-building brother, Eddie Allison, came up with was to “re-engineer” the carburetor on Robbins’ 1972 Dodge. Bobby recalls they used a material with a different expansion rate than the aluminum from which the carburetor was normally crafted. Eddie remembers putting wax on the restrictor plate to hold it in place as well. The bottom line is that when the carburetor got hot it expanded, the wax melted, and the plate fell out.

To keep it from falling into the valves and ruining the engine, the Allisons put small rods in the intake manifold that caught the plate when it fell. The result was a 2-inch opening in the carburetor instead of the mandated 1-11/16th opening. Now it may not sound like much, but that extra 5/16th meant an extra 40 to 50 horsepower under Robbins’ right foot and a car that could reach speeds of 220 miles per hour."


The rest here:
http://hallandarena.com/shorts/the-day-marty-robbins-passed-the-king/

[yellowdogintexas]

3. he was the last act at the final Grand Ole Opry broadcast from the Ryman Auditorium

He sat down at a grand piano and started singing all of his songs, and just did not want to stop. They had to cut off his sound so the Grand Old Gospel Hour could start!

That was quite a show.

El Paso was played on the WSM morning show every . dam. day . I knew if I was still in bed when Marty started singing I was in danger of missing the bus! I can still hear Lester and Earl singing the Martha White theme song commercials too

[lpbk2713]

4. He never gave a mediocre performance.

He always had a good time on stage and his audiences loved him for it.