Everyone's heard Marty Robbins' 1959 hit "El Paso" (I hope) about the young cowboy who kills another in Rose's Cantina for love of a dancer named Feleena - and ends up with a bullet in his chest. But far fewer have heard Marty's two sequels.
"Feleena" (1966) tells the tale from the dancer's point of view. This one is an eight minute epic that follows Feleena from the time she leaves home to seek adventure to the aftermath of the young cowboy's death.
And "El Paso City" (1976) brings the story into the present, where the singer looks down on the town from an airplane, wondering if he himself was that cowboy in an earlier life.
For the ultimate Marty Robbins experience, you might want to check out this four-disc, 97-song CD set, containing dang near every cowboy ballad he recorded between 1958 and 1979. A boxful of cowboy heaven. Don't have 90 or more bucks to blow? Do what I did - ask your local library to buy it.
More of today's Forgotten Music:
Scott Parker: Diana Krall's The Girl in the Other Room
Paul D. Brazill: BASZCAX
Bill Crider: 50s Pop
Martin Edwards: On the Flip Side
Randy Johnson: Showdown! - Collins, Cray, Copeland
George Kelley: The T.A.M.I. Show
Perplexio: Harry Chapin - Short Stories
Charlie Ricci: Stevie Wonder - Where I'm Coming From
Todd Mason: The Max Roach Group - Freedom Now Suite
Got Forgotten Music of your own? Join us the last Thursday of each month!