AMG Review of Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs [Bonus Tracks]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs was Marty Robbins' first album to consist entirely of Western and cowboy music. Containing the hit single "El Paso," the album was divided between originals, traditional cowboy songs, and contemporary Western songs. The result was a successful and thoroughly entertaining celebration of cowboy songs and Western movies, particularly since the songs are alternately idealistic and adventurous. Sure, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs doesn't deal in reality, but it is grounded in myth. It just happens to be one of the most effective and romantic statements of the cowboy mythology recorded in the late '50s and early '60s. [The 1999 CD reissue contains three bonus tracks: "The Hanging Tree," "Saddle Tramp," and "El Paso."]