A great artist’s legacy lives on long after they’re gone, and this was especially true of Marty Robbins. The singing cowboy and, later, racecar driver was massively influential to the country music ...

We often assume that musicians eat, sleep, and breathe their artistic craft, and while that’s often true, Marty Robbins used music as a means to an end to fund his true dream job: a stock-car racer.

Written by Robbins, “El Paso” was first released on his Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs album in September 1959. By January 1960, the song had sold 3.5 million copies and appeared on both country ...