Marty Robbins – Essential

Marty Robbins was hands down the most versatile singer in the history of country music. “Mister Teardrop,” as he was known, was a vocal marvel, whether he was singing honky-tonk or countrypolitan, Burt Bacharach or the blues. He covered Elvis Presley — in 1954 for God’s sake, when 99 percent of the country had yet to hear so much as an Elvis Presley rumor. Later, Robbins scored with iconic teen pop such as “A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)” and iconic western tales such as “El Paso”, as well as with swelling power ballads such as “You Gave Me A Mountain” and delicate, mournful entreaties such as “Begging to You”. All of it was delivered in an easy, nuanced style that determined never to let us see him sweat even as he made it plain he was sweating bullets. This 40-track, two-disc overview gets bonus points for including three cuts from the singer’s brief early-’70s stint at Decca. Indeed, Robbins was never more yearning or emotionally complex than on one gorgeous bit of country soul here in which he reminds a much younger lover that he won’t always be “This Much A Man”.