Grady Martin, a rockabilly and county legend and A-list session musician, was the secret weapon behind Robbins’ “El Paso,” Loretta Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and other all-time great recordings.
On “Don’t Worry,” he played six-string bass. A relatively tame song sounds way different when Martin’s solo begins about the 1:25 mark. He’d run his instrument through a faulty mixing console. As a result, it sounded like he’d stirred up a nest of metallic hornets.
Apparently, Martin didn’t care for the effect. Producer Don Law disagreed, leaving the unusual wrinkle in the final cut. The decision didn’t hinder the song’s success. In addition to becoming Robbins’ seventh number one country hit, it ranked as high as third on the pop chart.
Whatever hesitations Martin may have had about guitar fuzz must not have lasted. He built a whole song around the effect, fittingly titled “The Fuzz,” and recorded it with his band the Slewfoot Five. It was released the same year as “Don’t Worry.”
Session engineer Glen Snoddy also took advantage of the situation. He hung onto the faulty mixing channel and made it available to other artists. By 1962, Snoddy helped sell the idea for a fuzz pedal to the Gibson Guitar Corporation.
From my fav:
There was forty feet between them when they stopped to make their play
And the swiftness of the ranger is still talked about today
Texas Red had not cleared leather fore a bullet fairly ripped
And the ranger’s aim was deadly with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip
Played easily into the cliched 1950’s TV cowboy westerns that were coming out of the woodwork.
Yeah, they were silly, and even though I have not a single country western bone in my body at least one of the 3 dvd players in our living room has a western series ready to go. Currently player 1 has “Have Gun, Will Travel” and player 2 has “Gunsmoke” season 15. Probably the most cliched character of the bunch was Jess Harper of “Laramie” fame who’s gun belt rode so low and jeans so tight that they almost rendered him an invalid. Oh yeah, player 3 currently has “Peter Gunn” cause we likes some noir now and zen.
Blondi UtronkiJanuary 14, 2020, 6:43 AM
Marty Robbins had great vocal range and was always so on pitch. Listen to “Marty after Midnight”. He did an album of standards from which, so I’ve read, that gave Willie Nelson the idea to do “Stardust”.
TerryJanuary 14, 2020, 8:15 AM
Marty Robbins-
One of my all time favorite music artists.
DANJanuary 14, 2020, 1:30 PM
agree with GS big iron indeed. think i read somewhere that martys grandad was a ranger. at least we all knew the bad guys from the good guys back then much better than now with all the SHADES OF GRAY,miss the balladers of old johnny horten,burl ives,etc.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
From my fav:
There was forty feet between them when they stopped to make their play
And the swiftness of the ranger is still talked about today
Texas Red had not cleared leather fore a bullet fairly ripped
And the ranger’s aim was deadly with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip
Played easily into the cliched 1950’s TV cowboy westerns that were coming out of the woodwork.
Yeah, they were silly, and even though I have not a single country western bone in my body at least one of the 3 dvd players in our living room has a western series ready to go. Currently player 1 has “Have Gun, Will Travel” and player 2 has “Gunsmoke” season 15. Probably the most cliched character of the bunch was Jess Harper of “Laramie” fame who’s gun belt rode so low and jeans so tight that they almost rendered him an invalid. Oh yeah, player 3 currently has “Peter Gunn” cause we likes some noir now and zen.
Marty Robbins had great vocal range and was always so on pitch. Listen to “Marty after Midnight”. He did an album of standards from which, so I’ve read, that gave Willie Nelson the idea to do “Stardust”.
Marty Robbins-
One of my all time favorite music artists.
agree with GS big iron indeed. think i read somewhere that martys grandad was a ranger. at least we all knew the bad guys from the good guys back then much better than now with all the SHADES OF GRAY,miss the balladers of old johnny horten,burl ives,etc.
by the by thanks for the ear worm GS