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Personnel: Marty Robbins (vocals, guitar); Donnie Winters, Jr., The Glaser Brothers, Bobby Sykes (vocals); Grady Martin (guitar, drums, congas); Alex Garland, Jack Pruett, Glenn Keener, William Pitman, Hank Garland, James E. Wilson, Jerry G. Kennedy, Bob Eggers, Jim Glaser, Allan Reuss, Ray Edenton, Tommy Allsup, Tony Rizzi, Fred Newell, Billy Sanford, Tiny Timbrell, Jack Solomon (guitar); William D. Johnson, Katsuhiko Kobayashi, Pete Drake (steel guitar); Buddy Spicher (fiddle); Elbert Raymond "Dutch" McMillin (saxophone); Karl Garvin, William K. McElhiney (trumpet); Clarence L. Gordon, Si Zentner (trombone); Conrad Noddin, Wayne Jackson (horns); Earl Poole Ball, Floyd Cramer, William Whitney Pursell, George Richey, Billy Sherrill, Jerry Whitehurst, Bobby Wood (piano); Shane Keister (keyboards); Claude E. "Eddy Fox" Headrick, William Paul Ackerman, Louis Dunn, Tom Wilkerson (drums); Farrell Morris (percussion). Audio Mixers: Mark Wilder; Richard Bennett. Liner Note Author: Guy Logsdon. Recording information: Bradley Film & Recording, Nashville, TN (10/11/1958-04/03/1979); Bradley's Barn, Mount Juliet, TN (10/11/1958-04/03/1979); Columbia Studio, Nashville, TN (10/11/1958-04/03/1979); Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA (10/11/1958-04/03/1979). Illustrators: Ekkehard Schumann; R.A. Andreas. Photographers: Ekkehard Schumann; R.A. Andreas. Four CDs covering Marty Robbins' complete Western recordings, 99 songs in all from 1958 until 1979. As a concept, Under Western Skies is cohesive and enjoyable, largely because Robbins' music, regardless of the particular year in which it was recorded, is unified thematically. It's also a superb showcase for Robbins' voice, one of the most versatile in country & western -- he was equally adept at rock & roll, traditional country, or Western ballads dating back 100 years or more, but he had a way of extending the latter genre's melodic beauty and lyricism without ever seeming repetitive. Thus, it wasn't just that Robbins was covering this repertory, but that he was doing it in ways that, as a solo artist of his era, were just about definitive. Disc One contains songs from Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs and parts of the follow-up record, More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. Disc Two is devoted to songs from Return of the Gunfighter and the rest of More Gunfighter Ballads, filled out with songs that only appeared previously in 1984 on a Bear Family vinyl release. By the mid-'60s, Robbins' voice was even better, richer and more confident on this material, and Disc Three reflects this. Disc Four extends up through 1979, and it's something of a tribute to Robbins' success with this repertory that precious little was left in the vaults for Bear Family or anyone else to unearth and issue for the first time. The accompanying booklet is 60 pages long, and while it does seem as though the essay is not as well organized as it might have been, it's interesting overall, highlighted with excellent photographs and accompanied
