Marty Robbins: Legendary Performances (DVD), Shout Factory, Music & Performance

You ain't gone country 'til you've heard Marty Robbins! a popular country and Western singer, Robbins' songs were often eclectic, touching on an array of world music, but also fusing country, pop and rock 'n' roll in a number of chart-topping hits. This career-spanning set includes El Paso, Singing the Blues, a White Sport Coat and more. 1948-82/color/80 min/NR/fullscreen.

With someone whose career as a country (and sometimes pop) hitmaker spanned more than 25 years, it's inevitable that a video retrospective of his career can only hope to sample some highlights. This DVD, however, does present a reasonably strong survey of 15 songs/performances by Marty Robbins from 1957 to 1979. Plenty of his biggest hits are represented, including of course "El Paso" (taken from an episode of a 1965 series where Robbins played a singing cowboy), but also "Devil Woman," "Knee Deep in the Blues," "Singing the Blues," "The Story of My Life," "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)," and "El Paso City." The clips certainly get slicker in presentation as the years go on; some guys in the band backing him on the pair of 1957 performances from Country Style USA seem almost embarrassed to be on-stage, though Jack Pruett certainly plays sparkling guitar on the first of these, "Knee Deep in the Blues." Marty himself, however, is always at ease; in fact, it seems like nothing short of a tornado would ruffle his calm self-assurance. If there's any disappointing aspect to this DVD, it's that the musical performances actually only fill up 40 minutes. Too, the 1957 pop smash "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)" would surely have been better represented by a clip of earlier vintage than the 1977 one selected for this disc. As some compensation, as a bonus feature there's a 40-minute interview (conducted in 1982, only nine months before his death) that's much more thoughtful than the usual Q&A with a country star, especially when Robbins discusses writing "El Paso" (though not so much when he talks about his auto racing exploits). Also included is a brief clip of Marty being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, less than two months before he passed away. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi

Movie genre	Music & Performance
Mpaa rating	Unrated
Director	ll
Movie & tv media format	DVD
Resolution	480p
Duration	80 min
Edition	Standard
Target audience	Adult
Number of discs	1
Dubbed in	Spanish
Subtitled languages	English
Has subtitles	N
Original languages	English
Movie subgenre	Music Video (Concert/Performance)
Dvd release date	08/19/2008
Awards won	dd
Aspect ratio	1.33 is1
Brand	Shout! Factory
Studio & production company	Shout! Factory
Number in series	1
Screenwriter	yy
Is dubbed	N
Narrated	N