Sony LegacyMarty Robbins’ pivotal 1959 album, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, is one of only 25 recordings chosen to be preserved as part of the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress this year.
Recorded entirely in one eight-hour session on April 7, 1959, the Grammy-winning LP includes the Country Music Hall of Famer’s self-penned signature song, “El Paso.”
The registry chooses recordings each year based on their “cultural, artistic and historical importance to American society and the nation’s audio heritage,” according to the Library of Congress.
Also of note among this year’s honorees are the Eagles’ 1976 compilation, Their Greatest Hits, as well as the Chuck Wagon Gang’s 1948 recording of “I’ll Fly Away.” The country/gospel group was the first to record the now-classic southern hymn by Albert E. Brumley.
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
