El Paso City (1976 Marty Robbins song)

"El Paso City" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Marty Robbins. It was released in March 1976 as the first single and title track from the album El Paso City. The song was Robbins' 15th number one on the U.S. country singles chart. The single stayed at number one for two weeks and spent 11 weeks on the chart.^[1]

Song background

Robbins wrote "El Paso City" while flying over El Paso, Texas, in - he reported - the same amount of time it takes to sing, four minutes and 14 seconds. It was only the second time that ever happened to him; the first time was when he composed the original El Paso as fast as he could write it down.

The song is a reworking (and indirect sequel) of Robbins' 1959 hit "El Paso," about a gunfighter who flees for his life after killing another man while defending his girlfriend's honor, but who later returns and is himself shot dead by a posse.

In "El Paso City," the main protagonist is a passenger on an airplane over El Paso and is compelled to recall the song he heard long ago ("El Paso"). He fails to recall the man who sang "El Paso," but immediately senses a supernatural connection to the story. He wonders to himself, "Could it be that I could be the cowboy in this mystery," suggesting a past life.

The arrangement of "El Paso City" includes riffs and themes from "El Paso" and its sequel, "Feleena (From El Paso)".

Chart performance

Chart (1976)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[2]	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1

Other versions

The Meat Puppets covered the song on their single We Don't Exist (1994).

References

↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 294.
↑ "Marty Robbins – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Marty Robbins.

Preceded by "I'll Get Over You" by Crystal Gayle	Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single June 19-June 26, 1976	Succeeded by "All These Things" by Joe Stampley
Preceded by "One Piece at a Time" by Johnny Cash	RPM Country Tracks number-one single June 26, 1976	Succeeded by "I Wouldn't Want It Any Other Way" by Lyle

Marty Robbins
Albums	Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs Today The Performer
Notable singles	"I'll Go On Alone" "I Couldn't Keep from Crying" "That's All Right" "Maybellene" "Singing the Blues" "Knee Deep in the Blues" "A White Sport Coat" "The Story of My Life" "Just Married" "The Hanging Tree" "El Paso" "Big Iron" "Don't Worry" "Devil Woman" "Ruby Ann" "Begging to You" "Ribbon of Darkness" "Tonight Carmen" "I Walk Alone" "It's a Sin" "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife" "Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)" "El Paso City" "Among My Souvenirs" "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)" "Return to Me" "Some Memories Just Won't Die" "Tie Your Dream to Mine"
Related articles	Discography Columbia Records MCA Records Jeanne Pruett
Book:Marty Robbins

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