I bought this Marty Robbins release after watching Clint Eastwood's 1980 "Honkytonk Man" and hearing some of Marty's songs on "Country Express", at that time the only country music radio show in Spain. And what I found in it was the most versatile country singer I'd ever heard, a man whose voice was fit for just about any kind of music. This is probably the most thorough collection of his Columbia output one can ever find, covering almost 30 years and a wide range of styles, including downright country ballads, cowboy songs, rockabilly, pop and even Hawaiian and jazz-influenced music. No matter what the style is, Marty always handles the songs with ease, he always knows what he's doing.

I'd like to draw your attention to some of my favorite songs on the set. "Big Iron" and "El Paso" are two great cowboy tunes drawn from Marty's "Gunfighter Ballads" LP. Don't miss rockabilly classics such as "Tennessee Toddy" or his version of "That's All Right". "Beyond The Reef" is one of the most beautiful Hawaiian-type songs I've ever heard, also cut by Elvis in the mid-60's. Elvis himself recorded Marty's own "You Gave Me A Mountain" in the 70's, the original version being included here. Finally, Marty's versatility is made obvious by his reading of "All The Way", a jazz standard introduced by Frank Sinatra on his 1957 movie "The Joker Is Wild". Frank excepted, nobody's ever sounded as sincere as Marty pleading "but if you let me love you / it's for sure I'm gonna love you / all the way".

I've rated this 2-CD set five stars, yet I find a couple of things wrong with it. For instance, it lacks "Honkytonk Man", from the soundtrack of Eastwood's 1980 movie, which I consider a classic, as well as his version of Hank Williams' "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" (it has "Kaw-Liga", though). "Meet Me Tonight In Laredo" is a marvelous cowboy tune that we've sadly been spared here. And finally, the European release I've bought is not a boxset unlike the American, which is a pity because the booklet and the photos are smaller (the liner notes are pretty complete) and thus less appealing.

Anyway, this remains the best 2-CD overview of Marty's Columbia output, thus making it a must-have introduction to his recorded legacy.

Marty Robbins was a major country singer over three decades, beginning his recording career and establishing himself quickly. He maintained a high level of consistent success throughout the fifties and sixties and also had some notable successes in the seventies. This set covers his entire recording career. Originally released in America in a long box format with two separate CD jewel boxes and a large booklet inside, it was released in Europe in a two-door jewel case and later in a slimline double-CD case. I imported the original boxed set many years ago. I don't know which packaging is current in America, but the music remains the same.

Marty's early recordings often became successful in both the country and pop charts in America. He only had limited success in the UK pop charts but he was the first to record Singing the blues, Knee deep in the blues and Story of my life, all of which became massive UK hits for other singers. On this set, you can hear further evidence of his ability to rock'n'roll via That's all right, Maybelline and A white sport coat and a pink carnation.

I love Marty's rock'n'roll music but he was even better singing western songs. His biggest success came with El Paso, one of the best western songs ever recorded. This collection also features a couple of sequels - Feleena from El Paso and El Paso city. Plenty of other examples of Marty's western songs are included here, though if you are really keen there are plenty of compilations devoted exclusively to Marty's western music including a Bear family boxed set including all of them.

Marty was also capable of doing excellent versions of pop standards, as shown here by his versions of September in the rain, All the way and Unchained melody. He also recorded Hawaiian music and that is also represented here. Listen to his interpretations of Beyond the reef and Hawaiian wedding song. Marty also did his share of conventional country songs, including Devil woman, Ruby Ann, Tonight Carmen, You gave me a mountain and My woman my woman my wife.

This set (in whatever packaging) shows that Marty was a man of many talents, able to sing any type of song. If you only want one Marty Robbins collection, this is the one to go far, but be warned - you may end up buying more of his music to explore some aspects of his career in greater depth.

What did Elvis, Jim Reeves, Frankie Laine, Faron Young, Merle Haggard and Gene Autry all have in common? They were all fans of Marty Robbins; probably the greatest singer ever to grace Country Music. Robbins could have taken off his stetson, stepped out of his spurs and left the Country trail to be a Pop singer as his great voice effortlessly embraced songs such as 'That old Feeling', 'As time goes by', 'You made me love you', 'September in the Rain', 'Summertime', 'It had to be you' with versions that were better than many of the Pop balladeers of his time. The man was such an immense talent that most of his hits were his own compositions and not only could he sing any genre of music he could also write them as well. Soul is a much misused word in Music but Robbins had it in abundance and you believe it when Marty sings weepers like 'Begging to you', 'I walk alone', 'Don't Worry' and the vocal gymnastics he displays on 'Tonight Carmen', 'You gave me a mountain' and 'My woman, My woman, My wife' are a joy to the ear. His versatility is astonishing (probably only Elvis and Bobby Darin) can rival his talent for singing such a wide variety of songs. This box set is a stunner; Great versions of the oldies like 'Yours', 'Beyond the Reef', 'Ghost Riders in the Sky', plus a plethora of Robbins hits abound on this album.I am just disappointed there haven't been further volumes as there is enough in Columbia's vaults to justify follow ups of this truly once in a lifetime talent.