Marty Robbins - All-Time Greatest Hits

Marty Robbins has more greatest-hits compilations than most artists have hits. This 20-cut single-disc collection is one of the better values, with a representative selection that extends from gunfighter balladry such as "El Paso" (his 1959 chart-topper and biggest crossover success) and "Big Iron" to the calypso-tinged "Devil Woman" to his cover of Gordon Lightfoot's folkish "Ribbon of Darkness." Throughout his 30-year recording career, Robbins combined a tremulous tenor with canny commercial instincts, stretching the boundaries of country music while expanding his popular base. He was equally at home with a cowboy song ("Red River Valley"), a gospel tune ("You Gave Me a Mountain"), and a slice of Hawaiian exotica ("Aloha Oe"). Inexplicably, the album features the schmaltzy "Love Is Blue" at the expense of "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)," a '50s pop smash that remained one of his biggest hits. --Don McLeese