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Post by Lydia Purple on Jan 4, 2014 13:23:36 GMT -8
A song that, at 4 minutes 38 seconds, was originally thought by Columbia Records' A&R man Mitch Miller to be too long to be issued as a single, topped the US chart for two weeks. The song was Marty Robbins' "El Paso", which he wrote after the success of Johnny Horton's historical saga "The Battle of New Orleans" had inspired him to write a dramatic song/story about the wild west.
Miller had, however, thought it suitable for inclusion of Robbins' album "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs", and it received such interest and air time, particularly on country music radio stations, and so strong was the almost immediate public demand for a single version, that he was forced to reconsider his decision not to release it as a single.
Produced by Don Law, it went on to become the first no.1 of the '60s, the longest no.1 to date and the first country song to win a Grammy Award. (Source: The History of Rock, Day by Day)
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