“
El Paso” is Marty Robbins’ best known song of all time. There’s a story about it, including who the woman is that’s named in the song. The song is a country and western ballad written and originally recorded by Marty Robbins. It was released in the fall of 1959. It was a hit in both pop and country music
The name of the character Faleena was based upon a schoolmate of Robbins in the fifth grade, Fidelina Martinez.
Marty use to have the last show at the Grand Ole Opry every Saturday. After the show, he would remain and sing as long as people stayed. Sometimes till 3 in the morning- always singing El Paso at least one or more times.
The story of a cowboy’s unrequited love for a Mexican temptress, and the price he pays for killing her barroom suitor, “El Paso” was immediately ear-catching because of guitarist Grady Martin’s legendary Spanish-flavored intro. Robbins then immediately grabbed the listener, getting right to the point with the lines Out in the west Texas town of El Paso/ I fell in love with a Mexican girl.
That rule to improve one’s odds of success might not have been quite as strict in 1959 as it is today, but a song with nine verses and three bridges that ran well over four minutes wasn’t the norm either. So when Marty Robbins showed up with “El Paso,” which clocked in at 4:37, the powers that be at his label, Columbia, released an edited version that was more than a minute shorter, and put Robbins’ unedited version on the B side of the 45 rpm record. Disc jockeys started playing that long version instead of the side A edit, though, and it became a hit.