The Ballad of Bill Thaxton - Marty Robbins

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Embed: His clothes were all dark and fancy
And topped by a black leather vest
Somebody asked how he came by his name
And if he was one of the best.

The eyes of the tall stranger narrowed
He grinned like the devil possessed
"I never fight till the sun's going down
And my back is facing the West"

Said he wouldn't be with us tomorrow
He only rode in for one thing
He only stopped by to make Bill Thaxton die
So he could add to his fame.
"Go give Bill Thaxton a message
And tell him a killer's in town
Tell him we'll meet at the end of the street
Just as the sun's going down"

Somebody said it had been years
Since old Bill had toted a gun
Sundown replied that it wasn't his hide
Killing old Bill would be fun
The old ranger sent back his answer


"Tell him that I'm on my way
I've never ran and I'll meet this young man
At any time of the day"

Bill got there just about sunset
It still hung like fire in the sky
In just a few moments out there in the street
Old Bill or the outlaw would die

Slowly Bill slid from the saddle
And started to make his advance
The sun hit the old ranger square in the eyes
The shadows had started to dance
Bill started talking to Sundown
Judging his distance that way
Their stride was the same and at just thirty feet
Both of the men made their play

Bill's gun slipped leather like lightning
His forty-four spoke with a whine
The sun didn't bother Bill Thaxton at all
Because the old ranger was blind
Six shots delivered their message
The ranger had emptied his gun
Bill gave a sigh when there was no reply
He knew that once more he had won

The old ranger lowered his six gun
He just stood there starting ahead
Watching you'd think that old Bill didn't know
In front of him Sundown lay dead

Bill has been gone for a long time
But old timers still can recall
The day the old ranger stood up to the test
And proved he was best of them allLyrics provided by TANCODEhttp://lyricsever.com/" readonly=""/>

The Ballad of Bill Thaxton Lyrics

Bill Thaxton was an ex-ranger
One of the bravest by far
It's said that old Bill was the fastest man ever
To pin on a ranger's star
Stories about him were legends
Bill was the best of the bold
Bad men all feared him way back in his day
But he was now growing old

Into Bill's town rode an outlaw
He wore his gun low and tied down
He reined in his horse and announced to the crowd
"If you speak to me call me Sundown"
His clothes were all dark and fancy
And topped by a black leather vest
Somebody asked how he came by his name
And if he was one of the best.

The eyes of the tall stranger narrowed
He grinned like the devil possessed
"I never fight till the sun's going down
And my back is facing the West"

Said he wouldn't be with us tomorrow
He only rode in for one thing
He only stopped by to make Bill Thaxton die
So he could add to his fame.
"Go give Bill Thaxton a message
And tell him a killer's in town
Tell him we'll meet at the end of the street
Just as the sun's going down"

Somebody said it had been years
Since old Bill had toted a gun
Sundown replied that it wasn't his hide
Killing old Bill would be fun
The old ranger sent back his answer


"Tell him that I'm on my way
I've never ran and I'll meet this young man
At any time of the day"

Bill got there just about sunset
It still hung like fire in the sky
In just a few moments out there in the street
Old Bill or the outlaw would die

Slowly Bill slid from the saddle
And started to make his advance
The sun hit the old ranger square in the eyes
The shadows had started to dance
Bill started talking to Sundown
Judging his distance that way
Their stride was the same and at just thirty feet
Both of the men made their play

Bill's gun slipped leather like lightning
His forty-four spoke with a whine
The sun didn't bother Bill Thaxton at all
Because the old ranger was blind
Six shots delivered their message
The ranger had emptied his gun
Bill gave a sigh when there was no reply
He knew that once more he had won

The old ranger lowered his six gun
He just stood there starting ahead
Watching you'd think that old Bill didn't know
In front of him Sundown lay dead

Bill has been gone for a long time
But old timers still can recall
The day the old ranger stood up to the test
And proved he was best of them all

Lyrics provided by LyricsEver.com
Martin David Robinson (born September 26, 1925 in Glendale, Arizona; died December 8, 1982 in Nashville, Tennessee), better known simply as Marty Robbins, was an American Grammy award winning country music singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. One of the most popular and successful country and western singers of his era, for most of his nearly four-decade career, Robbins was rarely far from the country music charts, and several of his songs also became pop hits. In addition to his recordings and performances, Robbins was an avid race car driver, competing in 35 career NASCAR races with six top 10 finishes.

Robbins served in the United States Navy as an LCT coxswain during World War II. To pass time, he learned to play the guitar, started writing songs, and grew to love Hawaiian music. After his discharge from the military in 1945, he started playing at local venues in Phoenix, then moved on to host his own radio station show on KTYL. He eventually hosted his own television (TV) show on KPHO in Phoenix and after Little Jimmy Dickens made a guest appearance on Robbins' TV show, he got Robbins a record deal with Columbia. Robbins went on to become an immensely popular singing star of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.

His musical accomplishments include the first Grammy Award ever awarded for a country song, for his 1959 hit and signature song "El Paso". "El Paso" was also the first song to hit #1 on the pop chart in the 1960s. It was taken from his album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. He won the Grammy Award for the Best Country & Western Recording 1961, for the follow-up album More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, and was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1970, for "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife." Robbins was named "Artist of the Decade" (1960-69) by the Academy of Country Music, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982, and was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998 for his song "El Paso".

Marty Robbins was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975. For his contribution to the recording industry, Marty Robbins has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6666 Hollywood Blvd.

Between recording songs and touring, Marty Robbins was an avid race car driver, competing in NASCAR with the best stock car drivers in the world, including at the Daytona 500.

"El Paso" was a staple of live performances of the Grateful Dead for many years. It was first played in 1969, and subsequently performed more than 385 times until the group's disbandment in 1995.

His rendition of the song "Big Iron" is still played today on the hit game Fallout:New Vegas on the Mojave Music Radio Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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Marty Robbins