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Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins
Twentieth Century The Life of Marty Robbins is the first biography of this legendary country music artist and NASCAR driver who scored sixteen number-one hits and two Grammy awards. Yet even with fame and fortune, Marty Robbins always yearned for more.
Drawing from personal interviews and in-depth research, biographer Diane Diekman explains how Robbins saw himself as a drifter, a man always searching for self-fulfillment and inner peace. Born Martin David Robinson to a hardworking mother and an abusive alcoholic father, he never fully escaped the insecurities burned into him by a poverty-stricken nomadic childhood in the Arizona desert. In 1947 he got his first gig as a singer and guitar player. Too nervous to talk, the shy young man walked onstage singing. Soon he changed his name to Marty Robbins, cultivated his magnetic stage presence, and established himself as an entertainer, songwriter, and successful NASCAR driver.
For fans of Robbins, NASCAR, and classic country music, Twentieth Century The Life of Marty Robbins is a revealing portrait of this well-loved, restless entertainer, a private man who kept those who loved him at a distance.
Drawing from personal interviews and in-depth research, biographer Diane Diekman explains how Robbins saw himself as a drifter, a man always searching for self-fulfillment and inner peace. Born Martin David Robinson to a hardworking mother and an abusive alcoholic father, he never fully escaped the insecurities burned into him by a poverty-stricken nomadic childhood in the Arizona desert. In 1947 he got his first gig as a singer and guitar player. Too nervous to talk, the shy young man walked onstage singing. Soon he changed his name to Marty Robbins, cultivated his magnetic stage presence, and established himself as an entertainer, songwriter, and successful NASCAR driver.
For fans of Robbins, NASCAR, and classic country music, Twentieth Century The Life of Marty Robbins is a revealing portrait of this well-loved, restless entertainer, a private man who kept those who loved him at a distance.
316 pages, Paperback
First published February 7, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 7, 2018
All Things Marty Robbins
I was so happy to read about Marty...although the last chapter was heart wrenching...I so much wanted to see him in concert...I was born too late. But thankfully I have albums to listen to and videos to watch, so "some memories just won't die". Rest in peace, Marty....love you!
I was so happy to read about Marty...although the last chapter was heart wrenching...I so much wanted to see him in concert...I was born too late. But thankfully I have albums to listen to and videos to watch, so "some memories just won't die". Rest in peace, Marty....love you!
June 19, 2020
Very interesting man. Musician, songwriter and stock car driver
January 22, 2022
One of the greatest, if not the greatest Country Music singer of all time. A must-read for every country fan.
April 26, 2022
An excellent detailed bio of a Country Music legend.
March 16, 2012
The blending of Mexican and American music has inspired many recording artists during the middle of the Twentieth Century but few have been as compelling as singer-songwriter Marty Robbins whose 1961 single “El Paso” attracted audiences across the United States and as far reaching as Europe’s Sweden, Germany and Holland as well as the UK. Author Diane Diekman takes audiences through the life and times of Marty Robbins in Twentieth Century Drifter named after one of Robbins’ singles. The book canvasses his youth in rural Arizona and his move to city life first relocating to Phoenix and then Nashville where he took off as country western artist.
Diekman shows Robbins was unlike his peers blending styles of music by infusing flowing waltzes with mariachi accents, rockabilly grooves with a bluesy voicing, and country western ballads with a folksy Hawaiian tincture. He liked music of all types and his taste in band members was equally as broad hiring Katsuhiko Kobayashi, a Japanese steel guitarist, Del Delamont, a Canadian pianist, and Bill Martinez, a Mexican drummer. Robbins’ music and his band was a mixed breed as he corralled facets from different cultures around the world. He was one of the first artists in country music to put cracks in stereotypes and measure individual’s worth by their quality rather than adhering to the dictates of industry insiders.
Diekman’s biography shows that Robbins’ life was a different time when people’s attitudes had been expanded by the actions of their idols. Families were a microcosm of what the world was going through, and as the world was searching for security so too was Robbins, born Martin David Robinson on September 26, 1925. Diekman takes audiences inside Robbins’ life, the good and the bad from when he brought joy to his school mates by playing music to stealing coins from pay phones and store vending machines as a youth. Robbins was neither completely a saint nor completely a sinner, but a combination of both.
Diekman incorporates interviews from people who remembered Robbins fondly and those who butted heads with him. Twentieth Century Drifter is a well-rounded portrayal of a man who loved people and also demanded his privacy at the expense of pushing people away from him. It becomes obvious to the reader that Marty Robbins was indeed a rare individual. Not only a multi-dimensional singer and songwriter, he was also an astute entrepreneur investing in American businesses from film companies, song publishing houses, and booking agencies to the empire of NASCAR racing.
By most accounts he had it all, an adoring wife, a son and daughter who loved and respected him, friends who looked up to him, and investments in several lucrative enterprises. Robbins seemed to have it all at the time of his death including several new songs recorded for his next album. When the curtain on him closed in December 1982, a legend was born further proving Diekman’s proposal that a drifter like Robbins could achieve the American Dream where magic meets reality.
Diekman shows Robbins was unlike his peers blending styles of music by infusing flowing waltzes with mariachi accents, rockabilly grooves with a bluesy voicing, and country western ballads with a folksy Hawaiian tincture. He liked music of all types and his taste in band members was equally as broad hiring Katsuhiko Kobayashi, a Japanese steel guitarist, Del Delamont, a Canadian pianist, and Bill Martinez, a Mexican drummer. Robbins’ music and his band was a mixed breed as he corralled facets from different cultures around the world. He was one of the first artists in country music to put cracks in stereotypes and measure individual’s worth by their quality rather than adhering to the dictates of industry insiders.
Diekman’s biography shows that Robbins’ life was a different time when people’s attitudes had been expanded by the actions of their idols. Families were a microcosm of what the world was going through, and as the world was searching for security so too was Robbins, born Martin David Robinson on September 26, 1925. Diekman takes audiences inside Robbins’ life, the good and the bad from when he brought joy to his school mates by playing music to stealing coins from pay phones and store vending machines as a youth. Robbins was neither completely a saint nor completely a sinner, but a combination of both.
Diekman incorporates interviews from people who remembered Robbins fondly and those who butted heads with him. Twentieth Century Drifter is a well-rounded portrayal of a man who loved people and also demanded his privacy at the expense of pushing people away from him. It becomes obvious to the reader that Marty Robbins was indeed a rare individual. Not only a multi-dimensional singer and songwriter, he was also an astute entrepreneur investing in American businesses from film companies, song publishing houses, and booking agencies to the empire of NASCAR racing.
By most accounts he had it all, an adoring wife, a son and daughter who loved and respected him, friends who looked up to him, and investments in several lucrative enterprises. Robbins seemed to have it all at the time of his death including several new songs recorded for his next album. When the curtain on him closed in December 1982, a legend was born further proving Diekman’s proposal that a drifter like Robbins could achieve the American Dream where magic meets reality.
July 2, 2012
Great book about an artist who's unjustly passed over in the country music canon. I reviewed this book on my blog.
April 16, 2012
Solid biography that offers more insight into the life story of an under-appreciated country legend than into his music.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews